Download high resolution image here.

These images follow second stage larval cyst images in a series (linked below) documenting the development of a scale insect infesting the pinyon (Pinus edulis) tree in the southeast corner of the Federal Credit Union parking lot on the Corner of Sherman Ave. and Chanute St. (Albuquerque East 7.5 minute quadrangle), Kirtland AFB, Bernalillo Co. NM.

Adult females, which retain a larval form, eclose from cysts on pinyon needles in the spring, but the males eclose as immature crawlers during the prior fall, then crawl to the ground to overwinter. I collected a small branch with cysts on the needles on Nov. 9, 2015 from the subject tree and placed it in water in a large plastic jar sealed with a drip coffee filter. Immature males eclosed from Nov. 13-21, 2015. The specimen imaged is one of the first to eclose. It was killed by exposure to isopropanol vapor within 12 hours of being imaged, but is otherwise untreated.

This image is from a CombineZP processed stack of 184 images with a 5.6 µm step taken with a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 10×/0.28 ∞/0 mm microscope objective + Nikon 200 mm F4 AIS telephoto lens + Nikon D810 camera (magnification 10×; technique described here).

Phases of development: