Abstract
Obscure scale, Melanaspis obscura (Comstock), is the primary insect pest of pin oak, Quercus palustris Muenchhausen, in Alabama. The life history of M. obscura was studied on 257 pin oaks on the Auburn University campus, Lee County, Ala., from 1986 to 1988. Melanaspis obscura had a single generation per year and overwintered primarily as second-instar males and females. Second-instar males formed a white, waxy cocoon before they formed prepupae. Adult females produced a hardened ventral cover. Following the addition of the crawler exit flap and before egg deposition, gravid females deposited a waxy mass between the pygidium and the posterior end of the cover. The accuracy of a degree-day model recorded for M. obscura development was tested by applying field data from this study. The model closely predicted crawler emergence in Auburn, Ala., using the reported base temperature of 4.44°C but was less accurate for predicting adult male emergence.
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