3

Trying to help a friend in New York City identify these insects on her Aucuba japonica. My girlfriend and i can't agree if there are 2 or 3 types of insects on the plants.

We're thinking the brown ones might be scale and the white fuzzy things on the stem could be mealybug. Thoughts?

Totally stumped on white things with brown heads (?)!

insect I'd needed

Ben
  • 2,512
  • 1
  • 8
  • 24

1 Answers1

2

It looks like a species of scale insect (among many possible genera and species). This is a very diverse group of insects. From appearances, it could be "Boisduval scale" which commonly will infest and kill orchid species (among other plant species). It might also be "Euonymus scale" which commonly affects Euonymus plant species. Both of these destructive pests look similar and can be difficult to eradicate. Although your photos are a bit unclear, it looks most like the Euonymus scale to my eye. Below is a link to a similar StackExchange question and other links that might be of help.

Scale infestation (Euonymus scale)

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/orn/scales/boisduval_scale.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_insect

user22542
  • 1,535
  • 6
  • 10