Lepidosaphes ulmi
HYPP Zoology
The Oystershell Scale is
one of many scale insects. Scale insects do not look like
most insects, since you cannot usually see their legs or
other body parts. Oystershell Scales are
brown, sometimes light and sometimes dark. They are small,
only growing up to 3 1/2 milimeters long, and are often
comma-shaped. They are found wherever there are host trees.
Since these parasites can live on many different hosts, that
means they live just about everywhere. livingthings.narod.ru
HYPP Zoology
Oystershell Scale eggs
hatch in late Spring. Nymphs, also called "crawlers," move
around for a few hours, looking for a place to settle on a
twig or branch. Crawlers are very tiny, only about the size
of the head of a pin. Once settled, the crawler hardens and
never moves again. The scale insect eats by sucking juices
out of the host plant. Like other insects, Oystershell
Scales molt their skins as they grow; therefore, even though
they don't move from their spot, the scales do grow bigger.
After several molts, all scales become female. Female scales
can lay eggs without mating; this is called
parthenogenesis. National IPM
Network
