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Plumichiton pollicinus Henderson & Hodgson

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Thumbnail scale
[Plumichiton pollicinus]. L: young adult female, the upper middle part is of curled white wax layers, the flatter sides show her body colour through transparent wax plates. R: mature female. Females always have their head-ends facing down the twig.

[Plumichiton pollicinus]. L: young adult female, the upper middle part is of curled white wax layers, the flatter sides show her body colour through transparent wax plates. R: mature female. Females always have their head-ends facing down the twig.

The species name pollicinus means "thumb-like", because the mature adult female looks like a small, horny thumbnail.

Biology: one or two generations, or perhaps an overlapping generation, per year. The new generation is produced from summer through winter. Males and females develop on the uppersides of leaves and adult females migrate to the stems. This preference for the upper leaf is unusual and helps to separate thumbnail scale from other soft scales on kānuka and mānuka. The white waxy male tests can often be seen on the leaves in February-March.

Found on the stems and upperside of leaves of:

Kunzea ericoides kānuka
Leptospermum scoparium mānuka