Cycad Aulacaspis Scale

Sagos are traditional Florida landscape plants that are threatened by a rapidly spreading pest called cycad aulacaspis scale.

The damage from these tiny sucking insects initially appears as yellow or bleached-looking spots, eventually making the leaves brown and crispy. Highly infested cycads are almost completely covered with a white crust that consists of living and dead insects.

Cycad aulacaspis scale seems to spread over short distances by wind, and long distances by the transport of infested plants. It can coat a sago within months and kill it within a year. The scale can even affect the roots down to two feet deep.

Cycad aulacaspis scale is a tough pest to get rid of, but repeated treatments with horticultural oils or an approved systemic insecticide may help.

UF/IFAS Sites

• Asian Cycad Scale
• Cycad Aulacaspis Scale--Monroe County
• IPM Florida: Management of Cycad Aulacaspis Scale
• IPM Florida: White Malady Strikes! The Cycad Aulacaspis Scale (CAS) Takes Its Toll
• Featured Creatures: Cycad Aulacaspis Scale

UF/IFAS Publications

• Cycad Aulacaspis Scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi
• Cycad Aulacaspis Scale on Sago Palm (PDF)
• Fact Sheet: Cycad Aulacaspis Scale (PDF)
• Scale on Sago Q&A (PDF)
• Update on Management Methods for Cycad Aulacaspis Scale

Also on Gardening in a Minute

• Cycads
• Sago Alternatives

Other Sites

• Cycad Aulacaspis Scale--University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
• The Cycad Aulacaspis Scale, a Pest of Sago Palms in Texas--Texas Cooperative Extension
• Cycad Aulacaspis Scale: Invasive Pest with Extinction Potential--National Integrated Pest Management Center (PDF)