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I was
picking tangelos
when I noticed this little white thing. It
looked like a giant mealybug, with its white appendages waving
around. But then it moved to rapidly for a mealybug. This
is the larva an imported species of ladybird (ladybug) beatle.
The
mealybug destroyer is noted for its voracious consumption of
mealybugs. But it also eats ash
whiteflies, and aphids, which
infest the
tangelo
tree. So, I am delighted that it is there. Here it
is with fingers for a size clue.
The pupa cases of the mealybug
destroyer are white lumps on the twigs.
This is
an adult mealybug destroyer feasting on aphids on the underside of a
leaf.
Here
the mealybug destroyer is eating its way through a colony of
aphids. The Argentine ants are upset
because they eat the honeydew produced by the aphids. In the
lower left corner, is a very small mealybug destroyer larva.
Some
other ladybugs are, blood-red ladybird,
convergent
ladybug, two-stabbed ladybird,
and multicolored
Asian lady beetle.