Black Scale Plant Pest. These sucking insects gather on leaves and stems and can quickly build up to the point where they stunt plant growth. Scale insects can be divided into two groups:
Black scale is of particular concern for citrus and olive producers in florida. Plant architecture is an important feature for scale host selection and it appears that the black scale prefers trees with dense branching, especially. Scales shoot a sweet substance called honeydew.
Most common is white wax scale, seen as large patches of white waxy material along the stems and shoots.
2) light orange to brown, roughly circular scale major pest in qld, nt and northern wa. Black scales are in the soft scale family (coccidae) and usually have one generation per year in interior valley olive. Plant architecture is an important feature for scale host selection and it appears that the black scale prefers trees with dense branching, especially. Instead of focusing on locating the vascular system of host plants, armored scale rupture and destroy the cells they’re feeding on directly.