Crapemyrtle Bark Scale is treated the same as other scale, just the timing of any pesticide applied will depend on the crawler period. (Crawlers are the newly-hatched juvenile scale that are the most vulnerable life stage to pesticide intervention.) Since this is still a relatively new scale for the Maryland area, we are still learning about when to expect a crawler period for each generation. So far, they appear to have at least two full generations per year in our area, so there will be at least two crawler periods. Once we have more specific data, we'll update the page linked above with life cycle details.

A certified pesticide applicator can be hired to apply either a systemic (plant-absorbed) product, an insect growth regulator (IGR), or topical insecticide sprays like horticultural oil. Someone experienced with managing scale insects should be able to monitor the Crapemyrtle Bark Scale for you in order to look for indications of crawler activity, since the process is the same for all scale species.

A heavy scale outbreak might take more than a full year to suppress. Dead scale do not necessarily fall off the bark right away, so it's possible a treatment will be starting to work but the tree might not look any different at first, since the white waxy scale covers will remain stuck to the bark for a while.

Miri