Meeting October 21st: Armored scales: biology and management

Hello everyone!

Please join us on Friday, October 21st for our October meeting. We are still having difficulties coordinating in-person scheduling, so the meeting will be held on Zoom again this month. If you would like to attend the meeting, please email ctentsoc@gmail.com for the Zoom information. We will begin with a pre-meeting social starting at 6:30, followed by the usual business meeting at 7:30 and the talk by our speaker. The talk will be screen shared. Afterward we will have a Q&A and members are free to hang around or leave at their leisure afterward. As always, the minutes for the previous meeting are on the website.

October's speaker will be our very own Richard Cowles, giving a talk titled Armored scales: biology and management.

Abstract: Insects in the Family Diaspididae pose special challenges in pest management. Unlike soft scales, the scale cover for armored scales are not part of the insect’s body, but are manufactured by the scale living underneath the cover. The scales can be difficult to observe and are easily transported with plants, and so this group is notorious for becoming exotic invasive pests where they are introduced. I will discuss the two subfamilies of armored scales, their unique biological characteristics, and the cultural, biological, and chemical control practices used to manage their populations.

Hope to see you all there!