Feeding damage causes stunting, curling, and distortion of the leaves and new growth. They look like black pepper sprinkled on the undersides of the leaves. Feeding damage causes very fine stippling or yellow flecks on the upper leaf surfaces. They spin silk strands over their colonies on the leaf undersurface and also in the crotches of petioles and stems when infestations are severe. They attack a wide variety of plants.
More mature mealybugs have filaments of wax projecting from the body margin.
They are also sucking insects and produce damage similar to aphids. Mealybugs tend to crawl into cracks, crevices, and crotches of petioles and twigs as well as along the veins of leaves and on the buds of new growth. The other two are brown when mature and yellowish-green to tan when young and small. The brown, soft scale is oval and very flat. Both are soft scales and have a very extensive list of host plants.