Mealybug Predator (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri)

These are live insects, and in order to increase survival rate during transit, they are required to be shipped Overnight, which adds on an additional $45 to the total.

Like Hippodamia convergens, the popular aphid predators, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri are ladybug beetles. Unlike their relative, though, these beetles are not wild-collected, do not aggregate and do not disappear just after release.

Crypts, with their shiny black body and dull-orange head and thorax, definitely prefer to dine on mealybugs (especially young ‘uns). They can clean up large populations. However, as most beetles are, C. montrouzieri are very opportunistic and will eat pests other than mealybugs: other scale insects (their crawlers or immature forms), insect eggs, etc.

These beetles tend to really love mealybugs the most, though!

The large 5 mm. Australian, adult female beetle lays its eggs in the cottony egg-masses produced by the pests — one egg per mass, usually, and up to 10 of them per day, for up to 50 days! The eggs hatch into white, shaggy-coated larvae which, to the inexperienced, look like mealybugs (a wolf in sheep’s clothing). These, too, are fierce predators, growing up to 1 cm. long and consuming 250 or so small mealybugs and their eggs (they’ll always eat the youngest first).

Mealybug Predator Information:

Popular Prey: citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri); the comstock mealybug (Pseudococcus comstocki); the obscure mealybug (Pseudococcus obscurus); the solenopsis mealybug (Phenacoccus solenopsis); the Mexican mealybug (Phenacoccus gossypii) and many other related species, even the long-tailed mealybug (Pseudococcus longispinus) but only if it is present with another species which produce cottony egg-masses.

Life-span: around ~3 weeks in their immature stages, then around ~1 month as adults

Optimal Living Conditions: between 64-91°F with a relative humidity of 70% or greater (not mandatory for success, though)

Usages: can be used almost anywhere, very versatile

They do fly, but not in temperatures below 56°F

They are attracted to white, so you should not wear white while releasing them

These predators are a cost-effective way to rid your garden of a mealybug problem.

These mealybug predators are shipped as 100 adults that are pre-fed and pre-mated.