Do hostas get scale? (Newer, New pic)

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 19, 2007 12:34 pm

I have a number of soft bodied things that look like they may be alive, that are on the veins of some of my newer acquisitions. They look like scale only they are soft and squish when you try to pick them off. Is it a scale? Or something else someone is familiar with? They are too small I think to get a pic...

Buckeye · Post by **Buckeye** » Jul 20, 2007 6:04 am

This is easier said than done, but you might me able to get a decent pic of it if you shoot it through a magnifying glass.

I haven't seen it before on hostas, but there is a soft bodied brown scale that is frequently showing up here in Ohio on all kinds of plants, both woody and herbaceous. When they first hatch they are a creamy color, and as they age they turn to a tan, and eventually to a medium, dark brown. I have seen it on plants like Liriope, ferns, Clematis, Hollies, etal. It is quite possible that the vendor you got the plants from had an infestation on something else nearby and they moved onto the hostas. This scale has several generations per year, so population levels could build quite high in one season. Whether it could successfully overwinter on herbaceous plants like hosta is questionable, but it could survive on another host and move back to the hostas each season.

Try to get a picture if you can.

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 24, 2007 11:13 am

Well, I didn't use a magnifying glass, but the micro setting on my camera may have caught it. This was a little larger "one." If you zoom in on the brown speck in the center of the photo, I think you can get a good look at it. Thanks for any help ID'ing this thing...

DBoweMD · Post by **DBoweMD** » Jul 24, 2007 1:28 pm

That is a cool infestation to have because they will compete with the slugs.

digs57 · Post by **digs57** » Jul 24, 2007 10:49 pm

Sheesh! another out of season April Fool's joke!

Your little infestation is adorable - please send some up my way!
D.

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 24, 2007 11:21 pm

Oh, no! Sorry, wrong photo! I am using photobucket and it put that same photo incorrectly on my "Sugar Daddy" post, but I didn't think to check this one! Sheesh! I don't know what's up with that! Here's the right photo...again if you zoom in you can see a tiny tan colored spot on one of the leaves (close to the center of the pic) kinda close to the petiole. I hope someone can help!

Spider · Post by **Spider** » Jul 25, 2007 4:03 pm

I was going to say your infestation is a frog! lol!

Good luck with the real ID, are they causing any damage?

OMG! I just thought....what if it's frog poop?

eastwood2007 · Post by **eastwood2007** » Jul 25, 2007 4:16 pm

Spider wrote:I was going to say your infestation is a frog! lol!

Good luck with the real ID, are they causing any damage?

OMG! I just thought....what if it's frog poop?

Hmmmm....I don't know....I don't think I have ever seen that? Could you post a pic?