Oleander Pit Scale – Asterolecanium pustulans

Oleander Pit Scale (Asterolecanium pustulans)

Common Name: Oleander Pit Scale, akee fringed scale

Latin Name: Asterolecanium pustulans

Appearance:

• Adult oleander scales are greyish, dirty white, or yellowy in color, spherical in form, and have an off-center apex. With a diameter of 2 mm, this scale looks like a little cooked egg.
• The freshly born crawlers are around 0.3 mm long. They soon connect to the plant and create a scale. Colonies generally develop on the underside of leaves.
• The female achieves maturity and starts to deposit eggs after 1 to 2 months. An adult female may survive for many months.

Damages caused by Oleander Pit Scale:

Scale infestation can be seen by the looks of the scale armor on stems, leaves and fruits of hosts. Infestations on the leaves and stems may induce wilting and diminish the plants’ photosynthetic area, resulting in a lesser yield. Fruit damage occurs in large infestations, frequently spotting malformation affecting market value. This is shown in olives as green dots on purple fruits. Foliage damage is especially common in ornamentals. Yellowing, leaf and shoot deformation or shriveling, and plant mortality may result from heavy infestation.

Life history and habits:

The armored mature female oleander scale is roughly 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) long and oval. It has a whiter than olive scale waxy coating with a yellow or light brown patch towards the middle. The mature male scale is long and slender. The female body is yellow when the covers are removed, whereas the male scale is brownish yellow. After 1 to 2 months, the female reaches maturity and begins to lay eggs. An adult female may live for months. This scale is particularly frequent on lower-growing tree leaves. There are various generations a year.