Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / True bugs and cicadas
Sticker of Brown soft scale
Bug card No. 0203 of 1,500

Brown soft scale

Coccus hesperidum
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The brown soft scale is a tiny bug that looks like a little brown bump on a leaf. It sits in one spot and sips plant juice through a mouth like a straw. Many people think it is part of the plant, but it is a real insect.

Lives in
Almost all over the world, on garden, greenhouse and house plants
Length
3 to 5 mm (0.12 to 0.2 in)
the grown-up female
Top speed
about 0.02 km/h (0.01 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It can make plants weak, so gardeners do not like it.
What does it eat?
It drinks sap, the sweet juice inside plants. It likes lemon and orange trees, orchids and many greenhouse plants.
For real!Photo of Brown soft scale
Picture by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, United States, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Brown soft scale about 5 mm long (0.2 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailneeds 3 minutes to cross a dinner table

How big is Brown soft scale compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its babies are called crawlers. They walk a short way from their mother, then settle down and stay in about the same place for the rest of their lives.

2

The mother keeps her eggs inside her body until they hatch. She can have up to 250 babies.

3

Males are very rare. The females can have babies all on their own.

4

It drips sweet, sticky honeydew. Ants love it so much that they guard the scale insects and chase away their enemies.

5

A black mould can grow on the sticky honeydew and cover the leaves like soot.

you asked

Most asked questions about Brown soft scale

?Is brown soft scale harmful?

Not to people or pets. It weakens plants by drinking their sap, and black mould can grow on the honeydew it makes.

?What does brown soft scale look like?

A small oval bump, about 3 to 5 millimetres long, pale yellow brown or green brown with brown speckles.

?Why are there ants on my plant with scale insects?

Ants collect the sweet honeydew the scale insects make, and in return they protect them from enemies.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Coccus hesperidum
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Coccidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Coccidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Coccus hesperidum (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Whitney Cranshaw, Colorado State University, United States, Bugwood.org. CC BY 3.0 us, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Pharaoh cicadaTrue bugs and cicadasSpotted lanternflyTrue bugs and cicadasBrown marmorated stink bugTrue bugs and cicadasCochinealTrue bugs and cicadasBoxelder bugTrue bugs and cicadasWestern conifer seed bugTrue bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

Two-spotted cricketGrasshoppers and cricketsSmall blueButterfliesClouded yellowButterfliesGatekeeper butterflyButterfliesSt Mark's flyFlies and mosquitoesValley carpenter beeBees and bumblebees