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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » Plant-parasitic Hemipterans (Sternorrhyncha) » Scales and Mealybugs (Coccoidea) » Soft Scale Insects (Coccidae)
Photo#660769
Dark brown scale - female
Copyright © 2012 R. Berg

Dark brown scale - Female
Lake Temescal, Oakland, Alameda County, California, USA
June 19, 2012
Size: largest: 3.9 mm long
Several leaves of a soft, fleshy, vinelike plant had varying numbers of these scales, attended by ants. This was a heavily infested leaf. I can post a picture of the plant if desired.

Images of this individual: tag all
Dark brown scale - female Dark brown scale - female
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Contributed by R. Berg on 20 June, 2012 - 11:28pm

It is interesting...
That they seem to go closer to the veins of the leaf than anywhere else.
I assume they must drink sap then?
… Stephen Tapsak, 24 June, 2012 - 2:30pm login or register to post comments

 
I assume so
I think they must have a liquid diet, since they don't move around, as would be necessary if they chewed up bits of the leaf. The honeydew they excrete that attracts ants is excess sugar and water, or mostly. Maybe a scale expert will have more to say.
… R. Berg, 24 June, 2012 - 8:02pm login or register to post comments

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