Ground Pearls (Margarodes meriodionalis, Eumargarodes laingi) Common Name: Pink ground pearl / Ground Pearls
Latin Name: Eumargarodes laingi
Appearance:
Ground pearls belong to a family Margarodidae of insect species. Little pearl-like bodies on the roots or in the soil distinguish ground pearls. During the early summer, the pink adult stage crawls.
The adult female ground pearl is a wingless, pinkish scale insect about 1/16 inches long and has well-developed forelegs and claws.
The male is a gnat-like bug smaller than the female but has a slender waxy “tail” that can grow to 1/14 inches long.
A white waxy sac contains clusters of pinkish-white eggs. The slender nymph, sometimes known as a ground pearl, is encased in a hard, rounded, yellowish-purple shell. Encysted nymphs can grow to be up to 1/16 inches in diameter.
Host:
Ground pearls are noticed on a broad range of grasses, but they are most commonly found on St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and carpetgrass (Axonopus affinis).
Territory:
Ground pearls are commonplace in Queensland and northern New South Wales. In Western Australia, they have been seen in Perth lawns and certain southwest areas. Eumargarodes laingi Jakubski is found in North Carolina and is common in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
Damages caused by Pink ground pearl:
Ground pearls are a possible problem in both the southeast and southwest. Ground pearls are usually seen infesting Bermuda’s roots, St. Augustine-zoysia-, and centipede grasses. Ground pearl nymphs extract the fluids of subterranean plant sections. During dry times, the damage is most visible when random grass areas become yellow. The grass in these areas gradually turns brown and dies by the fall. Each year, the spots grow larger, and only weeds grow in the afflicted regions. Overwintering occurs at the pearl stage.
Life Cycle and habitat:
Adult female ground pearls, which are pink in color, emerge from their pearl cysts in late spring or early summer, migrate, and lay up to 100 eggs into a chamber made of a wax-like thread. A female may have numerous egg-laying episodes in a single year if conditions are right. Several days after being deposited, the eggs hatch. The earliest instars exit their encasement in search of a good root to feed on. When the nymphs are established, they begin to secrete their outer coating and mature into “ground pearls.” The nymphs mature over the summer and into the fall. By late fall or early winter, the insects have matured and spent the winter in the pearl surrounding them. The life cycle appears to be parthenogenic.
