What's Eating Your Majesty Palm?

Almost invisible without a hand lens. Pale yellow to red-orange specks running along the underside of the leaflets, especially close to the rachis. Pinnate fronds give them thousands of hiding spots, and dry indoor air is the climate they need to explode in numbers.

Fronds look dusty, dull, or bronzed even after wiping. Pale tiny pale dots along the rachis where colonies start. Fine webbing strung between leaflets and at the rachis-leaflet junctions. Heavy infestations turn whole fronds gray or yellow and the plant sheds them from the bottom up.

Soft white insects covered in cottony fluff, 2 to 4 mm long. Cluster in the frond crown at the top of the trunk where new fronds emerge, tucked into the rachis-leaflet junctions, and along the underside of older fronds. Slow-moving and easy to miss because the crown shelters them.

White cottony tufts visible deep in the frond crown and along the rachis. A sticky shiny film on lower fronds. New fronds emerge stunted, distorted, or yellowed. Severe infestations halt new frond push entirely, which is the first sign most owners notice.

Hard or soft brown bumps stuck along the rachis and on the underside of leaflets, 1 to 3 mm wide. Look like tiny barnacles glued in place. Easier to spot on majesty palm than on most houseplants because the smooth rachis surface gives them nowhere to blend in.

Yellow patches on leaflets near each cluster. A sticky shiny film along the rachis and on fronds below the colony, sometimes with sooty black mold. Heavy infestations cause leaflet drop along the lower fronds and slow new growth from the crown.

Slender dark insects 1 to 2 mm long. Walk along leaflets rather than fly. Hide in the rachis-leaflet junctions and along folded leaflet edges. Easiest to spot by tapping a frond over a sheet of white paper and watching for tiny crawlers.

Silver or bronze streaks on the upper surface of leaflets with tiny black dots (thrips droppings) alongside. New fronds emerge distorted or scarred. Damage runs in long thin lines along the leaflet because thrips feed as they walk the rachis.