The small, rosy-colored crawlers are detected by shaking a branch over a piece of white paper. Try this survey when crawlers are expected to first appear, from late April to late May. To conserve natural enemies, avoid insecticides at other times in the life cycle of the scale. On many plants, infestations are localized and can be controlled with spot sprays. Pinyon, Austrian and lodgepole pine also have been affected.
Infested trees can decline rapidly in vigor.
Striped-pine scale excretes large amounts of honeydew as it feeds, which results in a sticky covering on twigs and needles. Dark gray sooty mold fungi grow on the honeydew, further degrading the appearance of infested trees. Nuisance bees and wasps are attracted to the honeydew. Striped-pine scales spend the winter as fertilized, immature females attached to the twigs of the current season's growth. Some mature females may also overwinter.