The soft brown scale attacks a wide variety of field, ornamental and greenhouse plants. This scale has a cosmopolitan distribution. It was first recorded in Hawaii in 1896 and is presently on all main islands.
Indirect damage can occur as the growth of sooty mold associated with honeydew production.
Damage due to the feeding of an individual scale is small. However, when large populations are present yellowing, defoliation, reduction in fruit set and loss in plant vigor are caused. Like other soft bodied insects such as aphids, leafhoppers and mealybugs, scales produce honeydew. This sweet and watery excrement is fed on by bees, wasps, ants and other insects which in turn may tend and offer protection to scale insects. The honeydew is also the medium on which a sooty fungus grows, called sooty mold, which is the most damaging effect of this scale.