Ctenochiton chelyon Henderson & Hodgson
Turtleshell scale
The species name chelyon means tortoise-shell or turtleshell, the scale is patterned and shaped like a colourful turtle.
This scale is closely related to the three other species of Ctenochiton, thesixpenny scales. They got this nickname a long time ago, probably at the beginning of last century.
Biology: Has one generation per year and overwinters as small 2nd-instar females and males. As soon as spring growth starts on the host trees, the female scales move off the old leaves onto the new shoots and take advantage of the rising sap to speed up their development to adult. The males stop feeding and stay behind on old leaves; they lose their mouthparts as they moult and go through a metamorphosis to emerge as tiny winged insects quite unlike the female scales. The adult males live for only a few days, long enough to mate with females.
Found on the undersides of leaves of:
Clematis cunninghamii | small-flowered clematis |
Coprosma sp. | |
Corynocarpus laevigatus | karaka |
Elingamita johnsonii | |
Litsea calicaris | mangeao |
Melicope simplex | |
Plagianthus sp. | ribbonwood |
Streblus heterophyllus | tūrepo / milk tree |
Vitex lucens | pūriri |