bug ID in zone 7?

[karmen]

I have a salvia plant that I need help with, it got this little fuzzy white bug on it that I think is a wooly aphid, I took a picture of it on my Boston fern because it was easier to see on there ...

Comments

[sb158]

Looks like you have aphids and spider mites, as well as the other. The other might be mealy bug. The ants are farming the aphids; they eat the honeydew that the aphids excrete. Spider mites will kill the plant really quick; aphids and mealy bugs will, eventually, too. I'd recommend spraying, about every 3 days or so, for a couple weeks to get rid of them. Mealy bugs can be washed off with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol, but that many spider mites and aphids really require sterner measures.

[karmen]

oh argh, :( thanks! I will go and spray the Safers on it right now.

[liminalia]

If it's not a mealy bug it's a scale insect.

[karmen]

Will the Safers kill both of those as well? Or am I doomed to spend my day tomorrow outside with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol? I just doused him in the Safers ....