Pasture Mealybug Update - June 5, 2026

It seems every day we get phone calls, texts, and emails showing us another county where the pasture mealybug can be found affecting the pastures and hayfields. The map below shows the latest information on the spread of the mealybug in Texas. If you have mealybugs in a county not shown in green, call, text or email me.  361-920-1138 or biles-sp@tamu.edu 

Over the past few weeks, we have been conducting insecticide tests to determine what insecticides will be useful in managing the pasture mealybug populations. None of the insecticides we think will control the pasture mealybug are labeled for control of pasture mealybug in pastures in Texas. The only one labeled in pastures in Texas is Sefina, which is labeled for aphids in pastures.

The insecticides were applied at 13 GPA using TT11002 flat fan nozzles. All applications included a non-ionic surfactant at 0.25% V/V.

As of 14 days after treatment, we were not able to visually separate treatments and I expect it will take another week or two for the grass to respond. While the number of insects per foot seemed relatively low, the grass is not growing at the rate expected. Our plan it to make a second application next week.

Below is a bar chart showing the number of mealybugs per square foot in the plots 7 and 14 days after treatment (DAT).

Important Note: These insecticides are not labeled for control of pasture mealybug in pastures and are not recommended to use for this purpose.