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The males are short-lived, as they do not feed at all as adults and only live to fertilize the females. Male citrus mealy bugs fly to the females and resemble fluffy gnats. Some species of mealybug lay their eggs in the same waxy layer used for protection in quantities of 50–100; other species are born directly from the female.
Both female and male adult hibiscus mealybugs are about one-eighth inch (3 mm) long. Female bodies are pink in color with a white waxy covering. They are wingless and appear as ovoid shapes covered by a mass of white mealy wax. Males have a pair of wings and two long waxy tails and are capable of flight.
Identification of mealybug species in the Planococcus genus has been difficult due to an unusually high amount of intraspecies morphological variation. In the 1980s, entomologist Jennifer Cox at the British Museum discovered that the offspring of a single female raised on the same host will develop differently based on environmental conditions.
Planococcus ficus, commonly known as the vine mealybug, is a species of mealybug, belonging to the family Pseudococcidae, native to tropical and subtropical regions. [1] The vine mealybug is found in Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.
The papaya mealybug feeds on over 55 plants in more than 25 genera. Economically important host plants include papaya, avocado, citrus, mango, cherry and pomegranate, as well as hibiscus, cotton, tomato, eggplant, peppers, beans, peas and sweet potato. [2]
Adult female Comstock mealybugs are 3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.20 in) long, have no wings, and have "17 pairs of filaments" that extend from the edge of its body with a longer pair at the rear. The adult males are minuscule, similar to the size of gnats, and have a short life span.
Mealybugs infesting plants in the constant conditions of greenhouses have stable, steadily reproducing populations all year. [ 1 ] All mealybug species investigated so far have endosymbionts : [ 8 ] symbiotic bacteria that live inside their bodies and synthesize useful compounds such as amino acids that the insect can utilize.
Trabutina mannipara, or mana scale, is a species of mealybug found in the Middle East and southern Europe. [1] [2] It is the most well-known of the five species in the genus Trabutina, of which it is the type species, [3] due to its association with the biblical story of manna. [4]