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==Description== [[File:Mealybug moving.webm|thumb|A video of a mealybug]] Mealybugs are [[Sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]]: females appear as nymphs, exhibiting reduced morphology, and lack wings, although unlike many female scale insects, they often retain legs and can move. Males are smaller, gnat-like and have wings. Since mealybugs, as well as all other [[Hemiptera]], are [[hemimetabolous]] insects, they do not undergo complete metamorphosis in the true sense of the word. However, male mealybugs exhibit a radical change during their life cycle, changing from wingless, ovoid nymphs to [[wasp]]-like flying adults.{{citation needed|reason=Are males gnat-like or wasp-like insects?|date=January 2023}} Mealybug females feed on plant sap, normally in roots or other crevices, and in a few cases the bottoms of stored fruit. They attach themselves to the plant and secrete a powdery [[wax]] layer (hence the name "mealy" bug) used for protection while they suck the plant juices. 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 [[gnat]]s. Some [[species]] of mealybug lay their [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s in the same waxy layer used for protection in quantities of 50β100; other species are born directly from the female. The most serious pests are mealybugs that feed on [[citrus]]. Other species damage [[sugarcane]], [[grapes]], [[pineapple]] (Jahn et al. 2003), [[coffee|coffee trees]], [[cassava]], [[fern]]s, [[cacti]], [[gardenia]]s, [[papaya]], [[mulberry]], [[sunflower]] and [[orchid]]s. Mealybugs only tend to be serious pests in the presence of ants because the ants protect them from predators and parasites.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=3503828|title=Fire Ants Protect Mealybugs against Their Natural Enemies by Utilizing the Leaf Shelters Constructed by the Leaf Roller ''Sylepta derogata''|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=7|issue=11|pages=e49982|date=November 21, 2012|author=Noe, Ronald|publisher=US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health|pmid=23185505|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0049982|bibcode=2012PLoSO...749982Z|doi-access=free}}</ref> Mealybugs are also a vector of viruses in grapevines, spreading grapevine leafroll and grapevine red blotch viruses.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bettiga |first1=Larry J |title=Assessing Grapevine Leafroll and Red Blotch Disease Impacts in Local Vineyards |url=https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=18900&sharing=yes |website=ANR Blogs |publisher=Salinas Valley Agriculture |access-date=23 December 2022 |language=en-us |date=8 September 2015}}</ref> Mealybugs also infest some species of [[carnivorous plant]] such as ''[[Sarracenia]]'' (pitcher plants). In such cases it is difficult to eradicate them without repeated applications of [[insecticide]] such as [[diazinon]]. Small infestations may not inflict significant damage. In larger amounts though, they can induce leaf drop. In recent years, some of the mealybug species have become invasive pests in localities posing a great problem to the new [[Agroecosystem|agro-ecosystems]]. In [[India]], ''[[Withania somnifera]]'' plant have been reported as a new reservoir host for an invasive mealybug species ''[[Phenacoccus solenopsis]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sharma, A. |author2=Pati, P. K. |title=First record of Ashwagandha as a new host to the invasive mealybug (''Phenacoccus solenopsis'' Tinsley) in India |journal=Entomological News |year=2013 |volume=123 |issue=1 |pages=59β62 |doi=10.3157/021.123.0114 |s2cid=85645762 }}</ref> Some mealybugs of the ''[[Hypogeococcus]]'' are used as [[biological pest control]]s of invasive cacti in [[South Africa]], including ''[[Harrisia balansae]]'', ''[[Harrisia martinii|H. martinii]]'', and ''[[Opuntia cespitosa]]''.<ref name="Harrisia-balansae-SAf">{{cite web | title=Cactus control in the Klein Karoo | website=[[Rhodes University]] | date=2014-09-17 | url=http://www.ru.ac.za/centreforbiologicalcontrol/latestnews/cactuscontrolinthekleinkaroo.html | access-date=2021-04-19}}</ref> [[Fossil]] specimens of genus ''[[Acropyga]]'' [[ant]]s have been recovered from the [[Burdigalian]] stage [[Dominican amber]] deposits and several individuals are preserved carrying the extinct mealybug genus ''[[Electromyrmococcus]]''.<ref name="johnsonetal1995">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=M.S. |year=2001 |title=''Acropyga'' and ''Azteca'' Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Scale Insects (Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea): 20 Million Years of Intimate Symbiosis |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3335 |pages=1β18 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2001)335<0001:AAAAHF>2.0.CO;2|s2cid=55067700 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5370690 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> These fossils represent the oldest record of the [[symbiosis]] between mealybugs and ''Acropyga'' species ants.<ref name="johnsonetal1995"/> <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> File:Maconellicoccus hirsutus - hibiscus mealybug - adult male.jpg|Male [[hibiscus]] mealybug, ''[[Maconellicoccus hirsutus]]'' File:Formica fusca and mealy bugs.jpg|''[[Formica fusca]]'' ants tending a herd of mealybugs File:Ladybug(india).jpg|A [[ladybird]] preying on mealybugs File:Mealybugs feeding on hibiscus plant.jpg|alt=Mealybugs on Hibiscus plant.|Mealybugs on hibiscus plant File:Phenacoccus aceris.jpg|''[[Phenacoccus aceris]]'' File:Acropyga glaesaria SMFBE457B2 01.jpg|''[[Acropyga glaesaria]]'' ant carrying an ''[[Electromyrmococcus abductus]]'' mealybug </gallery>
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