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Project Noah Nature School
Icerya purchasi
The adult is obscured by secretions, the orange parts are the edges of its body. The long white grooves are eggcases full of hundreds of eggs. This species feeds on many plant families but is most famous as a pest of citrus. The Rodolia cardinalis lady beetle had been used with great success as a biocontrol agent on Icerya purchasi.
Spotted on Mar 22, 2015
Submitted on Mar 22, 2015
2 Comments
Thanks John, cottony cushion scale look s a good match.
If it isn't cottony cushion scale it is something pretty close.
Cottony cushion scale invaded California in the late 1800's and became one of the first really big biological control successes (through the importation of a beetle and a fly from Australia).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icerya_purc...
There are a few other records of this species in Project Noah