#soft brown scale

Soft Brown Scale Insect - Coccus hesperidum

Despite winter's cold slowing things down in the insect world, that doesn't mean that things stop altogether, as can be evidenced with these tiny ovals. If you look a little closer beneath the waxy cuticle and you'll find features that correspond with more conventional insects. There's more to this appearance than meets the eye, but that will be discussed later on. While in nature, these small insects would be dormant until warmer weather arrives, any individuals fortunate enough to climb onto an indoor plant (from the outside) and experience consistently warm temperatures can ride out the colder days while indulging themselves with as food as they want without interference from natural predators. It's a pretty nice life...until the infestation is discovered, as was the case in these pictures. In the previous post featuring Scale Insects on this blog, there were only a handful of individuals planted on a ficus rubber plant; the thick and toxic sap doesn't necessarily provide the best environment. The individuals photographed here meanwhile had the perfect plant to adhere to: two young lemon trees still growing. This species of Bug has a penchant for citrus trees, and is considered a notorious pest within farming and greenhouse settings for those plants! Although Scale insects can be managed with ease, controlling them across many plants can be arduous if their numbers explode as seen in these images!

Their small size can make them difficult to account for as well, as one individual can lay a large amount of eggs and restart the infestation of tiny creatures again. Compared to my thumb, they are around the size of a blemish, and indeed, there are dozens of large individuals and (probably) hundreds of smaller individuals dotting the tree's leaves and stem! As a result of the aggregation's feeding, these poor plants have become drenched in sticky honeydew excretions. This is actually how we discovered these individuals. As a result of honeydew production, Carpenter Ants found their way inside the house in search of the sugary liquid, but haven't yet climbed up the stems to tend to the Scales. With an armored cuticle and a colony of tenders to ensure safety, the feeding activity is what causes complications to the plants that these Scales feed on, rather than the ongoing feeding itself. Accumulation of sugary material along the surface of a leaf invites mould to grow, and such a rot can spread and destroy plants rapidly if not addressed! While I'm seemingly making a big deal about this, aggregations of these Parasitic Bugs do not spell out doom and gloom. In fact, some species of Scale Insects have been used as biological controls to manage invasive plant-life be weakening them and slowing down their growth and potential for flowering and seed generation. This species, however, is not one of those controls.

Soft Brown Scale Insect - Coccus hesperidum

Building off of last week, it seems there’s a theme of small insects that like to hide safely among the plants as they feed and enjoy the day. This time, we cover a troop of insects that have endured through the winter by concealing themselves in one of our house plants. Since winter is too harsh from the rubber plants to survive outside, they are brought indoors until temperatures go up again. That’s all well and good, but the last few years have brought a share of pests inside too! Over the last few years, it was Whiteflies that snuck in and ruined a few smaller plants, while the rubber plants endured. This year, honeydew secretions were found staining the leaves, a sign of infestation, but no Whiteflies or similar insects. Looking a little closer, the tiny culprits were found! It may be hard to believe, but the oval patches on the leaves are insects. Yes, really. They’re a bit unconventional, but underneath that scale-like covering, there is the body of an insect, albeit some body parts like the legs or antennae are smaller than usual. With that in mind, hopefully you have an overall impression of their size compared to my thumb. 

Scale Insects as they’re called have a waxy shell that hide the true insect underneath. The Soft Brown Scale can be identified by the brown patterns on the shell, but the best way start identifying a Scale is to determine the plant they feed on. Like Whiteflies and Aphids, they are parasites that spend their lives feeding on plant fluids, excreting honeydew and siring many young scales to continue the infestation. Some mother Scales are so dedicated that they anchor themselves to a spot on the plant and shield their young with their own body until they are old enough to manage on their own. Males tend to be more mobile with use of wings, but the sexual dimorphism can vary dramatically between different species of Scale Insect. Although small, unlike Aphids and Whiteflies, their shells protect them from predators, allowing them to aggregate much easier, leading to great concern for their host plant! At first, the honeydew they make is bound to attract Ants to help guard the Scales, giving them the chance to increase their numbers further. Eventually (in similar ways to Whiteflies), the honeydew left behind on the leaves can become a prime target for mould to strike the plant and weaken it. Meanwhile, the Scale hoard grows and they keep feeding! Fortunately, managing Scales is simple, but you’ll need a keen eye to find them. Remember to check in the grooves between leaves, the undersides and even on the plant’s stem or bark. Look for anything that looks like a growth or a bump which appears out of place. Finally, remember to diligently clean the honeydew off all the leaves you can without damaging the leaf itself; moldy leaves should be removed as quickly as possible.