Pink hibiscus mealybugs, which can devastate many species of plants, have turned up in the Tampa Bay area for the first time.
By JON WILSON
Published February 20, 2004
[Times photos: Jamie Francis]
Whitish residue is a sign that mealybugs are attacking a hibiscus plant.
Ru Nguyen, a state entomologist, holds a container filled with parasitic wasps. About 6,000 of the insects were released Thursday in Pinellas Point to help stop the spread of pink hibiscus mealybugs.
ST. PETERSBURG - They are fleck-sized creatures that bleed pink and suck the sap out of your favorite greenery.
Pink hibiscus mealybugs are big-time villains, agricultural officials say, and they have shown up on Florida's west coast for the first time.
Ironically, they made their debut in St. Petersburg's "pink streets" neighborhood, Greater Pinellas Point, where the bugs have appeared in four yards and were reported by residents.
"They are particularly devastating to our plant life," said Denise Feiber, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Pink hibiscus mealybugs - PHM for short - are harmless to humans.
But they can injure or kill as much as 200 species of plants. Among the threatened are ornamentals such as hibiscus, food-producing plants such as tomatoes and cucumbers and trees bearing fruit such as oranges, mangos and papayas.
The bugs rate a color brochure: state-produced, photo-splashed and featuring suggestions about controlling them.
For now, mealybugs are not raging through the city in epidemic fashion.
"We're hoping it's limited to this neighborhood," said R.E. "Ed" Burns, a state biological administrator. Crews will look for more mealybugs during a survey that will spread out from Pinellas Point during the next two weeks.
"We want to cover the largest amount of territory we can in the shortest amount of time," Burns said.
Agricultural officials are fighting back with another bug.
Their ally is a natural mealybug enemy - a parasitic wasp the size of a hair particle.
Thursday, Burns and and another scientist, Ru Nguyen, supervised the release of about 6,000 specimens of Anagyrus kamali and Gyronusoidea indica - species of the tiny wasps from Taiwan and Egypt. Thousands are raised in Puerto Rico with one purpose - to destroy the pests as needed.
The widely recognized ladybug also is a mealybug enemy, but the wasps are brutally effective.
They find mealybugs, bore into them and lay eggs. Upon emerging, the young will drink the mealybug's internal juices, then pop its head off.
Phil Maguire, who lives in Pinellas Point, was first to report the bugs when he saw a suspicious cluster on a backyard plant.
On Thursday, Burns, Nguyen and a knot of media watched as Maguire had the honor of letting loose the first batch of predators. He tapped them out of a clear, plastic pill bottle near a bush.
"When I heard wasps, I didn't know what to expect," Maguire said.
Like their prey, the wasps do not hurt humans.
Mealybugs have been on state and federal radar since they were reported more than five years ago, coming from the Caribbean, where they caused millions of dollars in damage after appearing in 1994.
They reached Florida in 2002 and have popped up in Dade, Broward and Brevard counties, all on the state's east coast.
The bugs attack plants' leaves and flowers, injecting poison as they suck nourishment. Leaves crinkle, turn dark and may drop off.
Plant owners also can look for whitish clusters on leaves and stems, Burns said. The mealybug colonies can grow into masses that look like cotton with a waxy sheen.
One good field test may take a strong stomach.
To distinguish pink hibiscus mealybugs from other kinds: squash it, agricultural officials say. The bug will release a pinkish body fluid, the source of its name.
Homeowners are discouraged from using pesticides, which also will kill the wasps. In addition, pesticides may not penetrate the waxy shell.
The wasps, according to the agricultural department, achieved in six months a 60 to 80 percent reduction of the Caribbean mealybug population.
Last fall, scientists surveyed the west coast between Naples and Fort Myers but found no sign of the pests, Burns said.
But researchers believe mealybugs can travel distances on the wind and on infested plants.
Homeowners who suspect they have a mealybug problem should not trim their plants, according to state guidelines, because twigs and branches carrying the bugs could spread when hauled away.
To answer questions, help gardeners and provide a place to report possible infestations, the state has a pink hibiscus mealybug helpline: 1-888-397-1517.
