Kermes pubescens Bogue is known from Kansas and Maryland on white and bur 
oaks. Mature adult females are 2 to 3 mm in diameter and are brown with white 
bands. There 1s one generation per year, and in Maryland (776) the overwintering 
Stage is the first instar. The overwintering first instar sheds its skin about the time 
that leaves first appear and then it moves to the new growth. Two more molts occur 
by late May or early June, and eggs are laid in late June to late July. The first instars 
move from the new growth and settle on main branches or the trunk, where they 
overwinter. In the spring, female crawlers move to new growth, including petiole 
and main leaf veins, but males remain on trunks and main branches. This species is 
reported to cause leaf distortion and flagging terminals of the oaks, especially in 
urban areas. 
Kermes galliformis Riley, often mentioned as K. kingii Cockerell, is known in 
Massachusetts and Virginia on red and black oaks. There is one generation per year, 
and in Virginia (522) first instars overwinter in crevices in the bark. In early spring, 
the first instars molt and migrate. The second-instar females move to the new 
growth of the tree, usually at the base of a leaf petiole. The second-instar males 
move down the tree and often settle on the trunk; they also settle on wood chips, 
acorns, or stones early in June, and adults appear in mid-June. Mating occurs soon 
after the last molt, and egg laying begins in late July. A female may lay as many as 
5,800 eggs, which hatch in early September. First-instar females tend to settle on 
stems of the host; first-instar males settle primarily on the trunk. Under circum- 
stances of host stress, this scale is reported to cause flagging on heavily infested 
oaks. Natural enemies include a parasitic wasp, a predacious moth, and a lady 
beetle. 
Recent studies on first instars’ have revealed that only three of the nine eastern 
species can be differentiated morphologically. These are K. pubescens, K. gallifor- 
mis, and K. andrei King. The latter is from white and red oaks in Massachusetts. 
Family Eriococcidae 
Eriococcids 
Members cf this family are principally temperate in distribution, although a 
small group of species occurs in the tropics. Eriococcids are frequently confused 
with mealybugs but are easily separated by the absence of the mealy, waxlike 
secretion typical of most mealybugs. There are three female instars and five male 
instars. The overwintering stage usually is the adult female or the egg. The family 
contains 54 species in I1 genera in the United States (4/2). Species of Cryptococ- 
cus are placed in the family Cryptococcidae by some authors. 
The beech scale, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger, was apparently introduced 
from Europe around 1890 near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on European beech. The first 
United States record is from the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Mass., in 1929, and 
there is evidence suggesting the presence of the scale there 10 years before. The 
beech scale is reported in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It infests 
American, Oriental, and European beeches and is found in natural situations as well 
as ornamental plantings. 
The life history of the species is variable, depending upon environmental condi- 
tions, but the general pattern is as follows: There 1s one generation per year, and 
males are unknown even in heavy infestations. The yellow eggs are laid in a 
’ Baer, R., and M. Kosztarab (personal communication). Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State 
University, Blacksburg, Va. 
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