Expert: Christopher Littrell - 5/2/2010

Question
Hi there i have a problem with my plants they seem to have an infestation of bugs the bugs look almost like miniature horseshoe crabs and they are rapidly killing the plants. I live in Victoria,Australia. I have the plants in a little hot house to shelter them from the frost.Could you please help or let me know of someone who could? Hopefully yours,Rebecca.

Answer
Hello Rebecca,

They sound like they might be scale insects. Some species do look like tiny, armored, crab-like critters. They are hard to get rid of because they can be resistant to many kinds of pesticides. You can try to drown them by submerging the entire plant, pot and all, in a large bucket of water for 24 hours, take the pot out for a day, then repeat the process for another 24 hours. Manually pick off all the insects you can to reduce the damage. Those insects suck all the fluids/sap out of the plant.

You can then treat the plant with some Neem oil extract mixed with pyrethrines or Ortho pest control products for controlling scale insects right after drowning and picking off as many of the pests as you can.

Also, Sarracenia purpureas should be dormant this time of year. They are perfectly capable of handling freezing temperatures in the wild, though in pots should be protected from totally freezing solid with a tarp or mulch. Without dormancy, these temperate perennials will perish within a year or so in most cases. They need dormancy during winter to rest up between seasons. If the plant felt the change in seasons, marked by shorter daylengths of sunlight, and slowed in growth, you can place it where the temperatures are down to about 40 degrees and it will commence dormancy. The low temperatures will also kill the scale insects. After the insects have died off, allow the plant to warm slightly to about 60 degrees and keep it hydrated so it will replenish some of its lost fluid reserves, then place it in cooler temperatures again after a couple days so it will commence dormancy until spring.

Christopher