Note the excessive browning and tip die-back of the branches. In forest settings, little can be done to control the needle cast diseases. However, in landscape plantings, Christmas tree orchards or nurseries, the use of fungicide treatment applied prior to infection in the spring will decrease the disease incidence. Small, periodic infestations of woolly pine scale and many other scale insects do not harm the tree. However, repeated severe infestations can cause branch dieback and, if the tree is under some other stress, death can occur.
Severe infestations give the tree a white fluffy appearance.
Stunted, deformed or off-color branches and needles may indicate a low level of infestation. These molds grow on the sugary exudate, commonly called honeydew, produced by the scale insects. Ants are also attracted to the exudate. Loblolly pine infested with the woolly pine scale, Pseudophilippia quaintancii. Most infestations are minor because of unfavorable environmental conditions and natural predators.