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is this a scale bug (northern Taiwan nursery plant)

is this a scale bug (northern Taiwan nursery plant)

is this a scale bug (northern Taiwan nursery plant)

is this a scale bug (northern Taiwan nursery plant)

These appeared on three small, similar houseplants I bought about a month earlier at a nursery. There were dozens. I physically removed a few and just pruned stems that had many, and put the clippings in a plastic container with some water to keep an eye on them.

I noticed that they moved around each day and saw one moving in real time. Included are some top-side closeups and some from below through the wall of the plastic container.

Location is northern Taiwan in April, but since the source is a nursery they could be from elsewhere perhaps.

They're about 3 to 4 mm long, and all white. They are white, fuzzy and "pill-shaped" with little fuzzy extensions around their edges. From below they have six (short?) brown legs that are hidden when looking from above.

Question(s):

  • Are these little white fuzzy insects "scale"?
  • If so, what species and what is their lifecycle like? (should I be looking in the soil for the next generation?)
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Mealybugs. They're small, sap sucking insects related to aphids, cicadas, stink bugs and assassin bugs. The name come from the coating of distasteful, powdery white wax they secrete as an antipredator defence. Squash them, as they reproduce and their feeding weakens the plant and can introduce plant viruses. These things are particularly damaging to fleshy, slow-growing plants like cacti and succulent euphorbias. Since your plant appears to be a poinsettia(Euphorbia pulcherrima), I'm not surprised.

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  • $\begingroup$ This is great, thank you! Yes mealybugs seems to be the right call. I have some additional photos I need to upload that I took through a microscope but I'm sure it won't change the answer though it may make it easier to address "...and what is their life cycle like?" Generally Stack Exchange answers should include links to at least one or two supporting sources. Thanks! $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Sep 4, 2022 at 18:54
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    $\begingroup$ Glad I could be of some help. Their lifecycle is similar to most other true bugs, being egg>nymph>adult $\endgroup$
    – SuperGuy
    Commented Sep 4, 2022 at 19:10

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