Crawlers hatch from these eggs, exit from under the mother scale during late August and September, and settle on the twigs. There is one generation each year. They live on the stems of magnolias. They usually crowd together on young stems, often near the ground. Their eggs hatch in August or September.
Scales suck the sap from the trees and thus cause branches to die and sometimes kill trees.
The insects often coat the leaves with a clear syrupy liquid called honeydew. A black sooty mold then grows on the coating making the leaves unsightly. Black sooty mold forms on the leaves. Magnolia grandiflora and other summer-flowering species may attract Japanese beetles . They are about inch long.