scale insect

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

scale′ in′sect, 

1. Insects any of numerous small, plant-sucking homopterous insects of the superfamily Coccoidea, the males of which are winged and the females wingless, often covered by a waxy secretion resembling scales.

• 1830–40

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

scale insect noun

1. any small homopterous insect of the family Coccidae and related families, which typically live and feed on plants and secrete a protective scale around themselves. Many species, such as the San Jose scale, are important pests