Longtailed mealybug - Life cycle

The longtailed mealybug has a wide host range and is particularly important on subtropical crops. It is most prevalent in pipfruit in the north of the North Island where it completes three generations per year. The time taken for each generation is greatly dependent on temperature, and can be from 1 to 4 months at different times of the year. All stages overwinter on pipfruit, and on herbaceous sward plants, woody shelter trees and shrubs. There is high overwintering mortality, and most of the survivors on the trees are first stage (instar) nymphs which move to the foliage at bud burst. Surviving females also produce young at this time. This leads to synchronisation of the first two generations of the season but overlapping occurs from January onwards giving a population of mixed stages in mid- to late-summer. Young mealybugs on the foliage remain there until they have almost completed their third instar, when they return to sites suitable for reproduction on the main branches or crawl into the calyces of fruits. This cycle from wood to foliage and back is repeated with each generation, although more adults remain amongst or on the fruits while they are present. At the time of leaf fall, most mealybugs have retreated to the bark of the trees, where they continue to develop slowly over the winter. Longtailed mealybug attacks many indoor and greenhouse plants which can be a source of infestation at any time of the year, but particularly in spring. Four or more generations may be completed indoors. Further south, there are two generations per year on pipfruit and sometimes a partial third generation.

There is no true dormancy (diapause). Limited development and reproduction occurs on warmer winter days, . Sexual reproduction is obligatory. While the adult male mealybug lives only 2-3 days, the female may spend 2-3 weeks maturing her eggs and up to two months to lay them. However, >90% of the eggs are laid within the first 10-14 days. Unlike the obscure and citrophilus mealybugs, the longtailed mealybug does not produce its eggs in an egg sac. The eggs are laid beneath the female's body and hatch very quickly into crawlers. The crawler stage is primarily responsible for dispersal of the population over the host tree and further afield. Young mealybugs crawl inside the calyx of apples as soon as there is space, usually from mid-January onwards, depending on cultivar. Further information is available on the life history of longtailed mealybug.