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Lobate Lac Scale

Paratachardina pseudolobata (earlier reported as P. lobata lobata)[4]

The lobate lac scale is an invasive scale insect from India and Sri Lanka, found in Florida in 1999, that forms dark crusts on the twigs of a very wide range of woody plants in South Florida; heavy infestations can kill shrubs and trees such as wax myrtle.[1][3][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Kerriidae
US records
2 states
Sources
4 cited
Updated
2026-10-17
Lobate lac scales, small dark bow-tie shaped scales, on a twig
Lobate lac scales, small dark bow-tie shaped scales, on a twig. Photo: Damien Wallace, public domain (CC0), via iNaturalist
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Related profiles
  9. Common questions
  10. Sources

How to identify it

  • Mature females are about 1.5 to 2 mm long and about as wide, with two pairs of prominent lobes that give the scale an X or bow-tie shape visible without magnification.[1][2]
  • The cover is extremely hard and brittle, glossy dark reddish brown, and crowded scales form a dark crust over twigs.[1][3]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Mexican lac scaleFlorida's other lac scale, found on wild tamarind and acacias in a few counties; its cover lacks the distinctive bow-tie lobes.[2]

Where it lives

Native to India and Sri Lanka and found in the Bahamas in 1992; first found in Florida on hibiscus in Davie (Broward County) in 1999, it spread through Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties within a few years and is now widely distributed throughout southern Florida.[1][3][2]

US map: public records from 2 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

The crawlers are wingless but can be carried to new plants on air currents and by animals such as birds.[3]

Shipments of ornamental plants are the main risk for spread beyond Florida, to the Caribbean, California and Hawaii.[3][1]

Damage and signs

  • It attacks woody broadleaf plants; by 2003 it had been documented on 94 of 155 native South Florida woody species and roughly as many landscape and crop plants.[3]
  • Heavy infestations can kill plants: wax myrtle is especially prone and has died both as hedges and in the wild, and cocoplum and myrsine are also hit, while mango leaves develop sooty mold.[1][3]

Health risk

It feeds on plants only; none of the sources reports harm to people or pets.[1][3]

Control

Biological control

Biological control is the likeliest approach for natural areas, and USDA has evaluated parasitoids from India and Thailand.[3]

Pesticides

Insecticide treatment can protect landscape and agricultural plants; an early University of Florida trial found that a root drench of the systemic insecticide imidacloprid controlled the scale on large Benjamin fig trees. Follow the label.[3][1]

Common questions

What is the dark crust on my wax myrtle twigs in South Florida?
A dark, hard crust of tiny bow-tie shaped scales on wax myrtle or cocoplum twigs is likely lobate lac scale.[1][3]
Can lobate lac scale kill shrubs?
Yes; heavy infestations can kill plants, and wax myrtle is especially prone.[1][3]

Sources

  1. UF/IFAS Extension (EDIS), “Lobate Lac Scale, Paratachardina lobata lobata (Featured Creatures, EENY-276).” edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN471 (accessed 2026-10-17)
  2. UF/IFAS Extension (EDIS), “The Mexican Lac Scale, Tachardiella mexicana (Featured Creatures).” edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN990 (accessed 2026-10-17)
  3. Don't Move Firewood (The Nature Conservancy), “Lobate Lac Scale (pest page, F. Campbell).” www.dontmovefirewood.org/pest_pathogen/lobate-lac-scale-html/ (accessed 2026-10-17)
  4. iNaturalist, “Paratachardina pseudolobata taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/498129 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-17. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.