Help Needed Identifying Plant Pests & Problems

We don’t have a very large plot of land, so don’t have a very large garden, but we do maximize where we can. Unfortunately, increasingly, we’ve got pest problems. Or, rather, since I’m the Keeper of the Plants, I’ve got a pest problem. And, honestly, I have no idea what these pests are or the best approach to getting rid of them. The kind of pests we get on plants in Canada are quite different from what we get in Sri Lanka. Gee, different climate and ecosystem, maybe? 😉

Added to that that I’m no expert anyway, plus it’s very difficult to identify pests armed with nothing more than a picture and… Well, you can see the conundrum. 🙂 I hope. 🙂

So I am seeking your help, dear gentle reader, in identifying these pests. And, if you know how to tackle them, I’d love that kind of information as well.

Picture 1 is of two already-dead aloe leaves. Mostly, my aloe is very healthy and reproducing at an alarming rate! But I have, on occasion, seen these two pests on it. The upper one is a dark brown and has a waxy feel. When I popped it off the leaf, it was hollow underneath.

The white one that looks a bit like a mutant crab I’m a bit worried about. I think I’ve found it on three or four plants, including in the roots of my Costus productus Costus speciosus. I’m concerned that it’s a problematic pest that’s taking over my garden.

Picture 2 and 3 shows white stuff that looks kind of like spider webs on steroids. It’s all over this one bush.

Picture 4 and 5 shows the same white crab thingie from Picture 1, but now on the lime tree. Picture 5 also shows brown things that looks like wood splinters – don’t know if it’s residue from dead white crab things or if it’s a different pest altogether.

Picture 6 – unfortunately, the macro on my camera can’t get a better picture than this. It’s kind of like poppy seeds, but smaller, and they stick to the back of the lime leaves. About a half year ago, they were all over a lot of the lime leaves, but now, they’re mostly gone. They come off the leaf when I rub them off, but doing that to an entire tree is a pain in the butt.

Picture 7 shows more of the white crab things, but in webbing, which makes me wonder if the white webbing things from Pictures 2 and 3 are just a different part of the life cycle from the white crab things.

Picture 8 shows the top side of a curry leaf twig. Severely discoloured & mottled. Is that a nutritional deficiency?

Picture 9 with its brownish beigish spots. What the heck?

Picture 10 and 11 – again, macro isn’t very good, so this is the best I could get. Basically, green pests the same colour nearly as the stem, very difficult to see unless you get up close and very personal. It wasn’t actually until I was taking these photos that I noticed these, and I water these henna plants nearly daily! I’m guessing aphids, except the aphids I saw back in Canada were much larger, bumpier, and much more noticeable. But, you know, what do I know?

Picture 12 – the palm leaves. Is that just drought/sunburn talking? Or is some kind of pest causing this?

Any insight you have would be appreciated. Links, if you have them, for further reading, but don’t worry about Googling – if I’m given a name, I can hunt down whatever info I need to find. Theoretically. Most of the time. But names, ah, that would be most important. And ideas of how to combat this stuff would also be great.

Thanks a bunch in advance. 🙂

Edited to add:

The papaya mealy bug (Paracoccus marginatus) has been possibly identified as the pest I’ve been calling the white crab thingie, thanks to e4c5. The papaya mealy bug is a known problem in Sri Lanka currently with infestations reported in the Colombo area.

The brown blob in Picture 1 looks like a type of scale. It’s not Florida red scale – the colouring is one consistent shade of brown, no concentric circles, plus it’s oblong, not circular. Upon lifting them from the leaves, I did find what appeared to look like a hundred or so eggs beneath one of them. Otherwise, they were dead and hollow.

Had another plant that was dying – a local spinach which is not in the same family as the spinach that North Americans are familiar with. Since the plant was dying anyway, I pulled it up out of the soil – it came out surprisingly easy – and found another type of pests in the root structure.