Planococcus ficus

The male and female vine mealybugs are different in appearance and in size. The females are much larger than the males, being approximately 4 mm in length, 2 mm wide and 1.5 mm thick. Females usually weigh 100 to 200 times more than the males. Females are segmented with a pink to slate-grey-colored appearance, and their body is covered in a fine white powdery wax layer. They have waxy hair-like extensions and a dark thin line of denuded wax running down the back of their body. They have no wings. The male P. ficus is very tiny and delicate. It is less than 1 mm long with a pair of inconspicuous, transparent wings. Males appear brownish in color, with a beaded antenna, and a thorax that is wider than their abdomen. They have two long filaments, called anal seta, that are used for flight stabilization. One very unique characteristic of the males is the fact that they do not have any functioning mouthparts, so they have to use their anal seta filaments to feed.

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