A new invasive pest is damaging grass and sugarcane crops across South Florida, raising alarms among farmers and researchers alike. The pasture mealybug has now been detected in 15 Florida counties \u2014 and scientists at the University of Florida are racing to find solutions.<\/p>\n
Isaac Esquivel, a UF\/IFAS assistant professor of entomology and nematology in agronomic and forage crops, is among the researchers studying the pest. He\u2019s breaking down what farmers need to know \u2014 from identifying the insect to protecting their fields.<\/p>\n
What is pasture mealybug?<\/p>\n
The pasture mealybug is a small, white, oval-shaped insect with a slightly fuzzy or fluffy appearance. At its largest, it\u2019s roughly the width of a pencil eraser \u2014 and it looks nearly identical to non-destructive mealybug species common in Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlorida has more than 80 species of mealybugs \u2014 and most are either harmless or are only slight nuisances,\u201d Esquivel said. \u201cThe pasture mealybug is rare and unique in that it\u2019s so destructive, but just because you see a mealybug on your plants, it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it\u2019s the invasive species we\u2019re concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pest feeds on plant sap in grass blades, sugarcane and other grass-like crops. It can also burrow into soil to feed on roots and is capable of surviving cold winters underground \u2014 making it a year-round threat.<\/p>\n
Invasive mealybug (University of Florida)How fast can it spread?<\/p>\n
The speed of this pest\u2019s damage is what makes it particularly alarming to researchers and farmers. Once established in a field, it can be devastating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will start in a hot spot but will take over a whole field within one to two weeks,\u201d Esquivel said. \u201cIt\u2019s a concern for pasture grasses and hayfields that feed livestock, and it can kill a whole pasture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mealybug is native to Australia and was first reported in the U.S. in late 2025 \u2014 in Texas in pasture grasses and in Louisiana in sugarcane. It was first detected in Florida in late May 2026. As of July 6, it has been confirmed in Brevard, Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk and St. Lucie counties. How it arrived in Florida remains unknown.<\/p>\n
What options do farmers have right now?<\/p>\n
Treatment options are currently limited, as researchers are still evaluating what works against this newly arrived species.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, this is a new invasive species for our state and our country, so there are no reliable insecticides on the market that we know of to treat this, but we\u2019re doing research to see what might work well,\u201d Esquivel said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued an emergency crisis exemption for the use of Sivanto Prime, a specific pesticide, against pasture mealybugs on sugarcane in Florida. Researchers are still evaluating its long-term effectiveness.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Esquivel says early detection is the most powerful tool farmers have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you see any slight browning, get close to the plant and look for the pests,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you spot something that appears like pasture mealybugs, report them to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for sample collection and contact your local Extension office.\u201d<\/p>\n
What should you do if you spot it?<\/p>\n
Farmers who suspect an infestation should take photos and submit them using the UF\/IFAS Pasture Mealybug Report form<\/a>. Samples should be sent to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services\u2019 Division of Plant Industry<\/a>. Reporting helps researchers track the pest\u2019s spread and develop management strategies.<\/p>\n For those already dealing with losses, Esquivel offers a message of reassurance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most important thing to remember right now is that these are the early days of a new pest invasion,\u201d he said. \u201cSo there will be some growing pains and some unavoidable crop losses while researchers work to find a solution. But we will work tirelessly to find that solution, and we will get through to the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInvasive species are controllable, and research is an active learning process, and I can promise researchers like me won\u2019t stop until we find the solution to this new challenge,\u201d Esquivel added.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new invasive pest is damaging grass and sugarcane crops across South Florida, raising alarms among farmers and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,29045,133640],"class_list":["post-332832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-invasive","tag-mealybug"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}