Crystallotesta ornatella Henderson & Hodgson

<em>Crystallotesta ornatella</em>. Left: young adult female, reddish-brown colour. The two white spots are wax at the entrance to the breathing passages. Right: old female. Her body has shrunk to a small lump at the head [head facing down the twig] after producing her young.

Crystallotesta ornatella. Left: young adult female, reddish-brown colour. The two white spots are wax at the entrance to the breathing passages. Right: old female. Her body has shrunk to a small lump at the head [head facing down the twig] after producing her young.

Small ornate scale — Crystallotesta ornatella Henderson & Hodgson

The species name ornatella is because this scale looks like a small version of C. ornata. William Maskell mistakenly thought they were the same when he recorded C. ornata from manuka in the 1800s, but only the little one, C. ornatella, is found on manuka and kanuka.

Biology: one or two generations per year, overwintering as immature males and females. The new generation is produced through Summer. Males and females develop on the stems and the little white, empty male tests stay on the twigs long after adults have emerged.

Found on the stems and underside of leaves of:

Kunzea ericoides	kānuka
Leptospermum scoparium	mānuka
Leucopogon fasciculatus	mingimingi