Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the superfamily Coccoidea due to taxonomic uncertainties. Adult females typically have soft bodies and no limbs, and are concealed underneath domed scales, extruding quantities of wax for protection. Some species are hermaphroditic, with a combined ovotestis instead of separate ovaries and testes. Males, in the species where they occur, have legs and sometimes wings, and resemble small flies. Scale insects are herbivores, piercing plant tissues with their mouthparts and remaining in one place, feeding on sap. The excess fluid they imbibe is secreted as honeydew on which sooty mold tends to grow. The insects often have a mutualistic relationship with ants, which feed on the honeydew and protect them from predators. There are about 8,000 described species.
The oldest fossils of the group date to the Early Cretaceous, preserved in amber. They were already substantially diversified by this time suggesting an earlier origin during the Triassic or Jurassic. Their closest relatives are the jumping plant lice, whiteflies, phylloxera bugs and aphids. The majority of female scale insects remain in one place as adults, with newly hatched nymphs, known as "crawlers", being the only mobile life stage, apart from the short-lived males. The reproductive strategies of many species include at least some amount of asexual reproduction by parthenogenesis.
Some scale insects are serious commercial pests, notably the cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) on Citrus fruit trees; they are difficult to control as the scale and waxy covering protect them effectively from contact insecticides. Some species are used for biological control of pest plants such as the prickly pear, Opuntia. Others produce commercially valuable substances including carmine and kermes dyes, and shellac lacquer. The two red colour-names crimson and scarlet both derive from the names of Kermes products in other languages.
^"Coccoidea Handlirsch, 1903". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Scaleinsects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they...
Scales are present on the bodies of various insects. A notable example are the Lepidoptera, the insect order comprising moths and butterflies, which have...
Kerriidae is a family of scaleinsects, commonly known as lac insects or lac scales. Some members of the genera Metatachardia, Tachardiella, Austrotacharidia...
also /ˌkoʊtʃɪˈniːl, ˈkoʊtʃɪniːl/ KOH-chih-; Dactylopius coccus) is a scaleinsect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the natural dye carmine is...
betulae and the beech scaleinsect, Cryptococcus fagisuga. Through a presently unknown mechanism, excessive feeding by this insect causes two different...
lacca is a species of insect in the family Kerriidae, the lac insects. These are in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scaleinsects. This species is perhaps...
botany Bulb scale, the storage layers of a plant bulb Scaleinsect, a waxy coated animal that resembles a fish scale Fouling, sometimes called scale, a buildup...
Chionaspis pinifoliae, the pine needle scaleinsect, is a common species of scaleinsect found on pine, spruce and other conifers across Canada and throughout...
Insects as food or edible insects are insect species used for human consumption. Over 2 billion people are estimated to eat insects on a daily basis....
coccinellid species are carnivorous predators, preying on insects such as aphids and scaleinsects. Other species are known to consume non-animal matter,...
Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous...
largest order of hemimetabolous insects (not undergoing complete metamorphosis; though some examples such as male scaleinsects do undergo a form of complete...
Fiorinia fioriniae is a highly polyphagous scaleinsect and widely distributed around the world, being found in Asia, Australia/Pacific, Africa, Europe...
purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scaleinsect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic...
Orthezia urticae is a species of scaleinsect in the family Ortheziidae. The species was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus...
of other insects. It was introduced to New Zealand from Australia in 1899 and 1905 to control black scale and blue gum scale (see scaleinsect) on citrus...
Paratachardina decorella, the rosette lac scale, is a scaleinsect in the Kerriidae family. "Paratachardina decorella (Maskell, 1893)". Global Biodiversity...
Icerya purchasi (common name: cottony cushion scale) is a scaleinsect that feeds on more than 80 families of woody plants, most notably on Citrus and...
cirripediformis, known generally as the barnacle scale or barnacle wax scale, is a species of soft scaleinsect in the family Coccidae. "Ceroplastes cirripediformis...
later versions of the scale always include a brief description of his experience being stung by each type of insect. Some of the insect stings Schmidt considered...
yellowish, or brownish. In particular, there is a scaleinsect that feeds on tamarisk, the Tamarisk manna scale (Trabutina mannipara), the secretions of which...
Australian bush tucker food. It is an insect gall with both plant and animal components: an adult female scaleinsect and her offspring (of genus Cystococcus)...
(Porphyrophora hamelii), also known as the Ararat cochineal or Ararat scale, is a scaleinsect indigenous to the Ararat plain and Aras (Araks) River valley in...
some related conifers from the family Pinaceae. Dense colonies of the scaleinsect result in yellowing, shedding of leaves, dieback and occasional tree...
Coccus hesperidum is a soft scaleinsect in the family Coccidae with a wide host range. It is commonly known as brown soft scale. It has a cosmopolitan distribution...
is a scaleinsect from which cochineal dye is derived. D. coccus itself is native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico. This insect, a primarily...
Aonidiella aurantii or red scale is an armored scaleinsect and a major pest of citrus. It is thought to be a native of South China but has been widely...
Global Information
