A little more then an year ago I got six palm trees (two vases). It was the Californian equivalent of an Areca palm (the guy in the nursery suggested this one after I asked for an Areca for its air cleaning prowess but now I can't recall the exact name).
After some six months it started to develop some white dots. My research showed up mealybugs. But they do not look like any infestation of mealybugs I could find! It does not have the silk-like thing anywhere.
Used to clean them off the plants after I gave up on one of the plants:
Some zoom in 10x the real width of the leaf is 2cm or 3/4 of an inch. They NEVER move like mealybug does. (The horizontal lightning on this photo highlights the dust too)
Week after week I'd spend hours cleaning the white dots. They are very easily removed by a damp cloth or paper towel. I tried spraying everything: vinegar, lemon juice, cleaning products. Nothing took care of it without wiping. I even put a net on the roots and trapped a ladybug that everyone says is the hellhound of mealybugs. It did not show any interest at all.
Also noteworthy, the plants are in a small apartment that has 3 EPA air filters on 24/7.
What is this thing?
More zoom, 10x of the magnifier + 6x camera's optical
The tip usually dries, but I'm not sure it's related to the disease. I'm a bad plant-parent that usually forgets to water.