Live adult females are oval, grey, and coated with white mealy wax which forms small tufts (Beardsley 1959). They are 1.5 mm long and 1.0 mm wide. Authoritative identification requires slide-mounted adult females under a compound light microscope. See Beardsley (1959) for a detailed description of the D. neobrevipes.
D. neobrevipes crawlers (first-instar nymphs) can be detected in the field using blue sticky traps. Jahn and Beardsley (2000) found blue sticky traps better for trapping D. neobrevipes than yellow sticky traps, which attract high numbers of other insects, such as flies.
D. neobrevipes is only found on the aerial parts of the plant (Beardsley 1960) and is usually seen on the surface, but can feed deep in the leaf axils or within the blossom cups. Therefore, a plant may need to be dissected in order to find all of the mealybugs on it (Jahn et al., 2003).
Related invasive species
- Dysmicoccus neobrevipes
Related Farm Practice
- Hosts
- Host plants
- Light
- Identification
- Feeding
Dysmicoccus neobrevipes is a mealybug with a pantropical distribution. It is an economically important pest that can feed on and damage dozens of hosts, principally pineapple and the banana Musa × paradisiaca. The main damage caused by D. neobrevipes is due to its role as a vector of mealybug wilt (Plant Health Australia, 2013). Qin et al. (2010) considered it a dangerous alien species with a high risk of invasion in China. Although D. neobrevipes can colonize without the help of associated caretaker ants, most commonly Pheidole and Solenopsis, the ants’ presence can help them to invade new areas by providing shelter and protecting them from natural enemies and adverse weather conditions.
D. neobrevipes is usually found near the top of the host plant and feeds by sucking phloem sap from the plant tissue. This may cause local lesions to form at the site of feeding on some hosts. These lesions are bizonate, with a dark green centre surrounded by a lighter green area (Dasgupta, 1988). D. neobrevipes also affects the plant’s photosyntheitic ability by excreting sugary honeydew that fouls plant surfaces, forming a medium for the growth of sooty mould, which blocks sunlight and air from reaching the leaves, impairing photosynthesis (Tabata and Ichiki, 2015).
The main damage that pineapple mealybugs such as D. neobrevipes cause is as a result of their role as a vector of pineapple wilt. This devastating disease is caused by Pineapple mealybug wilt associated virus-2 (PMWaV-2), a mealybug-transmitted ampelovirus (Subere et al., 2011). There are two types of wilt, quick wilt and slow wilt. Quick wilt, also known as mealybug wilt, develops around 2 months after a short attack by a large colony of mealybugs, whereas slow wilt is caused by many mealybugs feeding on the plant tissue over many months (Jahn et al., 2003). Slow wilt causes the inner leaves to turn dry and brown, and outer leaves to lose their turgidity and droop (Jahn et al., 2003). Unlike slow wilt, quick wilt causes leaves to turn a light-green to yellow-pink colour in plants younger than 6 months. In older plants, quick wilt causes leaves to droop, turn pink and dry out (Carter, 1932).
Both types of wilt cause leaves to droop and dry out. They also both affect the fruit yield of the plant, especially if symptoms are seen early in the season. Affected plants either produce smaller fruit or produce no fruit at all. Pineapple wilt may also result in the invasion of saprophytic organisms, which leads to collapse of the roots (Kessing and Mau, 1992). Ultimately, plants may die as a result of infection by pineapple wilt transmitted by D. neobrevipes.
D. neobrevipes also causes green spot disease of pineapple, which is characterized by galls on leaves caused by a reaction between the plant and a secretion from the mealybugs.