About two weeks ago, I was watering my jade plant, Thelonious, and I noticed white cottony stuff hanging out on his leaves, and some of his leaves were falling off. I looked closer and realized there were these nasty little bugs that were eating him (OK, I don't really know if my jade plant is actually male) up! Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I found out that Thelonious had been invaded by mealy bugs, but the horticulturist suggested getting rid of the infected plant because it's extremely difficult to get rid of the damned things.
However, Thelonious has a special place in my heart. I got him as a gift, a tiny little plant, from the campus greenhouse my first year in college. Everyone received a plant their first year. Somehow, through all of my moves and trips, Thelonious has not only managed to survive, but thrive, and is now going on 10 years. He is gigantic, almost tree-like, at this point. So I couldn't just let him die, or throw him out with the trash.
So yesterday we did major surgery. We cut off the most damaged leaves, and took one clean looking cutting to try to propagate it. Then we took Q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol and tried to remove all the evil mealy bugs on the main plant, as best we could.
Only time will tell. Thelonious, you must live!
Mealybugs do suck...once all of the ones you spot are off of the plant spray it with an insecticidal soap every couple of days, loosen the topsoil to aerate it and mulch the plant with compost mulch. Good luck to your plant, I know how those attachments go. I still mourn the loss of my champ Tiger-Eyelash Begonia when we left Seattle. I think I still have a picture of it too.