Yellow-poplar

Guides

• Toumeyella liriodendri

  tuliptree scale

  Toumeyella liriodendri, the tuliptree scale, is a soft scale insect (Coccidae) native to North America and specialized on Liriodendron tulipifera (tuliptree or yellow-poplar). This univoltine species overwinters as second-instar nymphs on twigs, matures to adults in spring, and produces eggs that hatch into crawlers in early summer. First-instar nymphs feed on leaf undersides before migrating back to twigs in autumn. Males are unknown; reproduction is presumed parthenogenetic. Heavy infestations cause branch dieback, reduced growth, and honeydew production that supports sooty mold growth. The species has been the subject of recent genomic research, with a 536Mb genome assembly revealing it as an early-diverging soft scale with 17 chromosomes.

  scale-insectsoft-scaleCoccidaeLiriodendrontuliptreeyellow-poplarunivoltineparthenogenesishoneydewsooty-moldforest-pestornamental-pestgenomechromosome-evolutionphloem-feederant-tendedNorth-AmericaMarylandHemipteraSternorrhyncha