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Hello cacti lovers.

My opuntia subulata has developed these small white spots within the last week. They're contained to one of three stalks and seem to be limited to the bottom and middle of the plant (for now). I can rub them off and there is no trace of them left.

Are these eggs of some kind? They don't seem substantial enough to signify a mealybug infestation, which is the most common answer I found when browsing the internet for solutions.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

They do look like mealies, maybe they are the young ones with the parents on the areole to the right of the picture.

Certainly check out the larger possible adults on the right. The smaller spots might be something else.

Thanks—good eye. I rubbed at the larger spots with a toothpick and they seem to have been casings of some sort. Certainly no evidence of anything currently alive.

With my limited knowledge, I have to guess these are eggs, though. (I did find a dead larder beetle(?) in the tray.)

Would you recommend I spray with insecticide? Any information is helpful; I'm completely new to this.

Thanks!

Hi-

I think it's scale; which is relatively common on opuntoids. :{

Best regards, SCS

Insecticidal Soap seems to work really well for this. I had mealy bugs on my Austrocactus and a few sprays + some tooth pick work looks to have eradicated them. Make sure to hit the soil too as they hang out in there. If you just spray the plant you may miss some. You can buy it at any plant/garden/hardware type store. Also, if you can find ladybugs, drop a few of those on the plant. They eat them