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How to identify it
- Adult females are about 1/8 inch long, with a slender gray body hidden under short, dense white wax.[2][1]
- Nymphs and adults also carry many long, thin white wax filaments, some up to twice the body length, which give them a hairy look like a loose cotton swab.[1][2]
- Eggs are laid in elongated, white, felt-like egg sacs (ovisacs) along the leaves.[1][2]
Where it lives
It is native to Florida. It was first reported outside that state in South Carolina in 2018 and reached North Carolina by 2022, possibly helped by warming summers or carried in on infested nursery stock grown farther south.[2][1]
Biology and life cycle
Females have no wings. They move short distances by crawling or are carried by ants, and long-distance spread probably happens when infested plants are moved.[2][1]
Each adult female lays hundreds of eggs. The crawlers that hatch walk to other leaves and nearby plants, settle, and suck sap with almost microscopic, hair-like mouthparts, molting several times before they become adults.[1][2]
In South Carolina, infestations become noticeable from late May to June and stay active until late fall. The mealybugs probably spend the winter in the plant crown or roots, though that has not been confirmed.[1]
NC State considers it likely that males exist, since they are known in other species of the genus; male mealybugs are tiny two-winged adults without mouthparts that die soon after seeking out females.[2]
Known hosts are muhly grass and perhaps fakahatchee grass. Muhly grass is native to the coastal plain from Connecticut to Texas and is otherwise generally free of pests and diseases.[2][1]
Damage and signs
Health risk
Clemson and NC State discuss it only as a pest of muhly grass and mention no risk to people or pets.[1][2]
Control
Prevention
Inspect new muhly grass plants for mealybugs before buying or planting them.[1][2]
Sanitation
Remove and destroy plants that are heavily infested and declining; NC State calls this drastic but effective. When pruning leaves and flowers from infested plants, bag and remove the clippings.[2][1]
Pesticides
For light infestations, a horticultural oil spray or a systemic insecticide may help. NC State notes that oil may need two applications about 14 days apart, because the felt-like covering over the egg sacs can protect the eggs, and that one treatment with the systemic imidacloprid should give acceptable suppression for a whole growing season. Follow all label instructions.[1][2]
After a granular systemic treatment the dead mealybugs' fluffy wax stays visible for weeks, while sprays at least mat the fluff down.[2]
Common questions
- What does a muhlygrass mealybug infestation look like?
- Infested grass carries white, hairy-looking insects about 1/8 inch long and white, felt-like egg sacs along the leaves. Heavy infestations make the plants look unattractive and off-color.[1][2]
- Can I save an infested muhly grass?
- Light infestations may respond to horticultural oil or a systemic insecticide. Plants that are heavily infested and already declining are best removed and destroyed.[1][2]
- How did it reach the Carolinas?
- It is native to Florida. NC State suggests warming summers may be letting it move north, or that it arrived on infested nursery stock grown farther south, and Clemson thinks long-distance spread probably happens through the movement of infested plants.[2][1]
Sources
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, “Muhly Grass Mealybug (C. Tanner).” hgic.clemson.edu/muhlygrass-mealybug/ (accessed 2026-11-09)
- NC State Extension, “Muhlygrass Mealybug, PDIC Factsheet (J. Baker, 2022).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/muhly-grass-mealybug (accessed 2026-11-09)
- iNaturalist, “Stemmatomerinx acircula taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/962605 (accessed 2026-11-09)