Pine Tortoise Scale

Pathogen Type
Scientific Name
Toumeyella parvicrnis
Frequency
2
Severity
3
Hosts
Pine tortoise scale attacks mainly Scots and Jack pine. It can also be found on Austrian and red pines.
Symptoms
Heavy feeding by this insect on pines produces sufficient honeydew for the sooty mold fungi to grow on. Sooty mold will turn the plant black.
Cycle
Crawlers occur in late June and July. The adult female may produce 500 crawlers. The adult males can fly but not feed. This scale has only one generation per year and prefers young trees to older trees.
Management
If necessary use a recommended insecticide. Spray when Vanhoutte spirea is blooming. A second spray is needed when Hills of Snow Hydrangea blooms are turning from green to white and a third spray 7 to 10 days after the 2nd spray. A summer oil may discolor the needles.
Credit

James E. Schuster, retired Extension Specialist, Horticulture & Plant Pathology and Dr. Philip L. Nixon, Extension Entomologist, Crop Sciences, University of Illinois

PathogenID
73
Images
Image
Sooty mold grows on insect honeydew.
picID
25727
Image
Sooty mold on pine.
picID
25958
Image
Scale and sooty mold on pine.
picID
26002
Image
Sooty mold on pine.
picID
33356
Image
Tortise scale crawlers and sooty mold on pine.
picID
31186