Ground pearl

Description

A subterranean scale insect (Margarodes spp.) that infests the roots of turfgrasses in the warm sandy soils of coastal plains of Australia and the southern USA. The insects are considered pest, but the clusters of pinkish-white waxy eggs An iridescent covering secreted by some insects that live on plant roots. Ground pearl is used for ornaments.

While retaining well-developed fossorial legs with numerous setae (which scale insects do not have), ground pearls cannot secrete scales similar to their scale relatives (Beardsley and Gonzalez 1975). Instead, ground pearls excrete a waxy covering that completely surrounds their body, with the exception of their piercing-sucking mouthparts. The voided, waxy, spherical covering of the insect is the most likely structure to be encountered. The sphere is pink to yellowish-brown in color and measures from about 1/6 of an inch (4.3 mm) in diameter to the size of a grain of sand (Buss 2008). The exposed mouthparts are used to feed and attach to the roots of plants.

Synonyms and Related Terms

earth pearls; pearl scale

Resources and Citations

• North Caroline State Extension: Ground Pearls in turf

• University of Florida: Ground Pearls