Save The Grapes! Enter The Mealybug Destroyer! | Deep Look

What do this animal…

And this one…

have in common?

They’re both heroes…

here to save your grapes!

Covered in waxy fuzz and cuddling in a clump, these mealybugs don’t look all that dangerous, but they can spread a virus that causes grape leafroll – a disease that can take out a whole vineyard.

And getting rid of the ruinous mealybug is no small feat… because they come with henchmen.

This one gets paid in poop.

The ants drink up this sweet, sticky excrement called honeydew, and in return, provide bodyguard services.

See how they give their little sugarbabies a tap to get the goods?

This is one disastrous duo.

Enter the mealybug destroyer.

No, that’s actually its name.

Here’s our hero now… coming out of a box!

…that a farmer ordered online last week…for this very purpose.

These ladybeetles demolish mealybugs.

When they can escape the wrath of the ant bodyguards.

But they’ve got a secret weapon… their babies,

ready to go undercover to carry out the mission.

As larvae, the mealybug destroyer excretes waxy filaments from pores on its back.

The mealybug destroyer larva slips past the watchful gaze of the bodyguard ants –

and dines to its heart’s content – munching on eggs and guzzling buggy innards.

A wolf in very sheepy sheep’s clothing.

Just try to find the destroyer in this cotton candy pile.

The ant goons are none the wiser.

But when the destroyer molts she has to shed her disguise and re-produce new waxy threads – leaving her vulnerable to ants.

In its short lifetime, a destroyer can gorge on hundreds of mealybug nymphs or more than a thousand mealybug eggs!

But once they’re in a vineyard, mealybugs are nearly impossible to eradicate.

And with each new mealybug comes the threat of that disease, Grape Leafroll Disease. It blocks a plant’s ability to convert sunlight into nutrients.

One tiny mealybug can acquire and transmit the virus that causes it within an hour.

And in their smallest stages they are tiny – so tiny – that farmers might move them around the vineyard without even knowing it.

There’s no cure for the disease, so farmers have no choice but to pull out sick vines and get new ones.

But those plants might be harboring tiny mealybugs or grape leafroll disease.

Enter: the dog!

This hero is trained to sniff out the vine mealybug, and leafroll disease – helping farmers know which new plants are safe for their vineyards.

In initial trials, dogs were able to find leafroll disease more than 93% of the time and mealybugs a whopping 97% of the time.

And like a fine wine, the dogs get better at detection with time.

One hero fights with the mouth, the other: the nose.

When it comes to saving grapes, these two are a superb pairing.

CTA: Hi Deep Peeps, we want your feedback! PBS is conducting an audience survey, where you get to vote on show ideas, tell us about your interests, and help shape the future of PBS. There is a link in the description – we’d love to hear from you! And while you’re here, watch our video about two other skilled hunters: the dragonfly and the damselfly.