Here in this photo, the scale insects cover an oak branch and a Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle is laying eggs on the scale insects. Its larvae will feed on the scale insects.
I posted about a scale insect infestation and the scale insect predators previously. Who won this battle for the oak branches? Did the scale insects win, or their enemies: the entomopathogenic fungi, tiny parasitic wasps, and other predatory insects (like the lady beetles) that prey on the scales? Here is an update on that epic battle with photos showing the carnage.
Fungal
entomopathogen spores landed on the scale insects' cuticles and infected many of the scales,
eventually killing and digesting them.
These two photos show fruiting-bodies growing post-mortem out of the parasitized scale insects.
Other enemies of the scale insects were several species of
tiny parasitic wasps. These next few
photos show some of these parasitoids laying eggs on the scale insects.
The tiny wasps had a big job scurrying around over the
hordes of stationary scale insects and selecting suitable ones where they would lay
their eggs.
The wasps' larvae developed inside the scale insects as
they fed on the scales or the scales' eggs.
Here is a photo of a scale insect shell with plenty of exit
holes from the mature wasps.
In this epic battle for the oak branches in a forest near me, hordes of scale insects were attacked by wasps,
the entomopathogenic fungi, and the larvae of
beetles like the Twice-stabbed Lady Beetles...
.... as you can see, the scale insects' enemies won the battle.