What's eating my maudiae slipper orchid?

Maudiae Slipper Orchid is a popular Paphiopedilum hybrid grown indoors and is most commonly attacked by mealybugs sheltering in its broad, tessellated leaf bases. Scale insects and fungus gnats (larvae damaging roots in over-wet bark) are also frequent threats. Its ground-hugging rosette hides pests — check the innermost leaf bases at every watering.

White woolly deposits deep in leaf bases and along the crown; leaves yellow and plant stops producing new growths Use a thin cotton swab dipped in 70% isopropyl alcohol to reach inside leaf bases; repeat weekly; apply neem oil drench

Flat oval shields on the undersides of tessellated leaves; sticky residue and yellowing patches Remove with an alcohol-soaked cloth or soft brush; treat with horticultural oil; check fortnightly

Larvae tunnel through and consume fine roots in soggy bark medium; adult gnats are a nuisance but larvae cause root loss Allow the top inch of medium to dry between waterings; apply Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) drench; use yellow sticky traps for adults