Brown Soft Scale
[Coccus hesperidum (Linnaeus), family Coccidae] is the most important
unarmored scale in Texas. Adults are brown to pale yellow, mottled, oval,
1/8 to 1/16 inches (3.2-1.6 mm) long. Population increases may occur when
parasitic wasps and other beneficials are reduced by the spraying of insecticides.
This scale is unisexual and considered ovoviviparous with eggs hatching
in 2 to 3 hours after deposit. New larvae are yellow and infest the terminal
portions of the branches. Adults settle on twigs and form dense colonies.
Fecundity is low (100 eggs per female) but the number of generations is
high (4-6 in the subtropics, up to 10 in the tropics). Ants are often associated
with this species feeding on the honeydew and driving off or killing beneficials.
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This site is maintained by Dr. Laurence Sistrunk, Dept. of Hort. Sci., Texas A&M University