Control mealybugs and scale by drenching the soil with an insecticide. However, they do reproduce quickly and can quickly become a problem. Mites, mealybugs and scales commonly affect indoor and outdoor ferns. Research has shown the products listed here are effective when properly applied at effective concentrations: Cygon, Meta-systox-R, Orthene, Furadan, Diazinon, Vydate, Temik and Enstar. Some varieties of male scale insects have wings, but they aren’t strong fliers. To reduce the farming of scales, aphids, or other honeydew-producing pests by ants, you can use Tanglefoot Tangle-Trap around the trunks of trees or the base of rigid plants. Fern scale appears as white dashes on the fronds. Scale insects, which range in size from tiny dots to ovals 1/16 inch wide, also feed on the tender leaves of Boston ferns. Smother the scales. This sounds a bit strange, but sometimes you can control scale by washing the leaves or stems/branches with no more than water and your hands. The adults do not move.Step 2, Identify ‘crawlers’. Listen to this post on the Epic Gardening Podcast, Subscribe to the Epic Gardening Podcast on iTunes. Generally, aphids, mealybugs and scales are effectively controlled by the same pesticides. Let’s go over some of the most prominent types of scale bugs and talk a bit about their similarities and differences. The young, called crawlers, are small (about 1/10 inch) and soft bodied and move about on the plant and onto other plants. Unlike most scale, they have legs, but they seldom if ever move once they’ve located a good feeding spot. These immature scales, called crawlers, will move away from their parent. These scales flatten themselves against tree branches to feed. The photo above shows a variety of this scale with some ants on it, harvesting the honeydew which the scales provide. Stems and fronds are covered with white, cottony, cushionlike masses or brown, crusty bumps. But they’re all sap-sucking invaders who can spread a wide variety of plant diseases, and nobody wants to discover them on their plants! Now that you have an inkling of the diversity of this persnickety pest, let’s go over their life cycles. As scale insects feed on the sugary sap of a plant, they excrete some of the sugar as a liquid called honeydew. The shape tends to vary according to position on the host plant. While it was documented in the late 1800’s in San Jose, it originates from China. In calm conditions (such as inside a greenhouse), you might see a few wobbly flying pests around your plants, but they’re just as likely to be whiteflies. Use a cotton swab and coat them thoroughly. The fern scale also is quite damaging to asparagus, bird’s nest and Nephrolepis species of ferns. As a last resort, a much stronger azdirachtin product may help tip the scales in your favor (so to speak). One of the most stubborn examples of an armored scale is the San Jose scale, Quadraspidiotus perniciosus. Remove existing scale on houseplants by rubbing gently with a facial-quality sponge or cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Those ants will protect the source of their honeydew. If you do this whenever you first notice them, and follow up with soap or horticultural oil, you likely will not have major outbreaks. Invite in beneficial insects that eat the crawler stage. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. There are many others. Neem oil is a godsend. This article Scale Insects on Staghorn Ferns might be useful. Now that you know what the scale pest is capable of, let’s go over some ways of getting rid of them. Catch the problem early. Scale bugs can be found indoors or outdoors. Over 2650 species of armored scale pests exist. Adult males are tiny, two-winged, gnat-like insects that are easily … Most species of scale lose their larval legs as they mature, and they feed on the plant’s sap. Apply an insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, following label directions. Mites, mealybugs and scales commonly affect indoor and outdoor ferns. Crawlers are often not the same … It’s easy to spread them to other houseplants, so check your plants carefully! I created Epic Gardening to help teach 10,000,000 people how to grow anything, no matter where they live in the world. Make sure the … Armored scales do not secrete honeydew, so mold growth is far less likely around them. My Stag-horn fern is infested with Scale insects. If you opt to scrape scale from your leaves, stems, branches or trunks, be sure to follow up with a thorough spraying of horticultural oil. But there are species which attack a wide variety of bromeliads, flowering plants like roses, or even fruit and vegetable plants such as brassicas or beans. Wilting of the plant, the presence of honeydew (a sticky substance secreted by the bugs) and stunted growth are all symptoms of an infestation. If not treated, your plants are at risk of numerous plant diseases or branch death. Many look like the scale of a fish or lizard, while others can even appear fluffy. These scales tend to be harder to spot on plants, and can be hard