Scale insect

Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the superfamily Coccoidea due to taxonomic uncertainties. Adult females typically have soft bodies and no limbs, and are concealed underneath domed scales, extruding quantities of wax for protection.

Some species are hermaphroditic, with a combined ovotestis instead of separate ovaries and testes.
Males, in the species where they occur, have legs and sometimes wings, and resemble small flies.
Scale insects are herbivores, piercing plant tissues with their mouthparts and remaining in one place, feeding on sap.

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