Brown Soft Scale Insect

Indoor and outdoor ornamental plants, greenhouses, and agricultural crops in tropical or temperate climates.

Plant sap (phloem feeder); sucks nutrients directly from the stems and leaves of host plants.

They are largely sedentary as adults, attaching themselves to a plant and forming a waxy, protective shell. They excrete a sticky substance called honeydew which can lead to sooty mold growth.

Risks: Agricultural and horticultural pest that can weaken or kill plants by draining nutrients and promoting mold. Benefits: None to humans; they are a food source for certain predatory beetles and parasitic wasps.