Calico Scale

Overwintered calico scale (Eulecanium cerasorum) females are now "puffing-up" and pumping out impressive quantities of clear, sugary honeydew in southwest Ohio. The appearance of the globular, helmet-shaped females coupled with complaints of trees oozing sticky goo makes this life-stage important for detecting new infestations. All other life-stages are much less obvious.

Some of the most productive scouting for insect tree pests occurs once trees lose their leaves in autumn.  If effective pest suppression tactics can't be applied in the fall, detecting insect pests at this time of the year will at least allow you to plan ahead for next season.

Calico scale (Eulecanium cerasorum) 1st instar nymphs (crawlers) have been on the move in southwest Ohio and most have already settled on the undersides of leaves of infested host trees.  The tiny, tannish-brown, oblong-shaped crawlers are around 1/16" in length.  After hatching from eggs beneath females located on stems, the crawlers migrate to the undersides of leaves.  They position themselves along leaf veins where they insert their piercing-sucking mouthparts into phloem vessels to extract amino acids that are dissolved in the sugary plant sap.

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Overwintered calico scale (Eulecanium cerasorum) females are now "puffing-up" and pumping out impressive quantities of clear, sugary honeydew in southwest Ohio.  This is a non-native "soft scale" meaning that mature scales are protected by a soft shell.  The scale's common name comes from the starkly contrasting calico pattern of black-and-white markings on the hemispherical-shaped shells of mature females.  The mature females measure about 1/4" in diameter and their distinct markings make them easy to recognize, particularly on bark and branches that are blackened by sooty mold...