Does any one know this insect? it a small nat beside small wing next to white cotton strings coming from the larva They are 30 to 50 larvey on the underside of each...
They are 30 to 50 larvey on the underside of each of the leaves on a maple tree, I hold another maple tree right next to this one and it looks resembling it is uninfected. the white cotton is very sticky and make a mess on the cars in the driveway below the tree
Answers: It sounds like cottony maple branch scale. Here is a website specifically very informative roughly this particular pest and its command. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/...
Additionally from hort.wisc: This insect is a small, flattened brown scale going on for 1/8Ħħ long. In early summer seasoned females begin to secrete white, waxy, cottony-appearing egg sac in which they lay as several as 1,500 eggs. Eventually the eggs hatch to crawlers in delayed June through July. The crawlers move to the underside of the leaves where they nurture by sucking plant sap along the midrib or the veins. They spend the remainder of the summer feed on the leaves, then in arrears in the summer, tiny wing males mature and mate near immature females. Before the leaves jump down from the tree, the females return to the twigs where they overwinter as second instar nymphs. There is single one generation respectively year.
It is difficult to answer this question, as the insects could be several different things. I be going to suggest mealybugs but I do not think they attack maple. Then again, the insects could be beneficial, and as a consequence to kill them could be detrimental surrounded by the long run. I would contact your local county extension office. Every county contained by the country has an extension department with master gardeners whose work it is to answer these types of questions. It would probably support them if you could take a photo of the tree, leaves, and larva. I don't know where you live, but merely type your county, state, and extension office surrounded by a search engine and their site should come up. Good luck!!