04/04/2026
The larvae of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri look so much like mealybugs that growers routinely try to wipe them off their plants. That's the beetle they just released, eating the pest they paid to eliminate. Here's how to tell them apart — and everything else you need to know before you release the most effective biological mealybug control in existence.
Cryptolaemus montrouzieri eats mealybugs at every life stage — but its larvae look so much like mealybugs that growers routinely remove them. Here's how to tell them apart, why ants will sabotage your release, and the one mealybug species it can't fully control.
