PestControlBasics
Menu

Identify

Treat

Local

About

Pine Tortoise Scale

Toumeyella parvicornis[3]

Pine tortoise scale is a native soft scale insect that feeds on pine twigs and coats trees with honeydew and sooty mold.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Hemiptera
Family
Coccidae
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-16
Brown pine tortoise scales clustered on a pine twig
Brown pine tortoise scales clustered on a pine twig. (c) Jody, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Where it lives
  3. Biology
  4. Damage and signs
  5. Health risk
  6. Control
  7. Related profiles
  8. Common questions
  9. Sources

How to identify it

  • Mature females are brown, rounded and about 1/4 inch long, crowded on twigs.[1]
  • Settled crawlers form a white crystalline coating; males can fly but do not feed.[1][2]

Where it lives

Native from the Dakotas east to the Atlantic and south to Florida.[1]

Biology and life cycle

It overwinters as immature females that mature and lay eggs in spring; crawlers emerge in April to May in North Carolina and late June to July in Illinois.[1][2]

There are one to four generations a year depending on location: one in Illinois and the north, two to three in North Carolina.[1][2]

A female may produce 500 crawlers.[2]

Damage and signs

  • Hosts are mainly Scots, jack, Austrian and red pines, Virginia pine and several southern pines; eastern white pine is generally not attacked.[1][2]
  • Honeydew grows black sooty mold, and feeding slows growth; it rarely kills trees and prefers young ones.[1][2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

Scout trees regularly to catch the life stages that can be controlled.[1]

Pesticides

Mature scales resist sprays because of their hard covering, so time thorough sprays to the crawlers, ideally the first spring generation; Illinois ties timing to Vanhoutte spirea bloom.[1][2]

Common questions

Why are my pine needles turning black?
Sooty mold growing on honeydew from pine tortoise scale is a common cause.[1][2]
When should I spray for pine tortoise scale?
When crawlers are present, usually in spring.[1][2]

Sources

  1. NC State Extension, “Pine Tortoise Scale (PDIC Factsheet).” content.ces.ncsu.edu/pine-tortoise-scale (accessed 2026-10-16)
  2. University of Illinois Extension, “Pine Tortoise Scale.” extension.illinois.edu/insects/pine-tortoise-scale (accessed 2026-10-16)
  3. iNaturalist, “Toumeyella parvicornis taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/454676 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-16. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.