The invasive pasture mealybug was first discovered in Florida grass fields two months ago, and it has quickly spread across central and southern parts of the state.
It’s native to Australia and Southeast Asia, but was first detected in the U.S. in Texas and then Louisiana last year.
As of early this month, the insect has been confirmed in 15 Florida counties: Polk, Osceola, Brevard, Indian River, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Hardee, Highlands, Glades, Hendry, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier.
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The mealybug has a white, waxy coating, making it look fluffy, and it feeds on the sap of pasture grasses, like hay, or sugarcane, rice, and corn.
Isaac Esquivel, an assistant professor and extension specialist for UF/IFAS, said so far, the greatest impacts in Florida have been on limpograss pastures, where cattle feed, and sugarcane, but it can affect any other grass species.
"The leaves will turn red in certain grass species, or will start to dry, so it kind of dries out looking like drought stress, and it can happen rather quickly,” Esquivel said. “There's not natural predators for them, so they kind of just take off."
You can start seeing symptoms anywhere between seven and 21 days.
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He says it's going to have an especially big impact on the state's sugar cane.
"Particularly because the length of that crop ... sugar cane takes a couple years to develop before you can harvest that,” he said.
Florida's many ports are potential entry ways for nonnative species, like this one, he said.
Researchers are quickly testing which insecticides work best to fight the pest, with some poisons requiring state and federal approval for this specific use.
If growers suspect they have a mealybug infestation, they can send samples to the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Division of Plant Industry.
