Crape Myrtle Bark Tracks and White Specks: Scale Insect Infestation

Identifying the Bark "Scratches"

Tracks on 15-year-old crape myrtle trunks filled with sesame-seed-sized white specks, attended by ants and a beetle, indicate scale insects (likely crape myrtle bark scale, Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae). The "tracks" are feeding sites; white specks are egg sacs/crawlers. Ants farm honeydew; beetle may be a predator.

Systemic Treatment

Imidacloprid soil drench (Bayer Advanced Tree & Shrub) applied at base. Systemic action reaches scales on trunk/branches. Kills crawlers and feeding adults within 1–2 weeks. Lasts 12 months. Usable on other landscape plants.

Why This Beats Sprays

• Trunk sprays miss protected scales under bark plates.
• Systemic moves with sap to all feeding sites.
• One application = season-long control.

Crape myrtle bark scale is spreading in the South—early systemic treatment prevents heavy infestation and sooty mold buildup.