contains a number of species that are often destructive of forest, 
shade, and ornamental trees. Females are smooth and shiny, light 
yellowish to brownish, and about 1 to 3 mm. wide. Males are un- 
known in most of the species occurring in this country. Morrison 
and Morrison (545) published on the subfamily. Asterolecaniinae. 
Russell (617) published a classification of the genus 
Asterolecanium. 
The golden oak scale, Asterolecanium variolosum (Ratz.), is 
one of our most important species of pit scale insects. It feeds 
almost exclusively in small pits on the twigs, branches, and trunks 
of white oaks, and probably occurs wherever its hosts grow in this 
country. English oak appears to be favored above all other 
species. In its absence, chestnut oak is preferred (580). Females 
give birth to living young which move rapidly over the surface of 
twigs and branches. Once they settle down and begin to feed, 
however, they never move again. Small pits develop as they feed 
and the scale appears to be embedded in the bark. Thse pits re- 
main after the scale dies. As a result, the twigs and small 
branches of heavily infested trees become quite rough. Adults 
overwinter, and there is one generation per year in the North- 
eastern States. Heavy infestations may kill young trees and the 
branches of larger trees (578). Heavily infested mature trees are 
killed during periods of dry weather. 
Asterolecanium quercicola (Bouché) feeds in pits on the twigs 
branches, and trunks of white, swamp white, red, chestnut, and 
English oaks from New York to Ohio and North Carolina. Heavy 
infestations kill twigs, branches, and occasionally entire trees. A. 
luteolum Russell, the yellow oak scale, and A. minus Lindinger 
attack several species of oaks in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The 
holly scale, A. puteanuwm Russell, attacks two species of holly (Ilex 
vomitoria Ait. and I. opaca Ait.) and Bumelia sp. from Delaware 
and Pennsylvania to Alabama and Florida. A. arabidis (Sign.), 
the English ivy scale, occurs on green ash from Massachusetts and 
New Jersey to Ohio. The oleander scale, A. pustulans (Ckll.), feeds 
on Acacia spp., the marmalade tree, magnolia, mulberry, and 
many other species. It is sometimes quite injurious. A. bambusae 
(Bdv.), the bamboo scale, is a common and injurious pes: of 
bamboo in the Southern States. A. miliaris miliaris (Bdv.) and 
A. miliaris robustum Green also feed on bamboo. 
FAMILY COCCIDAE 
SOFT SCALES 
Soft scale females are either bare or enclosed in waxy or cot- 
tony secretions; hence the common name, soft scales. They may 
be recognized by an anal cleft running anteriorally from the pos- 
terior apex of the abdomen. The anal opening lies at the top of 
this cleft and is covered by two small triangular plates. Forest, 
shade, and ornamental trees are attacked by many species, several 
of which are serious pests. 
The cottony maple scale, Pulvinaria innumerabilis (Rathvon), 
an important pest of shade tree maples, occurs throughout much 
of the United States and Canada. Its favored host is silver maple, 
but a large number of other deciduous trees are also attacked, 
101 
