Spilococcus juniperi (Ehrhorn), the juniper mealybug, is a native species. In the 
East and Midwest it occurs in Florida, Indiana, lowa, Kansas, and Nebraska; it is 
also reported from six Western States. The species is restricted to juniper and seems 
to prefer redcedar and oneseed juniper. The juniper mealybug is found in native 
habitats and ornamental plantings. The adult female is dark purple, is covered with 
a smooth gray wax, and has two bare areas forming longitudinal stripes on the 
dorsal part of the thorax and abdomen. The body margin has several short, partially 
coalesced filaments. The ovisac encloses the venter of the female, forming a 
nestlike structure. 
The juniper mealybug’s life history is unknown except that it feeds on the foliage 
of the host and lays eggs. This mealybug is a serious pest of ornamental plantings of 
redcedar and oneseed juniper in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Indiana. The 
foliage of heavily infested trees turns brown and drops, beginning on the lower and 
inner branches of the host. Entire trees are sometimes defoliated. Two chalcidoid 
wasps have been reared from this mealybug. 
The Comstock mealybug, Pseudococcus comstocki (Kuwana), probably was 
introduced from the Orient. In the Eastern United States it occurs from New 
Hampshire to Florida and west to Missouri; it has also been reported from two 
Western States. This mealybug is polyphagous and is frequently collected on 
catalpa, mulberry, and yew. Other eastern forest hosts are holly, buckeye, maple, 
and poplar. The species is normally restricted to ornamental plantings. The adult 
female is reddish brown and is covered with a white wax in which two dorsal bare 
areas form longitudinal stripes. The body margin has approximately 17 pairs of 
long filaments; the caudal pairs are longest and are about one-third to three-fourths 
the length of the body. The filamentous ovisac normally covers all of the adult 
female. 
The Comstock mealybug has three generations per year, and in Virginia (604) 
and California (64) it overwinters as an egg in the ovisac. Adult females usually 
move from the feeding areas and oviposit in protected areas on the bark. Ovisacs 
contain 200 to 300 eggs; with the exception of overwintering periods, eggs hatch | 
to 2 weeks after being laid. Males are common and apparently are required for 
reproduction. This mealybug has many natural enemies, including chalcidoid 
wasps, platygasterid wasps, lady beetles, green and brown lacewings, and a fly. 
Two parasites that have been effective biological control agents are the wasps 
Pseudaphycus malinus Gahan and Allotropa convexifrons Muesebeck. 
The grape mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus (Ehrhorn), is a native species. 
Because of confusion surrounding the proper identity of P. maritimus and the 
closely related species P. obscurus Essig, much of the literature about P. maritimus 
actually pertains to P. obscurus. In the United States the grape mealybug is reported 
in 21 States; in the East it occurs in 18 States from New York to Florida and west to 
Missouri. The species 1s polyphagous, but in the East it often causes damage to yew 
and grape. [t occurs in natural habitats and ornamental plantings. The yellow to 
orange body of the adult female is covered with a gray wax. The margin of the body 
has 17 pairs of thin lateral filaments; the caudal pair is about one-fourth the length 
of the body. An ovisac is produced that encloses all but the head of the mealybug. 
The grape mealybug has two generations per year in central California (8/2) and 
Ohio (9/4) and overwinters as first instars in the ovisac in cracks in the bark. In 
early spring the first instars move to the foliage or flower buds of the host and feed. 
In early summer adult females move to the bark of the host and oviposit. The eggs 
hatch in July, and the first instars feed on the green portions of the stems. In late 
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