Scale insects cause great harm to plants; how can they be effectively controlled?

Scale insects are a pest that causes considerable damage to fruit trees. When the season arrives for fruits such as mangoes and pomelos to ripen, scale insects are at their peak reproductive period. So what harm do scale insects actually cause? Next, let us learn about the harm caused by scale insects and how to prevent and control them.

1. Strong reproductive capacity

In citrus-growing areas, this pest can be seen everywhere, so for citrus, scale insects are their natural enemy. First of all, one of the harms of scale insects is that they have a very strong reproductive capacity. Not only that, there are also many species. Often, just as a pesticide has been developed to kill one type of scale insect, a new type of scale insect appears.

2. Leaf damage

During the stage when fruit is growing, scale insects often suck the juice from the fruit to reproduce, and some leaves that scale insects have infested will turn yellow, thus affecting the plant's photosynthesis. When the scale insect infestation is severe, it can even cause the fruit tree to show symptoms of withering.

3. Ant feeding

In addition to what was mentioned above, after scale insects have infested a fruit tree, they also leave behind some honeydew, and the honeydew left by scale insects attracts ants to feed on it. Because the ants feed on the honeydew, the bark is also chewed and broken to a certain extent, which causes the tree's shading effect to disappear.

So scale insects cause so much harm; how should they be prevented or even killed?

4. Prevent the spread of scale insects

Because this pest, the scale insect, is relatively small in body size, its ability to spread is very limited. It cannot damage all the fruit trees in a large area. Therefore, as long as scale insect damage is found on a small number of fruit trees, that part of the fruit trees should be isolated to prevent further spread.

5. Spray pesticide in time

When scale insects are still in the nymph stage, controlling them at this time can achieve the greatest effect. In May or June each year, pesticide should be sprayed early to prevent scale insect damage. At this time, the pesticide that can be chosen for spraying is: jieqiao bisha spray, and the dilution should be 600 to 800 times. Only in this way can the pest be effectively prevented.

6. Properly release natural enemies of scale insects

As the saying goes: every cause has its effect. So scale insects certainly also have natural enemies. In the natural world, ladybugs very much like to prey on scale insects, so when, while paying attention to farming, you find scale insect infestation, you can properly release some ladybugs in your own fruit trees. This is also a good way to prevent scale insects. Another parasitic natural enemy of scale insects is the encyrtid wasp. After discovering the infestation, you can also introduce the parasitic natural enemies of scale insects to achieve the goal of killing scale insects.