Most armored scale insects reproduce sexually. Armored scale females lose their legs at the first molt and are sessile for the rest of their lives. Females develop through three instars and males develop through five. Armored scales may overwinter as eggs, nymphs, or adult females. Adult males are usually present about two weeks in each generation.
Some armored scales have four generations per year.
If wax is present, it adheres tightly to the body of the female and cannot be easily separated from it. Most soft scales produce a thin, glassy wax that does not obscure the color or form of the female soft scale. Soft scale females vary from flat to almost spherical. Often different host plants will alter the body form of a single species so much that taxonomists have described the different forms as separate species. If one turns the adult soft scale over, legs, antennae and thread-like mouthparts are readily visible with the aid of a microscope.