Wholesale Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

White cottony fluff in the leaf axils and where the stems meet the pot, sticky leaves underneath, maybe black sooty mould on top — mealybugs. Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, the mealybug destroyer, is the specialist ladybird that eats almost nothing else, and it is the best answer there is to a mealybug colony. The reason it works where sprays do not is simple: a mealybug's wax repels water and it sits in crevices a spray cannot reach. A predator walks in. It also asks nothing of you. Nothing to mix, nothing to spray, no residue on the leaves and no re-entry interval — you put them on the infested plant and leave them to it. They get into the leaf axils, the stem joints and the underside of the pot rim where you would need a cotton bud and an afternoon, they keep working long after a spray has dried, and mealybugs cannot develop resistance to being eaten. Safe around people, pets and anything you plan to eat. Two stages, sold separately, doing different jobs. Larvae cannot fly. They stay on the plant you put them on until the colony is gone, which makes them the right buy for one or two badly infested plants. Adults fly, so they find scattered pockets across a collection and lay eggs for a generation behind them — but they will also leave if there is not enough to eat. Which brings up the thing to be honest about before you buy. This beetle wants a colony, not a few insects. On a plant with three mealybugs on it the adults disperse looking for better, and the larvae have nothing to work with either. If your infestation is light, hand-wiping and a follow-up is the cheaper answer. Buy this when the mealybugs are clearly visible and in numbers. Best for: A visible, established mealybug colony. 64–90°F, warm and humid — they are tropical in origin and slow right down in a cool room. How many: 2–5 larvae or 2–5 adults per infested plant. Sizes go by plant count, with a separate count for each stage. Arrives as: Adults loose with no carrier at all, or larvae in buckwheat hulls — the white waxy things in there are the predators and not an infestation, so resist the urge to squash them. Deploy the day they arrive; neither stage holds well in a container. First, deal with the ants. They farm mealybugs for the honeydew and will kill your predators, and the larva's mimicry only gets it so far. Bait or barrier them two to three days before you release. Long-tailed mealybug: They will eat it, but they cannot breed on it — long-tailed bears live young and leaves no egg sac for them to lay in.