acacia howittii first pot and PEST ID

[matty-j]

hey everyone ive had this howitti for a month or so now
i couldnt find a pot i liked until today at bonsai south
terrible weather tho.......anyway

i potted it up when i got home i removed about half the roots
not by choice, this is the first acacia ive worked on
and it has a very fine brittle root system
is this the case with all acacias?
when i was potting tho i noticed quite a few grub's?
ive removed all i could see and couldnt find anything in the soil
what are they and should i be worried about them?
any advice or comments on the pot tree or otherwise is very welcome

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[Hackimoto]

Maybe Wooly Aphids, or more likely Mealy bugs, just remove them by hand and keep an eye out for any more. Or use Confidor.

[shibui]

I think the 'bug' is a type of scale. 'Wattle Tick Scale' is one but usually a bit rounder than these. There are other scale insects that attack acacias.

Curl grubs are the most common grubs found in pots but you haven't given us a pic so just guessing.

[Bretts]

Cottony cushion scale Icerya purchasi Or very similar. Looks very ugly when it gets out of hand. As stated Manual removal is pretty good. Squash the buggers but any pest treatment will work. If they become a backyard infestation in large trees maybe a soap treatment would be best as well as high pressure hose.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/5748/bgimage
Control info here
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7410.html

[kcpoole]

I get them on my Howittii too, and funily enough, it is the ONLY tree with them

I have tried white oil on them, and although they do not get and more, they still are persistent.

Little buggers!
Might try confidor next

Ken

[Bretts]

I had them infest a garden Mop top (robina) The sap "honey" from them was dripping through the tree it was a mess. I was suprised that not one of my benched bonsai was affected but another tree or two around the yard had a few as well. When Autumn came I cut the Mop top back hard and used water at high pressure to clean off what wood was left. It was a large tree for a mop top say 5-6 meters tall. I then sprayed with lime sulfur.
I was expecting it to be an issue come the next spring but i only found the occasional bug that i mostly just removed by hand. I still see them around occasionaly but never like the first time when they infested a Mop Top.

[Andrew Legg]

Her ein South Africa, we call that Australian bug. Don't ask me why.

[matty-j]

thanks for all the reply's

as usual the info is spot on!!!
i removed them all that night and the following day i removed 3 more
today i couldn't find any at all
i havent used confidor or any other pesticides before
i will use them if i have to but hopefully i can get away with removing
them by hand

much appreciated everyone