Hi! Please help with this pest, I dont know what it is and I can't find info about it anywhere...
it doesn't move but they are like eating/sucking the cactus and turning it yellowish.
Really appreciate any comments, thank you!
**update:I think it is not scales, the rubbing alcohol doesn't seem to help and when I smash them, it release a yellow fluid**
Yellow... Bugs? Fungi?
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maria03esther
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Yellow... Bugs? Fungi?
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Last edited by maria03esther on Sat Aug 20, 2016 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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kristian_Fossmo
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Re: Yellow... Bugs? Fungi?
Scale insects. Rubbing with alcohol and soap solution is a way to kill them. Or insecticide, but if you can avoid that, do so 
"When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again."
William Beebe, 1906
William Beebe, 1906
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maria03esther
- Posts: 2
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Re: Yellow... Bugs? Fungi?
Is it another kind of scales? I have had scale on another cactus but it doesnt look like scales.. When I squish them it release a yellow fluid... But I will try with alcohol, maybe is another kind?kristian_Fossmo wrote:Scale insects. Rubbing with alcohol and soap solution is a way to kill them. Or insecticide, but if you can avoid that, do so
Thank you!
Re: Yellow... Bugs? Fungi?
I cannot see enough to figure out, what these oval looking spots on your plant are. There are two kinds of scale though. One is called a "soft scale", while the other is named "armored scale". These insects are not easily killed. The adult female remains in place, while the freshly hatched young ones, called "crawlers" move from plant to plant to find a feeding location.
One way to get rid of them is to use a systemic insecticide. That pesticide can be applied by watering can. The plant will absorb the chemical through its root system and the insecticide is moved throughout the plant, making it toxic to the insect pest. There should be such a chemical available at your nursery or garden supply center at places like Lowes, Walmart, etc..
You can figure out, if these shapes are scale insects by gently lifting the cover - if it is an armored scale - or plucking the whole insect carefully off its host and then examining it with a good hand lens. Armored scales are pictured under "Pests & Diseases on this page. Just click on the button with that name at the top of this page.
I am not sure, if there is also a "soft scale" presented. However, if you place the supposed insect on its back, you should be able to see a modified body with a feeding organ that looks like a thin thread.
If your spots looked more whitish-brown, you could also be dealing with mealybugs. Those are nasty critters, but can be killed the same way as the scale insects.
Somehow, I do not believe, that the problem on your plant is caused by a fungus. If it is a fungal pathogen, then you should either spot a fuzzy growth, which could be yellowish, white, or grey or tiny grey spheres or slits that may exude a waxy off-white, yellow or pink spore mass. However, you do need a magnification of at least 10x to get a good idea.
You can take your plant or an infested/infected plant part to a Country Extension Service agent or a plant nursery and have them evaluate your specimen.
Harald
One way to get rid of them is to use a systemic insecticide. That pesticide can be applied by watering can. The plant will absorb the chemical through its root system and the insecticide is moved throughout the plant, making it toxic to the insect pest. There should be such a chemical available at your nursery or garden supply center at places like Lowes, Walmart, etc..
You can figure out, if these shapes are scale insects by gently lifting the cover - if it is an armored scale - or plucking the whole insect carefully off its host and then examining it with a good hand lens. Armored scales are pictured under "Pests & Diseases on this page. Just click on the button with that name at the top of this page.
I am not sure, if there is also a "soft scale" presented. However, if you place the supposed insect on its back, you should be able to see a modified body with a feeding organ that looks like a thin thread.
If your spots looked more whitish-brown, you could also be dealing with mealybugs. Those are nasty critters, but can be killed the same way as the scale insects.
Somehow, I do not believe, that the problem on your plant is caused by a fungus. If it is a fungal pathogen, then you should either spot a fuzzy growth, which could be yellowish, white, or grey or tiny grey spheres or slits that may exude a waxy off-white, yellow or pink spore mass. However, you do need a magnification of at least 10x to get a good idea.
You can take your plant or an infested/infected plant part to a Country Extension Service agent or a plant nursery and have them evaluate your specimen.
Harald