A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Parasaissetia nigra
A small black scale bug maybe 5mm long each and encrusted with some white. A single ant is attending.
On fresh stems of eucalyptus at margin of open parkland.
Parthenogenetic - no males. Pest species. http://www.ces.csiro.au/aicn/system/c_15... http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Escama+Neg...
Spotted on Dec 2, 2012
Submitted on Dec 2, 2012
4 Comments
Ants did the same thing with the ones on my bay leaf, they seemed to drink the excreta! :-)
Seems you were right Sara. There is only one and it's a pest. Still, we have a large bay tree here which was growing for 15 years and the local possums destroyed it in 2 nights, so if it's not one pest it can be another ! :)
I've seen it somewhere recently Sara - just haven't got back to it yet. Not sure it's the same as the ones you're talking about. I know those destructive ones. Did you notice the ant? Probably getting some reward... I'll search now.
I have seen these things, very nasty. I had a bay leaf tree, and these thing covered it as a shrub sized tree and sucked the life out of it. They seem to feed off the tree, and the white stuff seems to be their excreta. Sorry, no idea what they are though.