Getting rid of scale/mealy bugs in vivarium?!

[Peter_Parker]

I'm not sure if any of you guys are really into houseplants or know about any methods of pest control in a contained system, but I thought I would reach out to you all! I have a 20-gal long setup I was planning on housing some Liphistius at some point; it's got a sloped side with ferns and some moss growing in pretty nicely.. but somehow it's contracted a gosh darn infestation of those whitish-colored mealy scale bug things!!! X( My mom told me you can get rid of them by spraying rubbing alcohol on the plants and then wiping it off with a sponge or rag, but the thing is, I don't know how that will affect ferns and moss (e.g. are they more vulnerable to alcohol than, say, a thick-leaved rubber plant or sansevieria?), not to mention the leaves are pretty delicate some I'm afraid I'd end up ripping the leaflets off.. There are three kinds of ferns in there, a broad-leaved kind, some rabbit's foot, and maidenhair, and they only seem interested in the maidenhair... help?

 

[Shrike]

I'm not sure if any of you guys are really into houseplants or know about any methods of pest control in a contained system, but I thought I would reach out to you all! I have a 20-gal long setup I was planning on housing some Liphistius at some point; it's got a sloped side with ferns and some moss growing in pretty nicely.. but somehow it's contracted a gosh darn infestation of those whitish-colored mealy scale bug things!!! X( My mom told me you can get rid of them by spraying rubbing alcohol on the plants and then wiping it off with a sponge or rag, but the thing is, I don't know how that will affect ferns and moss (e.g. are they more vulnerable to alcohol than, say, a thick-leaved rubber plant or sansevieria?), not to mention the leaves are pretty delicate some I'm afraid I'd end up ripping the leaflets off.. There are three kinds of ferns in there, a broad-leaved kind, some rabbit's foot, and maidenhair, and they only seem interested in the maidenhair... help?

I feel your pain. I'm a huge fan of the genera Hoya and Crassula and mealy bugs are their kryptonite. I'll be honest...I've never had any luck eradicating a mealy bug infestation without the use of a systemic insecticide. I've used Bonide systemic granules to wipe out infestations of mealy bugs and thrips in my house plants (used very sparingly). My collection got hit hard this past year and I decided it was time to pull out the big guns. I hate using chemical controls, but I have several jade specimens that I propagated from a single leaf and wasn't willing to lose them. Obviously, this isn't a good option for you...

If you can obtain live lady bugs, they will feed voraciously on mealy bugs. I wish you luck, but if mealy bugs have become well established, you're going to find it very difficult, if not impossible to get rid of them without resorting to stronger measures.

 

[Peter_Parker]

I was afraid of that... my mom just about got rid of them in the house, but the ones in the lab terrarium are gonna be tougher, just because they're all contained and I plan on putting spiders in their at some point so I don't want to bombard it with insecticides... BUT that ladybug idea sounds like it just might work... the infestation isn't TOO bad (...yet...), the bugs only really seem to be attacking that one kind of fern, which I could pull out of the terrarium as a last resort, but I'm afraid the bugs may start attacking the other plants in lieu of their "preferred" prey.. luckily, the science building has a healthy population of ladybugs in the winter, I'm not sure if they're the invasive asian kind or native ones, but hopefully they all work the same..?