Pests > Pests Entities > Insects > Aphids, Psyllids, Scales & Mealybugs, Whiteflies > Ceroplastes ceriferus, Palau



Pests > Pests Entities > Insects > Aphids, Psyllids, Scales & Mealybugs, Whiteflies > Ceroplastes ceriferus, Palau

Pests Pests Entities Insects Aphids, Psyllids, Scales & Mealybugs, Whiteflies Ceroplastes ceriferus, Palau

Ceroplastes sp.

July 2003. A scale found in Palau on Mussaenda frondosa (many) and also Macaranga carolinensis (few), and identified as the wax scale, Ceroplastes sp. (F.) (Hemiptera: suborder Sternorrhyncha: superfamily Coccoidea: family Coccidae: genus Ceroplastes). A slide-mounted specimen is needed to take it to species.

Wax scales feed on phloem sap and excrete sugary honeydew – hence the attendant ants, which defend the scales from their natural enemies. Heavy infestations can cause severe fouling of nearby surfaces with honeydew, resulting in growth of sooty mould; if leaves are fouled, this may result in defoliation and resultant loss of vigour. Wax scales are not host-specific, so infestations could occur on a variety of woody hosts including fruit trees.

Later, the scale was identified by the University of Guam as C ceriferus.