Scale and Mealy Bugs in Florida

Scale and Mealy Bug Facts

Scale insects suck – and not just because they can seriously damage your garden, but because that’s how they feed.

These are sucking insects that look more like a fungus or a strange plant growth than they do a bug. But bugs they are. Scale Insects feed on the juices of plants and excrete a sticky substance called “honeydew”. This substance falls to the ground below causing a sappy mess. Have you ever walked on a sidewalk and felt your shoes stick to the ground? Chances are that’s the work of Scale Insects. So how do you get rid of them? Spraying probably won’t kill Scale Insects because it just can’t penetrate their waxy shell. Oftentimes, the only way to get rid of them is to have a professional pesticide company inject pesticides into the soil or the trunk of a tree. It’s complicated stuff best left to the experts.