Kill them with the fire of a thousand suns and leave none alive. They are cactus bugs and will destroy anything they touch within a matter of hours. Dish soap works on the young, malathion also works, manual crushing also works.
They breed uncontrollably too, kill kill kill. I need to check my plants again for them. Dominio cactus and pereskiposis make good trap plants.
Virgmantx
They are cactus beetles or cactus bugs, they suck the the juices and chloroplast out of the plant. That’s what the light colored mottling on the plant is probably.
I just spray mine of with a hose, and pick them off (squish). They typically hit my area in waves that only last a couple weeks, but they are relentless during that time. Since the opuntia they prefer have big flowers and I keep them outside, I don’t use pesticide so I don’t hurt the good bugs. Diatomaceous earth has no effect on them that I can tell, so it’s about being vigilant and physical removal in my experience. Best of luck, they suck both literally and figuratively.
Empty-Recognition887
Here call them sucker bugs we have this kind a more black brown kind. Either way you want to kill as most of them as possible.
To prevent them from coming back you can dust the cactus with de.
Melodic-Dentist-9160
Well at least a got a pretty bloom this year ðŸ˜
Do they live under the dirt as well, should I re-pot it?
djaphoenix21
These things a nightmare and come and go in waves. You need to keep an eye out for the smaller nymphs to try and keep them under control. I use a insecticidal soap spray that kills them on contact. Or spray with the hose to knock them off then squish if possible. They’ll permanently scar or leave mottling on your plants. My ‘Gumby’ Eves Needle looks awful because of these things.
7 Comments
Kill them with the fire of a thousand suns and leave none alive. They are cactus bugs and will destroy anything they touch within a matter of hours. Dish soap works on the young, malathion also works, manual crushing also works.
They breed uncontrollably too, kill kill kill. I need to check my plants again for them. Dominio cactus and pereskiposis make good trap plants.
They are cactus beetles or cactus bugs, they suck the the juices and chloroplast out of the plant. That’s what the light colored mottling on the plant is probably.
I just spray mine of with a hose, and pick them off (squish). They typically hit my area in waves that only last a couple weeks, but they are relentless during that time. Since the opuntia they prefer have big flowers and I keep them outside, I don’t use pesticide so I don’t hurt the good bugs. Diatomaceous earth has no effect on them that I can tell, so it’s about being vigilant and physical removal in my experience. Best of luck, they suck both literally and figuratively.
Here call them sucker bugs we have this kind a more black brown kind. Either way you want to kill as most of them as possible.
To prevent them from coming back you can dust the cactus with de.
Well at least a got a pretty bloom this year ðŸ˜
Do they live under the dirt as well, should I re-pot it?
These things a nightmare and come and go in waves. You need to keep an eye out for the smaller nymphs to try and keep them under control. I use a insecticidal soap spray that kills them on contact. Or spray with the hose to knock them off then squish if possible. They’ll permanently scar or leave mottling on your plants. My ‘Gumby’ Eves Needle looks awful because of these things.
Fry those suckers
https://preview.redd.it/e5g0p0cdo7zg1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f730e3553de5987d216a7059a3301bc4a98637d8