Cottony Cushion Scale - young female

Description:

This is a young female mealbug or fluted scale. About 6 mm long it was covered with waxy white substance and had a short waxy "skirt" whcih would become the egg case later.

Habitat:

Spotted on a tea-tree in a botanical garden.

Notes:

Here's a spotting of an adult female with an open egg sac and emerging red runners ( as hatchlings are called).
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/853...
Family: Margarodidae