Scale insects and their control

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 8000 described species. Scale insects appeared in the Triassic before their modern food plants the angiosperms had evolved; early forms probably fed on gymnosperms.