Pacific Pests, Pathogens and Weeds - Online edition

Pacific Pests, Pathogens & Weeds

Coffee brown scale (066)


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Summary

  • Worldwide distribution. On coffee, breadfruit, citrus, guava, soursop, ornamental plants, and especially cycads and ferns. It is reported from orchids. An important pest.
  • The scale sucks sap causing wilts, distortions, and honeydew, on which fungi grow blackening leaves and blocking sunlight.
  • Eggs are laid under the female; "crawlers" hatch and disperse by walking or on the wind. No males.
  • Natural enemies: parasitoid wasps and predators.
  • Cultural control: prune infested stems and fruits; adequate nutrition; destroy ant colonies encouraging natural enemies; remove low branches and weeds.
  • Chemical control: priority is to remove ants to let natural enemies work. If needed, use soap, white or horticultural oils; use synthetic pyrethroids to kill ants.

Common Name

Coffee brown scale, hemispherical scale

Scientific Name

Saissetia species. There are several species of Saissetia recorded in Pacific island countries. However, the species most often recorded on Annona in the South Pacific is Saissetia coffeae. The description below is for that species.


AUTHORS Helen Tsatsia & Grahame Jackson
Information from MAF Plant Health & Environment Laboratory (2011) Hemispherical Scale (Saissetia coffeae): PaDIL - http://www.padil.gov.au; and CABI (2019) Saissetia coffeae (hemipherical scale). (https://www.cabi.org/cpc/datasheet/48202); and Saissetia coffeae. Wikipedia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saissetia_coffeae); and from Saissetia coffeae (Walker). Hemispherical scale. Manaaki Whenua. Landcare Research. (https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/discover-our-research/biodiversity/plants-invertebrates-fungi-and-bacteria/invertebrate-systematics/scale-insects/factsheets/saissetia-coffeae/)

Produced with support from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research under project PC/2010/090: Strengthening integrated crop management research in the Pacific Islands in support of sustainable intensification of high-value crop production, implemented by the University of Queensland and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

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