Raymond Gill, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Bugwood.org
European Fruit Lecanium
Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché)The European fruit lecanium is a key soft scale insect pest of shade trees and other woody ornamental plants in the Maryland area. This species feeds on a wide range of host plants. Populations of this pest build up quickly so monitoring for this pest on potential host plants is important.They can affect affects a broad range of broad-leaved woody plants such as redbud, hawthorn, dogwood, and oak.
Heavy scale infestations may frequently build up on the lower leaf surface. Feeding damage may cause curled, chlorotic (yellow) foliage that may drop prematurely. Smaller infested branches are weakened due to feeding injury or in some cases may be killed. Also, when this soft scale species is feeding on leaves and twigs, a large quantity of honeydew (sticky, sugar-rich substance) is secreted. Honeydew is a substrate on which a black sooty mold grows that may impart a blackened appearance to the foliage, twigs, branches, and any other surface beneath an infested plant. An abundance of sooty mold may interfere with a plant’s food making process (photosynthesis).
