Juniper scale
- French common name: Cochenille du genévrier
- Scientific name: Carulaspis juniperi (Bouché)
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Order: Homoptera
- Family: Diaspididae
Distribution
- British Columbia
This European introduction is distributed throughout much of North America including British Columbia.
Damage, symptoms and biology
Feeding damage caused by these insects occurs most frequently on trees in urban areas and includes twig and foliage mining, defoliation, twig pruning, root pruning, cambium-boring, and sap sucking resulting in chlorosis of foliage.
Damage is first noticeable as off-colour foliage. As the infestation progresses, new foliage fails to develop and the foliage of individual branches yellows and dies. Scales can be easily seen on infested foliage.
The juniper scale overwinters as a fertilized female. Up to 40 eggs are laid during May under the body of the female scale. Eggs hatch in about two weeks and the newly emerged yellowish crawlers seek new sites on the same host plant or may be wind blown to other hosts. Once feeding begins, no further movement occurs. There is one annual generation.
Canadian Forest Service Publications
Diet and feeding behaviour
-
Phyllophagous:
Feeds on the leaves of plants.
- Piercing-sucking: Has specialized mouthparts for sucking the fluids from plants, thereby causing deformities or killing the affected plant sections.
Information on host(s)
The juniper scale has been recorded on several species within the cypress family (Cupressaceae) including: Rocky Mountain juniper, common juniper, Chinese juniper, eastern redcedar, eastern white cedar, Oriental cedar, yellow cypress, Lawson cypress, white cypress, and various Cupressus spp.
Main host(s)
- Biota
- Chinese Juniper
- Common juniper
- Eastern redcedar
- Eastern white-cedar
- False Cypress, Cedars, Cypress
- Leyland Cypress
- Monterey Cypress
- Redwood
- Rocky Mountain juniper
- White Cedar
- Yellow-cedar