[1][2] One of the first scientists who studied the insect in a scientific and modern way was Italian naturalist Giuseppe Maria Giovene.

He wrote a publication entitled Descrizione e storia della cocciniglia dell'ulivo (1807) in which he answered Giovanni Presta who had denied the existence of the insect in the Apulian provinces of Bari and Otranto.

[3][4] The soft body of the adult female olive scale is concealed under a dark grey or brownish-black covering which grows and hardens over time.

They moult twice before becoming adult, and all life stages of the insect feed by sucking the sap of the host plant.

[6] The parasitic wasp Metaphycus helvolus is native to South Africa and has been introduced to California where it has dramatically reduced incidence of this scale in citrus orchards.