armored scale
- noun
- /ˈɑrmərd skeɪl/
- Specialized
:
escama acorazada
- An armored scale often attaches itself to leaves and stems, making detection difficult.
- armored scale insect
Examples
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Gardeners use natural predators to help control armored scale populations.
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The citrus orchard was infested with armored scale, damaging many of the fruit trees.
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The armored scale is often found on tree trunks.
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Many armored scales can damage plants.
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The armored scale is often found on the leaves of plants, where it feeds and protects itself with its tough covering.
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Gardeners may struggle with pests like the armored scale, which can damage plants with its feeding habits.
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Many species of armored scale are nearly indistinguishable from one another due to their similar waxy exteriors.
Synonyms
1
7.3
A small insect that sucks plant sap and has a hard waxy covering
How Armored
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is directly built from 'armored' (having protective plates or a shell) + 'scale' (a thin rigid plate or covering), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a creature with a protective scale-like covering. This is compositional and non-idiomatic, not requiring cultural or metaphorical knowledge.
Etymology
Armored scale comes from the insect's look: the female has a hard, waxy cover like tiny 'armor', so the word armored suggests 'protected', and her body looks like a flat 'scale' or plate, which is why it is called scale. That's why the name means a small insect that is well 'protected' and often hard to see or remove.