I've recently noticed a bunch of dark brown to black "things" on my Ficus
trees. I've not noticed them on any of the other trees located right beside
the Ficus. The "things" are small, hard and conform themselves to the
curves of the small twigs on which they are located. Haven't seen them on
any of the larger branches. When I pick them off, there is not scarring
underneath and they come off fairly easily. Once removed, they resemble the
carapice (sp?) of a small bug; but I don't see any live insects
running/flying/crawling around anywhere. I've looked through all of the
books I have and can't find anything that looks or sounds like what I'm
seeing here. The plants are all indoors in my basement under lights. I'm
able to keep the air moving fairly well and the humidity is maintained at 40
- 60%. Both of the "infected" plants seem to be doing fine - new leaves
sprouting all over; but I'm worried that there is impending doom of which
I'm totally unaware. Any help would be much appreciated.

Jeff Isom
Cleveland, OH / Sunset Zone 39

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I've recently noticed a bunch of dark brown to black "things"
on my Ficus
trees. I've not noticed them on any of the other trees located
right beside
the Ficus. The "things" are small, hard and conform themselves
to the
curves of the small twigs on which they are located. Haven't
seen them on
any of the larger branches. When I pick them off, there is not
scarring
underneath and they come off fairly easily. Once removed, they
resemble the
carapice (sp?) of a small bug; but I don't see any live insects
running/flying/crawling around anywhere. I've looked through
all of the
books I have and can't find anything that looks or sounds like
what I'm
seeing here. The plants are all indoors in my basement under
lights. I'm
able to keep the air moving fairly well and the humidity is
maintained at 40
- 60%. Both of the "infected" plants seem to be doing fine -
new leaves
sprouting all over; but I'm worried that there is impending
doom of which
I'm totally unaware. Any help would be much appreciated.

If you squeeze one between thumb and forefinger, do they squish?
Do they leave a tiny red spot on your fingers?

Have you looked at them through a decent magnifying glass, a
jeweler's loupe, or (best) microscope? Both "sides?"

Do your trees look healthy? Leaves still bright green; no
mottled pale green or (worse) yellow?

They may be egg cases of something that has hatched and flown the
coop. In which case, they should have been there for a while --
tho, perhaps a different color when the egg was "alive." Look
for something crawling/flying around the trees, including
non-Ficus. Something tiny -- probably.

Consider scale as a possibility if they do squish.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

I've recently noticed a bunch of dark brown to black "things" on my Ficus

You have scale.

Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)