Bugs happen.  I happened to find this one on a recent purchase.  I found a few smaller ones a few weeks prior and quarantined the plant.  Thought I got 'em all.  Then, after inspection this morning, I moved a shrivelled leaf start and HELLO!  Found this little guy.  I think this is the last one.  You can see the spot where he was hiding, it's where all the white fluff is above that bud.

Anyone know what this bug is?  He was large enough to photograph.  Just want to make sure he's not something I need to be overly worried about.

Nevermind, it's a Mealy Bug.  http://hubpages.com/hub/Ficus-Tree-Problems

Just answered my own question :)

Jason,
Get some rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip.
Rub the Q-tip with Alcohol directly onto the pest. I will turn white to brown in an instant. You just burned the mess out of it..

Get yourself a spray bottle and pour 1 part alcohol and 3 parts water and spray the entire plant, soil and pot. Let drip dry and repeat again in a couple of hours.

That will take care of the problem.

Get yourself Safer Brand ( garden safe soap ) insect soap. It's none toxic.
Follow directions.

I will swear by it.

Well thats a nice picture you captured there of a rather nasty looking bug.
Last winter when i was nurseing some very small plants indoors under grow light i had a problem with knats flying in area and spider mites .
After spraying with ortho brand ecosense brand insecticidal soap per directions that evening the leaves curled next day the plant looked horrible and soon afterwards was dead, another plant came very very close to dyeing as it was doing similar . I took all the leaves off the plant washed it carefully and it lived.
I then said never again will i do this type of thing in the house for ME its just too much hassle, shoot i was hanging those fly strips under my model train layout and it was just 1 big hassle for me.
Glad thats over with, now im having problems again with this darn water heater whic has a waranty about to xpire in a few months.
Never ending story on that darn thing, repair man told me ever since that changed to closed combustion on them they are just not as good. I rahter have the old 1 that i used to light by hand.

Martin,

This is why I like to use the Safer brand. It's none toxic and the main ingrediant is seaweed extract.
The one little draw back is it gives out the ocean smell ( seaweed oder ) but goes away after a couple of hours.

I still wouldn't use it indoors, I take the plant into the garage and spray there and wait till they dry off.

You can buy the liquid mix and put one cap full into the spray bottle and mix with water. That bottle will last a long time.

I use a good heavy dose the first time and follow up with a medium or light dose.

No, I don't have any stocks on this brand but I just hate to see anyone lose their plant after all the hard work and effort is put into them.

Rafed, are Mealy Bugs a death sentence for figs?  It would be unfortunate to lose this plant; I just bought it.

Jason,

NO!
But if left alone then you will have a whole new colony and guess where their food source is coming from?
They are just a pest. They are unwelcome and show them no mercy!
Kill then ask questions!

But I need to correct myself,
Garden Safe brand
Insecticidal soap ( concentrate, can make about 10 to 15 qt. size bottles ).
By Schultz
20 fl. oz. Aqua green bottle w/ purple cap
About $10 to $12 or around $7.99 for ready to use, Do your math. 

If this can help,
It happened to my Black Madeira fig about a month or so ago.
The plant is still alive and well with no signs of them or any pest.

I think it got it from my citrus trees. Mealy bugs love citrus trees.

Try the alcohol alone first, There may be no need for the insect soap at this time but it's always good to have on hand.

Good luck and don't worry, And keep me posted.

I had white pests on my first year fig plants all last year too, but I think they were planthopper nymphs rather than mealy bugs. They would run around to the other side of the stalk or jump off the plant if you tried to touch them. Will the rubbing alcohol spray work on them also?

White bug ...
at first I thought that it was the dreaded (GH) white fly...
I had some very bad experience with that little critter.
So far I learned NOT to introduce in my GH by not bringing
in plants TOO-early, and then spraying with a "systemic" spray.
[E: beleive me, once established - a real nightmare to just control]

As far as (them) mealy bugs, they were never a problem
on my property. However, each year I do rent a small
(9 sq ft) in our town community GH. Invariably my clean plants
do get infected with mealy bugs from the adjacent spot.
After some explaining, some (naive) people even thought that
they were "some" flower buds???!!!! [Arrrh...]
Mealy bugs are easy to control. A spray with malathion goes them in. 

I've had whitefly outbreaks on my tomatoes before.  They are indeed no fun and impossible to rid of.

I'm going to use the alcohol method when I get home.  Fortunately, this is the only one I saw left, so I will swab the places they live and keep my eyes peeled.

shenval,

I don't know if the alcohol would work on the planthoppers but you can try.
Are the plant indoors? Are they being stored? If this is something you only noticed during the growing season while they were outside then I don't see any danger to that.
Pest and critters will be present no matter what you do.
One product will work on a few bugs but not all.

From the picture I've seen I have never seen anything like this in Michigan and I'm sorry I can't help you. I can't give advise on problem I never had to face.
If the problem continues then I would seek help from a professional from your area.

Gorgi, You are correct, Mealy bugs are easy to control but I'd rather use the insect soap due to the fact that it is none toxic.

Rafed,

I missed this:
>>> Get yourself a spray bottle and pour 1 part alcohol and 3 parts water and spray the entire plant, soil and pot. Let drip dry and repeat again in a couple of hours.

Thanks for the tip...

Gorgi,
Not too long ago I was worried about this problem too.
I had used this method on the citrus trees and Jasmines but on only a couple of cheaper figs while still outside and with a very light coat.

But I had to decide on should I put my young Black Madeira in the garage and risk killing it or take the chance and spray the H__l out of it?

Glad I listened to Bass as he advised me to figure out a way to get rid of the critter and not risk losing the tree.

The plant has not grown any since I got it but it's as healthy as the day it arrived.
I think the growing part has to do with the time of the year.

Rafed, yes, the plant is in storage now.  It arrived in December, I found a few flecks of white fluff around it and thought they were whiteflies, so I squashed them and put the plant in an isolated place. 

Everything looked great until this morning, I put the tree in a partially sunny window because there were no more visible white flecks, I went to clean up little things here and there and the bug jumped out and said OMG HI, WOW!  ;)

(Apparently he is very good at hide and seek!)

Jason,
I take it word YES means the problem is taken care of.

I thought you were asking me if the plants were indoors, this is what I was saying "yes" to.

Sorry Jason,
I was asking Shenval that question.

Hope you solved your problem.

I will be home soon and plan to take some alcohol dilute to the plant.

Rafed,

Sorry, I failed to clarify this was outdoors during the growing season. The figs were near my roses which always seem infested with hoppers.