to treat. Most of them have a smooth, flat covering but some may look cottony or fluffy. These scales look more like lumps or bumps on twigs and branches, and can be mistaken for buds on the branch. The male armor is white felted, three-ridged, and the crawler cast skin is beige to yellowish brown. They are a bit more noticeable, but their exterior tends to protect them from some insecticidal measures. You can find a fascinating description of the process through the Ask A Biologist page of Arizona State University at this website. The adults are generally immobile and are permanently attached to the plant that they are sucking the sap from. This white waxy covering can protect them against many forms of insecticide, although any oily insecticide will likely stay on long enough to have effect. Instead, the wings are used to help guide the male if it’s caught and pulled from its plant in the wind. Several different types of scale insects attack ferns. Epic Gardening occasionally links to goods or services offered by vendors to help you find the best products to care for plants. Older females are brown. You can also place diatomaceous earth around the base of softer-stemmed plants and dust it on all the plant surfaces. A: What you scrape off will not climb back up, because once it’s attached to a leaf, the scale pest is fixed in place for the rest of its lifespan. All of these fall into the superfamily Coccoidea, but are subdivided from there into smaller family groups. Some species of scales are unable to digest all the sugar in the plant sap, and they excrete the excess in a fluid called honeydew. Other scales, like the cochineal shown above, will form colonies on large cactus plants. The bumps can be scraped or picked off easily. The legs disappear, and the scales remain in the same place for the rest of their lives. Try using a product like AzaMax, which is derived from neem oil naturally, inside greenhouses or indoor growing areas. Still, armored scales tend to be more prevalent on harder plants such as trees or thick-branched foliage. the body is usually oval in outline, 2.5 to 4 mm in length and slightly convex in profile (Figure C). If you see a few scale pests, dab them with alcohol. Adults: Female fern scale armor is oystershell or pear shaped, flat, light brown with the crawler cast skin a paler brown. This agricultural pest is widespread throughout the United States. Most scales do not move once they’re adults, so adult females will lay eggs beneath her protective external coating. Sapsuckers and other related scales are at risk from birds and beneficial predators like ladybugs. However, the range of plants affected is extremely wide. Finding scale inside generally means that you brought an infested plant indoors. © 2020 The Scotts Company LLC. Fronds turn yellow and may drop. The young scales, called crawlers, have legs and will move very slowly, or are blown by the wind, to a spot on a plant that they like. Living adult female brown soft scales are pale yellowish green to yellowish brown, often mottled with brown spots. The bumps are sometimes mistaken for reproductive spores produced by the fern. While its primary target is citrus trees, it also feeds on olives and other fruit, and can be found on some vegetables such as pumpkin. Scale insects are small, largely immobile insects that are often confused for growths on a plant's leaves or branches. Scale feeding on a plant can affect the vigour and also produce honeydew. Isolate infested plants as soon as scales are discovered. The scale insects that most gardeners are familiar with are the adult females. The majority of adult scales are immobile and permanently attached to their desired host plant. All scale insects feed on the sap or plant juices of their host plant. They’re not very strong fliers. Alcohol will dehydrate the pests and cause them to come off the plant. Sometimes hatched crawlers will be caught and blown to other plants by the wind, and at other times they will simply move to a different portion of the same plant. Prune any infested branches and destroy them. Kills over a hundred unwanted garden and landscape insects through contact...without harming your plants or blooms. euonymus scales which prefer a specific type of evergreen tree but will as easily attack holly, ivy, and other evergreen plants, and those will be found around those plants. Whitish or yellowish patches on leaves, stems, or branches is a common sign. Be sure to buy … The cottony masses do not move when touched. You can use it on armored scales as well, but it will work like a horticultural oil in that usage. This article Scale Insects on Staghorn Ferns might be useful. Mealybugs tend to be the easiest to control, as they have no waxy coating nor hard protective covering to protect them. Whether flat against leaves or fruit, or lumpy bumps on branches or stems, this widespread superfamily of insects is well over 8000 species strong. Thoroughly with oil sprays finish the job eggs hatch into a form that s! 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