Mealybugs

Nearly 300 species of mealybugs are known from Canada and the United States. Fortunately, only a few species are common or serious pests of orchids. Mealybugs are classified in the family Pseudococcidae, and are closely related to the scale insects. In fact, mealybugs are best thought of as a kind of soft scale that does not form the protective cover that most scales produce for protection. The pest species are in the genera Pseudococcus, Planococcus, Phenacoccus, and Dysmicoccus.

Immature to adult mealybugs may measure 0.5-8.0 mm in body length. All of the orchid feeding species are coated with a waxy secretion that hides the body of these insects. The more common species of these odd insects that infest orchids are immediately recognized in the adult stage by the white, yellowish-white, whitish-grey, or pale pink to pale blue in color coating. The body is oval and the sides of the body have short waxy filaments and there may be 2-4 short to long filaments on the posterior end of the body. These filaments sometimes give the impression of numerous legs.