The Unusual Oak Felt Scale

 

 

My friend Ron Rothhaas (Arbor Doctor, LLC, Cincinnati, OH) texted a series of images last week showing a pin oak (Quercus palustris) festooned with small, white structures superficially resembling insect cocoons. However, a closer look revealed the structures to be “ovisacs” of the Oak Felt Scale (OFS), Acanthococcus quercus (formerly Eriococcus quercus), family Eriococcidae.