What to Do if Choya Wood Gets Little Bugs

Cleaning

• Any number of insects and other "creepy crawlies" can infect deadwood, seeking out shelter from the rain or the hot sun. Be sure to knock out any wood when you first pick it up. A jet of water from a strong hose will also help to dislodge pests. Boiling the wood when you get home will get rid of any infestations. It is best not to introduce a piece of choya into a pet's habitat until you are certain that it has been cleaned thoroughly to keep from spreading the invaders and possibly making your pets sick.

Scale

• The most common inhabitant of choya wood is cochineal scale. Like all other scale insects, it plants itself on a choice part of the plant and then does not move much. It takes after a close cousin, the mealybug, in its choice of covering; it is covered by a sticky white fluff that protects it from predators. To test to see if what you have crawling out of your choya is cochineal scale, squish one with a pencil eraser. If the result is a deep red smear, you have hit the jackpot.

Mites

• Two-spotted mites will at times infest choya until the plant dies. The mites are closely related to spiders and are almost invisible because they are so tiny. Identify them by the two dark dots on their backs, eight legs and an absence of wings or antennae. A magnifying glass is helpful in identification.

Beetles

• If what crawls from your newly acquired choya is a large, smooth black beetle with white marked antennae longer than its body, you have found a cactus longhorn beetle. While these 1- to 1 1/4-inch beetles do not usually inhabit the wood, they do feed voraciously on the green plant and can do significant damage to the structure. If you have found one, you likely just picked up a hitchhiker, and can usher it on its way.