Coccus hesperidum is a soft scale insect in the family Coccidae with a wide host range.

The eggs are retained inside the insect until they hatch, at which time small nymphs emerge and are brooded for a few hours before dispersing.

The brown soft scale does not normally kill the host plant, but the loss of sap probably causes it to grow more slowly and crop less heavily.

[2] Traditionally, brown soft scale has been controlled by the use of pesticides, but these have the disadvantage that other insects, friends and foes alike, are also killed.

This allows natural predators to flourish and keep the scale insects under control, although this may lead to a temporary increase in the production of sooty mould on the honeydew that the ants no longer collect.

A further possibility is the use of growth regulators such as the hormone hydroprene which disrupts the moulting of juvenile scale insects.