Crape Myrtle Bark Scale

What it looks like

Look for white or gray fuzzy, waxy bumps clustered at branch crotches and old pruning wounds. If you crush them, they leave a pink or orange smear. Trunks and limbs often turn black underneath from sooty mold growing on the insects' sticky residue.

Often mistaken for: Mealybugs or other bark-encrusting scale insects

When it shows up in the Triangle

Eggs are laid in late spring with young scales showing up in early May, and there's a second wave in September. There can be more than one generation per year.

Where you’ll see it

Affects crape myrtle trees and shrubs.

What you can do

• Keep trees healthy and unstressed with proper watering and care
• Check trunks and branch crotches regularly for the white fuzzy patches
• Prune out and dispose of heavily infested branches
• Wash sooty mold and scale off trunks with a soft brush and mild soapy water when practical
• Encourage twice-stabbed lady beetles, which naturally feed on this scale, by avoiding unnecessary pesticide use