Golden Mealybugs

At the arboretum, we have several trees of the genus Araucaria. They are conifers from the southern hemisphere. A couple of years ago, they suffered a hefty infestation of mealybugs, which I only became aware of when I saw all the predatory mealybug destroyers all over the trees. At that time, I was unable to find the offending mealybugs, but I have been on the lookout for them, and this week, I found them, once again on the bunya-bunya tree.


First I saw the baby ones.


Then some larger ones.


Some parts of the tree were really crowded with them. I have identified them as Golden Mealybugs, Nipaecoccus aurilanatus.


Once again, the destroyers (these white bugs) are on the attack, but right now, they are vastly outnumbered by their prey.