Whiteflies

Whiteflies are the insect that feed mainly on the leaves from lower side and then lay egss from which the crawler hatches and starts to travel some distance to find the feeding location. They secrete honey dew, so leaves may be sticky or covered with a black sooty mold.

Melaybugs:- 

Some details about mealybugs

Mealybugs are soft bodied insects having soft scales on their bodies. They belong to the family Pseudococcidae.

You can find that the body of mealybugs is covered with waxy coating. Their body is segmented and has waxy filament.

You will observe that mealybugs occur in colonies. This will help them in protecting themselves. And they prefer to feed in protected areas of plants like the crown of plants.

You may also spot them in the roots of some plants.

The adult female mealybugs are wingless and look somewhat similar to nymphs and adult mealybugs. 

Some mealybugs can reproduce asexually without mating. Female mealybug can lay about 100-200 eggs at a time. It lays eggs in cottony eggs sac that may get attached to plant parts.

Sometimes the egg sac remains attached to the female body until crawlers get hatched from it.

After hatching the nymphs soon start feeding on plant parts and grow into adults by passing through several instars. The nymphs start secreting waxy covering and gain coating on their bodies.

Nymphs can have 2 to 6 generations per year but you can find them throughout the year. They prefer warm climates for growth and reproduction.

Damage caused by Mealybugs

Mealybugs colonize the plant surface then they start to suck sap. They mainly attack tender parts of the plants like green stem, crown, leaves, etc. 

As they suck sap from plant's phloem, the plants get weaker and fall readily susceptible to many diseases. Plants lose their vigour and their growth slows down.Plants get readily affected by environmental stress. Mealybugs produce wax, this causes low quality of fruits and flowers of the plant. Often there is the growth of black sooty mould on it. 

Mealybugs are the carrier of many disease causing pathogens. So it is necessary to mitigate their impact on plants.

Many plants like citrus, grapes, and many flowering plants like marigolds fall readily attacked by Mealybugs. Some plants may tolerate the small quantity of mealybugs but later it becomes a problem.

Melaybugs are white in colour and they also suck sap from the leaves of the crop, they usually found in groups. You can also find them on the leaves of flowering plants. They suck the leaf sap and make the plant deseased and weak. Most commonly affected Plants include Tomatoes, Bell Peppers, Eggplant, Okra, Hibiscus, Cabbage and many others.

How too control or eliminate these pests using home remedies.

• 1. First and foremost Solution is for those who has a small garden in a small size plot. Start withblowing off these bugs with your garden watering hose or spray gun with pressure. This will cause them to scatter and sometimes completely eliminate them in one shot.

2. Second Solution is, spray your leaves with a home made solution prepared by mixing 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent or dish washing liquid into 1 litre of water and spray and coat the plant thoroughly, be sure to spray the undersides of leaves.

 Only  spray plants when temperatures are cooler such as late in the day, as heat may cause an adverse reaction in your plant. Follow this after 12 hours or for few consecutive days if necessary till everything looks cleaned.

• 3. Neem Oil :-  This is a pure organic remedy if available and completely safe to use particularly if your vegetable plants are infested. You can make a solution of 2 tablespoon mixed in 1 litre of water and thoroughly coat the plant including the underside of the leaves and repeat after 2-3 days again.

You can take a look at Seaweed organic fertilizer for your farm.

• 4. Natural Predators: Keeping natural predators around will prevent whiteflies from ever exploding in population. These are Ladybugs, spiders, lacewing larvae,and dragonflies. Hummingbirds are another natural predators.

• 5. Traps like Yellow sticky trap:-

This is the best way to catch the pest form your fields. These traps are available in the market or you can buy them from online stores or you can make your own cards coated withone half of petroleum jelly and a soap detergent mixed and applied on boards painted with bright yellow color, because these bugs are attracted to yellow. By placing these traps on the field you can catch many of the pests which are troublesome to the crop.

These are some methods or remedies to control Mealybugs, Aphids and whiteflies from your plants.  If there is too much population of pests in your area you can talk to experts and ask for remedy to control them.

Conclusion

All above is the some information about Mealybugs, Aphids and whiteflies that affect your plants badly. Reduces plant vigour and thus effects on the harvest and ultimately reduces yield. These are some remedies to control them. These are the cultural practices to control Mealybugs, Aphids and whiteflies and some other pests of the plants. 

You can also use some other treatments that are nature friendly and cause minimum or environmental problems.

Lastly you can use chemical treatment but only under the supervision of experts because this is the most dangerous if used in excess.

If you have any doubt regarding the remedies or have any suggestions then please comment.

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