Mealybug destroyer
The mealybug destroyer is a small ladybird, but it is not red with spots. It is dark brown with an orange head and an orange tip at the back. Farmers love it, because it eats the pests that harm their fruit trees.
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Fun facts
Its larva is covered in white wax, so it looks just like the mealybugs it eats. That way it can sneak up on its food.
The larva grows bigger than the grown-up beetle, up to about 15 millimetres long.
It was brought to California in 1891 to protect lemon and orange trees.
The mother lays her eggs right among the mealybugs' eggs, so her babies have food as soon as they hatch.
It becomes a grown-up beetle in about 24 days and lives for about two months.
Most asked questions about Mealybug destroyer
?What does the mealybug destroyer eat?
It eats mealybugs and other scale insects, tiny bugs that suck sap from plants.
?Is the mealybug destroyer a ladybird?
Yes. It is a ladybird, but it is dark brown and orange instead of red with spots.
?Why does the larva look like a mealybug?
Its white waxy coat makes it look like the bugs it eats, so it can get close to them.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
- Named by
- Mulsant
- Group
- Ladybirds
- Family
- Coccinellidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Coccinellidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania, Europe, Africa, North America, South America
- Also known as
- Mealybug ladybird
Where the facts come from
- Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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