Definition of "scale insect" []

• Any of various small homopterous insects of the superfamily Coccoidea that suck the juices of plants, the females of which secrete and remain under waxy scales on plant tissue. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.