White peach scale

Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti), (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)

Orientation to pest

White peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti), is an invasive scale found in the southeast United States, likely native to Japan or China. It has one of the broadest host ranges reported for any insect, attacking 85 families of plants, including more than 115 genera in Florida alone. The scale has four generations per year in Florida and three in the northern parts of its U.S. range.

Hosts commonly attacked

A polyphagous species, white peach scale is common on peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch), mulberry (Morus), persimmon (Diospyros virginiana L.), catalpa (Catalpa), hibiscus (Hibiscus), and privet (Ligustrum).

Distribution

In the United States, white peach scale is found from Florida west to Texas and north to Maryland and Tennessee. It also occurs in Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

Images of white peach scale

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org 768x512 Jeffrey W. Lotz, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024	Lyle Buss, University of Florida, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Figure 1. Close up of adults of white peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona	Figure 2. Adult female of white peach scale with scale cover removed, showing eggs
Eric R. Day, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024 Eric R. Day, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bugwood.org 768x512 / 1536x1024
Figure 3. Dense bark infestations of white peach scale

Important biological control agents related to this pest species

Two species of Encarsia (E. berlesei Howard and E. diaspidicola Silvestri) are important parasitoids of white peach scale.

Web links for information on white peach scale

• Featured Creature Fact Sheet | University of Florida and FDACS
• Species Catalog on ScaleNet
  Complete list of all recorded natural enemies, hosts, and distribution records; also an index to all publications on this species

Articles

• Neumann, G., P. A. Follett, R. G. Hollingsworth, and J. H. de León. 2010. High host specificity in Encarsia diaspidicola (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), a biological control candidate against the white peach scale in Hawaii. Biological Control 54: 107-113.
• León, J. H. de, G. Neumann, P. A. Follett, and R. G. Hollingsworth. 2010. Molecular markers discriminate closely related species Encarsia diaspidicola and Encarsia berlesei (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae): biocontrol candidate agents for white peach scale in Hawaii. Journal of Economic Entomology 103: 908-916.
• Kreiter, P. and A. Panis. 1998. Inventory of the natural enemies of the white peach scale Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti,1886) in the world (Homoptera, Diaspididae). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 103: 263-271.
• Hanks, L. M. and R. F. Denno. 1993. The white peach scale, Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni-Tozzetti) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae): life history in Maryland, host plants, and natural enemies. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 95: 79-88.