common name: tessellated scale
scientific name: Eucalymnatus tessellatus (Signoret) (Insecta: Hemiptera: Coccidae)
Tessellated or palm scale is a soft scale that was first described in France by V. Signoret in
1873 from specimens collected on a palm he reported as Caryota ursus. The genus
Eucalymnatus, according to Borchsenius (1957), contains 17 species; two species are Ethiopian in
origin and the remainder neotropical. Borchsenius (1957) considers E. tessellatus (Sign.) probably
South American in origin and disseminated by man to all parts of the world on its cultivated
hosts.
Lecanium tessellatum Signoret, 1873
Eucalymnatus tessellatus, Cockerell & Parrott, 1901
Eucalymnatus, Lindinger, 1943.
In Florida, Division of Plant Industry collections include specimens from the following counties: Alachua, Baker, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Glades, Gulf, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, Orange, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sarasota, Seminole, and Volusia.
The adult female is oval, opaque, reddish brown to dark brown, and 4 to 5 mm in length. The
apex is angulate and the posterior broadly rounded. The dorsal surface appears checkered or
cellular in pattern when examined with the aid of a 10-power hand lens or magnifying glass. A
median, longitudinal, smooth ridge divides the cellular pattern on the dorsal surface. The cells
formed nearer the ridge appear concave, progressively becoming flattened outwardly to the
larger, flat, marginal cells.
female on host stem
adult
Achras zapota L. (sapodilla), Ajuga reptans L. (bugle weed), Allamanda neriifolia Hook., Alocasia sp., Alpinia speciosa (Wendl.) Schum. (shell ginger), Annona muricata L. (soursop), A. reticulata L. (common custard-apple, bullocks-heart), Anthurium andraeanum Lind., A. magnificum Lind., Archontophoenix alexandrae Wendl. & Drude (alexander palm), Ardisia escallonioides Schiede & Deppe (marlberry), A. pickeringia Torr. & Gray, Areca catechu L. (betelnut palm), Arecastrum romanzoffianum Becc. (queen's palm), Asplenium nidus L. (bird's nest fern), Baccharis angustifolia Michx. (groundsel), Bischofia javanica Toog., Brunsfelsia sp. (lady-of-the-night), cactus (unknown), Callistemon spp. (bottlebrush), Calocarpum sapota Merr. (sapota), Calophyllum sp. (beauty-leaf), Carissa sp., Caryota mitis Lour. (fish-tail palm), C. urens L. (wine-palm), Cestrum sp. (jessamine), Chamaedorea elegans Mart. (neanthe bella palm, dwarf palm, parlor palm), C. tenella H. Wendl., Chrysalidocarpus lutescens Wendl. (areca palm), Chrysophyllum cainito L. (star-apple), Chrysophyllum sp. (satinleaf), Cinnamomum cassia Nees & Eberm. (cassia bark tree), Cinnamomum sp. (cinnamon), Cleyera album Wendl. & Drude, Dieffenbachia sp., Diospyros ebenaster Retz., Dipholis salicifolia (L.) A. DC. (willow bustic), Dizygotheca elegantissima (Veitch) Vig. & Guill. (aralia), Dracaena sp., Elaeocarpus cyaneus Sims, Ervatamia coronaria Stapf. (crape-jasmine), Eugenia hookeriana Hort. (Australian brush cherry), Euphoria longana Lam. (longan, lungan), Eurya sp., Fatshedera lizei (Cochot) Guill., Fatsia sp., Feijoa sellowiana Berg., Ficus jacquiniaefolia A. Rich (jacquinia fig), F. rubiginosa Vent. (rusty fig), Gardenia jasminoides Ellis (cape jasmine), Genipa clusiaefolia (Jacq.) Griseb. (seven-year apple), Gerbera jamesonii Bolus (African daisy), Gordonia lasianthus (L.) Ellis (loblolly bay), Hedera sp. (English ivy, ivy), Hedychium sp. (gingerlily), Homalocladium platycladium Bailey (ribbon plant, ribbon bush, tapeworm plant), Ilex cassine L. (Florida holly, dahoon holly, yaupon holly), I. cornuta Lindl. (Chinese holly), I. cornuta Lindl. 'Burfordii' (Burford holly), I. glabra (L.) A. Gray (gallberry), I. latifolia Thunb. (lusterleaf holly), Ixora parviflora Vahl. (giant ixora), Ixora sp. (white ixora), Jasminum sp. (jasmine), Kentia belmoreana F. Muell., Kigelia pinnata DC. (sausage tree), Laurus nobilis L. (sweet bay tree), Litchi chinensis Sonner (lychee), Lucuma nervosa A. DC. (canistel, eggfruit), Macrozamia peroffskyana Miq. (a cycad), Magnolia virginiana L. (white bay), Mangifera indica L. (mango), Mascarena sp.,
Melaleuca leucadendron L. (punk tree, cajeput), Mimusops emarginata L. (wild sapodilla), M.
