Pests

• A wide variety of pests are attracted to the tender flowers and leaves of the hibiscus. According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, pests that chew on the plant include common annoyances like caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails and slugs, beetles, cutworms and leaf miners. Insects more specific to the hibiscus include scale, mealybugs, spider mites, aphids, whiteflies and thrips. Poor air circulation often contributes to infestation.
  
  

Pink Mealybug

• The pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsute, is prevalent in many tropical regions and first discovered in South Florida in 2002. This pest attacks a wide variety of plants. The insect is small, with a pink body covered by a waxy secretion. Adult males have a reddish-brown color with one pair of wings and two long tails. Eggs are found in sacs, with the nymphs living approximately 30 days, through as many as 15 generations annually.
  
  

Scale

• Scale are also problematic to the hibiscus. These tiny insects produce honeydew, a sweet, sticky substance that is the result of sap that the scale ingests. Author Barbara Perry Lawton advises regular, close inspections of hibiscus plants to prevent scale buildup. Symptoms of infestation include the black, sooty mold they deposit on sections of the plant. She suggests knocking the scale off the hibiscus with hard sprays of water or simply picking them away by hand.
  
  

Management

• Control of these pests becomes difficult when large populations are present. Contact or systemic pesticides can help, but inspection of the plant, rather than incessant spraying, is advisable because the hibiscus can develop a sensitivity to the pesticide application. Spraying should be conducted in the early morning rather than in the middle of a heat-intensive, sunshine-filled day. It remains unknown whether insecticide will help with infestation by the pink mealybug, however, natural predators like the ladybug may be helpful in controlled-release situations.