Friday, August 28, 2009

Look for the crawlers!

Here in the Victor Valley it is the right time to treat for late summer crawlers. You may first notice it as sticky drips under a woody shrub or tree. You look up and see little white specks in the branches. A closer look shows the white stuff looks like it is fuzzy with little ridges kind of like a shell. To see a picture from UC Davis's IPM website go here. Some people get this little creep mixed up with a mealybug but this is cottony cushiony scale a soft bodied scale. If you see little brown bugs nearby, this is the immature bug and they are the crawlers and are mobile. Eventually the female attaches herself to a leaf and begins to give off a waxy substance to protect her and her eggs. The waxy substance protects her from the typical pesticide so the best time is to treat the invasion is during the crawler stage every 7 to 10 days for 2 to 3 weeks.

The time to act is now!

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