The shape tends to vary according to position on the host plant. Males are rare, but resemble tiny wasps or flies. Crawlers and young nymphs are yellow and almost flat in profile. Parasitized nymphs are dark brown to black and convex. Crawlers have well developed legs and antennae and are quite active until settling.
Older nymphs are sessile.
Biology Brown soft scale is cosmopolitan in tropical and subtropical regions and in greenhouses in northern regions. In North America it occurs out of doors in the deep South, and north along the eastern seaboard to Virginia, and as far north as southern Vancouver Island on the west coast. Brown soft scale has been reported feeding on hundreds of different plants. It can survive on most greenhouse plants, but seems to prefer perennials to annuals. Ferns are a favored host.