The ladybird beetle is a beetle that preys on the beech scale insect. Pulvinaria is a scale insect genus in the family Coccidae. Pseudaulacaspis pentagona is a species of armored scale insect in the family Diaspididae. This species is host to the scale insect "Lecanodiaspis tarsalis" Newstead, 1917. The adult female scale insect is oval and dome-shaped, about long. In mid to late summer, the beech scale insect lays its eggs and dies. It has been considered the most pernicious scale insect in the United States. The scale insect "Dactylopius coccus" produces the brilliant red-coloured carminic acid to deter predators. Scale insect in the genus "Cryptostigma" live inside the nests of neotropical ant species.