Worldwide distribution. On bele, chilli, capsicum, cassava, passionfruit, and paper mulberry (Broussonetia sp.). An important pest.
Scale with tube-like mouthparts sucking sap from stems. Covered by a protective shell, the 'armour': round in females, white and long in males.
Eggs hatch as 'crawlers' that walk or are spread by wind. Both sexes settle down, feed and produce the armour, but males become winged, tiny, mosquito-like insects without mouths that mate and then die.
Natural enemies: many predators, and parasitoid wasps.
Cultural control: scale-free cuttings; avoid planting near old crop; collect and burn infested stems during growth and after harvest.
Chemical control: use soap, white or horticultural oils with or without malathion. Malathion likely to kill natural enemies.