Tea scales feed underneath leaves. This usually causes the upper leaf surface to become yellow-splotched. When infestations are heavy, cottony filaments can be seen hanging from the leaves. A waxy covering develops over each scale as it grows. The males develop fragile white covers that are usually a little smaller than those of the females.
Females lay eggs for several weeks and eggs hatch continuously.
This results in overlapping generations almost year-round. A major problem with tea scale control is that often damage has been done before the scale infestation is noticed. This means that in spite of control efforts, the damaged leaves will often be retained by the plant for at least a season or more. Add a spreader-sticker to your spray mixture and be sure to direct the spray to the underside of leaves to obtain better contact of the insecticide with the scale insects. Beginning in April, use one of the recommended insecticides two or three times about 2 weeks apart.