Life Histories
For such a large group of insects, it is no surprise that their life histories are
quite variable. Females usually have two or three immature instars and males usually
have four. Males normally have two pupalike instars called the prepupa and pupa that
develop in a waxy enclosure produced initially by the second instar. The pupalike
instars and the adult males do not feed and have only rudimentary mouthparts. The
neotenic female lays eggs or first instars either in a cavity under her body or in
a waxy cover that may of may not be attached to her body. First instars are the
principle agents of feeding site location and dispersal; other immature instars
generally are sessile (with some notable exceptions). Scales possess a diversity
of reproductive systems including hermaphroditism, seven kinds of parthenogenesis,
and six major types of sexual chromosome systems.
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