Control methods of orchid scale insects

Morphological characteristics

Orchid scale insect, commonly known as blue lice, is a pest of piercing and sucking mouthparts. The female shell is long, the abdomen protrudes to both sides, yellow; the male shell is slender, about 1 mm long, white, with a deep longitudinal back, yellowish brown shell points, protruding one end of the shell. Eggs yellowish, elliptic, ca. 0.1 mm long. The newly hatched nymph eggs are round and yellowish brown.

Occurrence regularity

The insect produces 2 to 3 generations a year and overwinters as fertilized female adults on orchid leaves. In May of the following year, the eggs were laid in the shell of the female adult, and the newly hatched nymph climbed out of the shell of the female. After a short period of crawling, the nymph was fixed on the main vein and edge of the leaves to suck juice, and gradually formed the shell. The second generation nymph appeared in August and matured in September and October with emergence and mating.

Hazard situation

Generally, the damage is the most serious from June to September. Blue lice often concentrate on the basic roads and veins of orchid leaves to absorb nutrients and secrete a large number of bacteria. The stems and leaves become moldy brown, causing various diseases, hindering photosynthesis and weakening the growth of orchids. In severe cases, the leaves appear yellowish spots and maculae, and then gradually expand, so that the whole leaf withered yellow, lost green and fell off, and even the whole plant died.

Prevention and cure method

1. When a small amount occurs, you can use a soft toothbrush or a small brown brush to brush off gently along the leaves, or you can scrape off the body with a thin piece of bamboo.

2. The cultivation environment and orchid basin should be ventilated and transparent, and the basin soil should not be too wet.

3. 80% dichlorvos emulsion can be added with 1000 to 1500 times water, and the solution can be sprayed twice, once a week.

4. 5% carbofuran is applied around the basin soil, 5 to 8 grams of carbofuran is applied and irrigated once, which can be killed after 7 days.

5. When the disease is found, isolate the diseased strains to prevent infection.