We call fluffy the species of insects that look like small white mosquitoes or flies. It is an insect that infects many fruits and vegetables. It is an important enemy in greenhouse crops, tomato, cucumber, pepper. Also some species are many serious enemies of citrus, in ornamental they are the enemy of fuchsia, azalea, rose, etc.
Insect morphology
They belong to the family Aleyrodidae.
The most common are:
- Aleurothrixus floccosus commonly called grass meal and causes serious problems in citrus fruits
- Trialeurodes vaporariorum with a common name of three-flour and causes serious problems in greenhouses in tomato, pepper, cucumber etc.
- Dialeurodes citrus commonly called translucent and causes serious problems in citrus fruits
The insect goes through various stages (egg, larva, nymph) to its adult winged form. It is distinguished from the other whites because its nymphs, ie its immobile form, are black with thorny ends and are surrounded by a white belt. In addition, their body is covered with white waxy secretions. Adult winged individuals have a body of about 1,5 to 2 mm and lay their eggs on the lower surface of the leaves and when disturbed they fly.
Usually located in groups we will rarely see individual insects. In many species they are found mainly on the underside of the leaf. They have many generations during the year where they overlap, and when conditions are favorable the biological cycle of the insect can be 20-30 days depending on the species and temperature. Each insect gives birth to 100-500 offspring depending on the species and we find them mainly on the underside of the leaf.
Damage they cause
They are insect pests that cause a lot of direct and indirect damage to plants. Mealybugs attack our plants in the leaf, stem, flower and fruit, (this depends on the type of mealybug). The immediate symptoms caused by the absorption of the juices, the plants lose their vigor and we have yellowing of leaves, twisting of leaves, wilting, falling of flowers, falling of fruit, deformation of fruit and in general we have weak plants. Indirect symptoms are caused by their honey-like excrement, as such an environment is created for a multitude of fungal diseases such as tobacco. It is also a carrier of diseases (viruses) in many crops.
Combat
Biological control
Organic control of flour can be done in the following ways:
- Water
- Soap and water, in a ratio of 1 liter of water and 1 or 2 tablespoons of liquid soap.
- Water, alcohol and soap, in a ratio of 1 liter of water, 2 teaspoons of pure alcohol, 1 teaspoon of liquid green or white soap. And repeat 1-2 times a week
- Use of beneficial insects. Attracting or buying insects that fight mealybugs. In this case we should turn to experts in order to obtain the most suitable insect for the type of meal that we want to fight.
- Sticky traps
Chemical controlThere are several types of insecticides that can be used. Of course, in recent years, the insect is resistant to various formulations, so the success of the insecticide is not guaranteed. Finally, many times it may take many changes in the formulations that we will use until we find what is needed and if we always use a specific notice very soon resilience to it.
