Subject: Weird insect
Location: New Delhi India
March 1, 2016 11:44 pm
Hi I am Supriya I live in New Delhi India
There is this weird species of bugs that i ve noticed in the area where i live.
These bugs are seasonal and are seen only during February to May and die when the summer is at its peak.
There is absolutely no pesticide that will kill them unless of course squishing which is really gross because there is a disgusting yellow fluid coming out of them and the stain from that fluid lasts like forever.
I ve seen multitudes of them in areas where there are many peepal trees (u call it peepal in india)
I will be really grateful if u could help me identify them.
Signature: Supriya
Dear Supriya,
We believe this is some species of Mite, but we cannot find any images to confirm that suspicion. We have requested assistance in the identification. It could also be some immature form of something other than a Mite.
Eric Eaton confirms comment
Daniel:
It is definitely *not* a mite. I suspect it is something related to mealybugs, but not knowing the Indian fauna that well, I can’t be 100% positive.
Eric
I suspect this may be some sort of scale insect (such as a mealybug) rather than a mite, as it has a more segmented look than is typical for a mite. I think what you’ve evidently interpreted as the first pair of legs may be the antennae.
Thanks for letting us know. That was our second thought because it reminded us of this Australian Giant Scale Insect, but we thought the legs on this new submission seemed too long.