Major Host:

American beech, European beech (Please see also beech bark disease as they are part of the same disease complex)

Key Features:
 
Insects: Adult: small, yellow, elliptical (1/16 inch long), secrete white “wool-like” wax. Nymph: Small (1/32 inch) covered with “wool-like” wax.  Only young nymphs (crawlers) are mobile - they search for suitable feeding sites and settle in cracks and crevices in the bark. 

Damage:  clusters of scales feeding on the bark causes vascular cells to shrink and collapse resulting in fissures in the bark.  These fissures are key indicators of adult beech scale feeding.  This scale is known to be associated with beech blight disease, Nectria coccinea (see Stem and Trunk Diseases)
 

Resources

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• Exotic Pests of Eastern Forests - USDA Forest Service

Selected Images

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Invasive Listing Sources

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• New York Regulated and Prohibited Invasive Species - Prohibited
• Nonnative Invasive Species in Southern Forest and Grassland Ecosystems
• To be proposed for MISC
• West Virginia Invasive Species Strategic Plan and Volunteer Guidelines 2014

References

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Common Name Reference: Bosik, J. J. Common Names of Insects and Related Organisms 1997. Lanham, MD: Entomological Society of America (ESA), 1997. 232 pp.

Scientific Name Reference: R.W. Poole and P. Gentili, Nomina Insecta Nearctica. 1996. Nomina insecta nearctica: a checklist of the insects of North America. Vol. 1-4. Rockville (MD): Entomological Information Services. Available at URL: http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/main.htm