roxburghiana Wight (bulletwood), Muehlenbeckia sp. (inch plant, maidenhair vine, wire
plant), Musa sp. (banana), Myrtus sp., Nerium sp. (oleander), Ochrosia sp. (kopsia), Ocotea catesbyana (Michx.) Sarg., Peltandra virginica Kunth (green arrow-arum), Persea americana Mill. (avocado), Philodendron sp., Phoenix roebeleni O'Brien (pigmy date palm), Phoradendron flavescens Nutt. (mistletoe), Pilea sp. (aluminum plant), Ptychosperma elegans (R. Br.) Blume (solitaire palm), Rapanea guaynensis Aubl., Rhapis excelsa (Thunb.) Henry (lady palm), Rhaphidophora decursiva Scott, Rhodomyrtus sp. (downy myrtle), Schinus terebinthifoius Raddi (Brazilian pepper tree), Scindapsus sp. (pothos), Stigmaphyllon sp., Strobilanthes sp., Syzgium jambos Alston (rose apple), Tetrapanax papyriferus Koch (Chinese rice paper plant), Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) Schum. (luckynut), Thunbergia sp., Trachycarpus fortunei H. Wendl. (windmill palm), Trevesia palmata Vis. 'Micholitzii' (devil's tongue) and Viburnum odoratissimum Ker.
scale on ribbon bush
Tessellated scale is primarily a leaf-infesting soft scale and a greenhouse pest. In South
Florida, it is frequently found out-of-doors on palms, crape-jasmine, and mango. Infestations
are often of economic importance in commercial nurseries whenever pest management
programs are neglected.
Insect Management Guide for fruit
Insect Management Guide for ornamentals
- Borchsenius NS. 1957. Fauna of USSR, Homoptera, Coccidae (in Russian). Akad. Nauk Zool. Inst. (n.s. 66) 9: 1-493.
- Dietz HT, Morrison H. 1916. The Coccidae or scale insects of Indiana. 8th Annual Report of the State Entomologist Indiana 8: 195-321.
- Merrill G.B. 1953. A revision of the scale insects of Florida. Florida State Plant Board Bulletin 1: 1-143.
- Sanders JG. 1909. The identity and synonymy of some of our soft scale-insects. Journal of Economic Entomology 2: 428-448.
- Signoret V. 1873. Essai sur les cochenilles ou gallinsectes. Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France (Ser. V) 3: 395-448.
- Zimmerman EC. 1948. Insects of Hawaii, vol. 5, Homoptera: Sternorhyncha. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. 464 p.
Author: G.W. Dekle, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of
Plant Industry.
Originally published as DPI Entomology Circular No. 138.
Photographs: Division of Plant Industry and Paul. M.
Choate, University of Florida
Project Coordinator: Thomas R. Fasulo, University of Florida
Publication Number: EENY-90
Publication Date: June 1999
Copyright 1999 University of Florida
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Department of Entomology and Nematology
Division of Plant Industry
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