Areca Palm, also known as Dypsis Lutescens, is an excellent indoor plant that does not attract many pests or bugs.
This is the reason why many newbie gardeners love to have this plant in their living rooms or bedrooms.
It is also a low-maintenance plant, as it can do very well with limited resources in indoor conditions.
Having said that, some of the younger and weaker plants can have issues with the bugs.
So, what are these Areca Palm pests, and how do you deal with them?
The following guide will help in resolving all these doubts in more detail.
Why Does Areca Palm Attract Pests?
There are many reasons why you'd see pest attacks on your Areca Palm plant.
The most common reasons, though, are the humid environment and weaker plants.
Both these elements are quite prominent in attracting various bugs to the plants.
The other reason is the place where you have kept your Areca Palm.
If the plant is kept near an open space or window, the bugs can quickly enter your indoor plant's pots.
Once they get the right conditions in your pot, it won't take long for them to damage the plant and move on to some other plants in your indoor garden.
That's how these garden pests work!
If you see any such bug problem in your Areca Palm, these are likely to be the reasons for it.
In the next section, you will find the details on the types of bugs on Areca Palm plants.
I hope it helps in simplifying the pest identification process for you.
Types Of Pests On Areca Palm
Here are the different types of pests that attack Areca Palm -
1. Spider Mites
Spider mites are quite common in most indoor as well as outdoor plants, and you will also see them on your Areca Palm.
These mites often appear in red and form a web on the leaves.
The mites live under the leaves and extract sap from the tender parts of the plant.
As for the size, they don't grow as big as common spiders.
You will always see them in tiny sizes.
Solution:
Use an insecticide spray to remove the mites infestation from your Areca Palm.
You can also spray the plant with water if the infestation is not too high.
Both these methods need to be performed a few times, as the mites are good at hiding and protecting themselves.
2. Scale
Scale is another insect that you don't want to see in your indoor plants.
It spreads so quickly that you won't get much time to control the infestation.
The Scale issue is well known in the states like Florida, where the environmental conditions are suitable for these insects.
The Scale insects are generally white in color, but there are other types too that grow on Areca Palm.
These insects also thrive on the sap, which makes the plant even weaker.
Solution:
You should clean the surface of the leaves and stem using rubbing alcohol and water solution.
This mixture will help remove the visible infestation from the plant.
Later, you can spray some insecticide solution to deal with this problem completely.
3. Thrips
Thrips are just like Spider Mites in many ways.
They exhibit a similar size and feeding mechanism on Areca Palms.
These insects use the same system of extracting the juices from tender parts of the plant, and that's why you'd see a lot of damage on the new-growth leaves of your palms.
As mentioned, the other problem is with their size.
Since they are quite tiny, they are difficult to spot in the first instance.
In most cases, we only get to know about this infestation when the palm's leaves start to curl and cause silvering and stippling on the surface.
If you see such a thing on your palm's leaves, it's a typical sign of Thrips infestation.
Solution:
Similar to the Spider Mites issue, you can use the water to spray on the affected parts.
This will help in getting rid of the large groups of these insects.
The next step would be to use insecticide spray on the plant, which should eliminate the further problem.
4. Mealybugs
Like Scale, the Mealybug problem is very common in most plants in the garden.
It is also one of the most difficult issues to solve in plants, as the bugs multiply quickly and damage the plant in no time.
If you don't take the right action immediately, the bugs can cause severe damage to the young plant.
In some cases, the plant may not survive at all.
So, as you can see, it's truly a huge concern when it comes to dealing with Mealybugs.
Regarding bugs, they are white-bodied insects that feed on the juices from the plant.
Their appearance is quite distinct from most bugs in the gardening world, which makes it easier for you to spot them.
These bugs also live in colonies and form white fuzzy structures on the stems and leaves of the plant.
Solution:
Although the water spraying method works all right, I would not recommend this method against the Mealybugs problem.
Instead, you should use rubbing alcohol and clean the surface with the help of a cotton swab or cloth.
Once you remove most of the colonies, you can spray the plant with Neem oil.
I have tried it so many times on my indoor plants, and it gives excellent results for such issues.
However, you can also use any other insecticide if you want.
Note: You should only spray the plant after a couple of days of rubbing alcohol application.
Do not spray the plant immediately.
Alternatively, you can simply spray the plant with insecticides instead of opting for the cleaning part.
5. Caterpillars
Caterpillars are another known pest in Areca Palms.
However, it's not something you'd see commonly on your plants.
So, what are these caterpillars, and how do they affect the Areca Palm?
Well, when the moth lays eggs on the plant, the eggs hatch into the larvae.
These caterpillar worms feed on the leaves, which is something similar to the other pest infestations mentioned in the guide.
The worms generally form webbings on the leaves and feast on the juices underneath these protective covers.
Some caterpillar varieties also feed on the flowers of palm plants.
Solution:
Even though the caterpillar infestation doesn't kill the plant, it's better to control it at the right moment.
Initially, you can simply remove the affected leaves from the plant and see whether you find any recurrence of this issue after a few days.
If the issue persists, you can go for the insecticide spray that is effective against caterpillars.
6. Whiteflies
The whitefly infestation is caused by tiny white-colored insects that can fly from one plant to another.
Their flying ability is the most concerning factor, as they can damage many plants in your home garden.
So, you need to be careful while acting against this problem.
If you see these insects on your Areca Palm, you should isolate the plant from the rest of the plants.
Once you do that, you can address the issue separately.
These bugs live and complete their lifecycle underneath the leaves, as it's the safest place to thrive for these little bugs.
When their eggs hatch, they grow into the nymph stage.
This is the most damaging stage when it comes to the growth phase of these flies, as the nymphs continuously feed on the juices extracted from the host plant.
Solution:
For this type of infestation, you can follow the same two-step approach.
In the beginning, you should just spray the water with a gardening hose.
Once you clean the affected surface, you can allow the plant to dry out for a day or two.
After the initial water spray, you can perform the insecticide spraying method to get rid of these flies entirely.
So, on the whole, these are the main pests you will see on your Areca Palm plants.
FAQs
It depends on the type of bugs you have on your Areca Palm.
However, in general, you can just try spraying the plant with water.
It should always be the first part of your action, as it destroys the infestation pretty effectively.
In the next stage, you can think of using insecticides on the affected leaves and stems.
Areca Palms won't attract insects on their own, but some of the pests do love to feed on the juices extracted from the leaves and stems of this plant.
So, it can surely act as a great host for harmful garden bugs.
It could be a caterpillar issue in your Areca Palm, though you need to perform a thorough inspection of the plant.
Otherwise, the pest damage may increase severely.
The white stuff you see on your Palm plant is most likely the Mealybugs issue.
As mentioned earlier in the guide, these bugs develop a white fuzzy formation on the plant.
The best way to get rid of fungus from the palm plant is to use fungicides on the affected parts.
You should also consider keeping the soil dry for a long period.
Do not overwater your plant.
If you like misting the plants, you must stop it immediately.
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