WPS overwinters on the tree as a fertilized female beneath the scale covering. Beginning at the petal fall stage of peach, each female lays 100-150 eggs over a one month period, with hatch occurring in about 10 days. Following egg hatch, crawlers immediately leave the scale covering and move to new sites to begin feeding on the bark. In about a week after settling down to feed, crawlers begin forming a scale covering. Female scales tend to disperse throughout the tree, but are seldom seen on terminal, green wood.
Females remain under the scale covering throughout their life.
Males develop wings when mature, emerge from their scale covering, and seek out and mate with females. There are 3 generations per year in Virginia, with second and third generation crawlers present in July and from late August through September, respectively. Scale feeding removes sap from the tree which reduces vigor. Foliage of infested trees may become sparse and yellow. Fruit size may be reduced and premature drop is likely to occur, especially f scale feeding is accompanied by other stress.