Ensign Scale

Ensign Scale insects are in the Family Ortheziidae which is considered a primitive scale family in that nymphs and adult females are all mobile and have legs and antennae. These appear to be nymphs, since females often have much longer waxy secretions extending from the posterior end. Ensign Scale produce thick waxy plates in intricate designs that look almost flower-like. They were grouped all around a few woody twigs close to the ground. At first I thought they were some kind of fungi. Males are winged and do not feed. Many Ensign Scale species feed on fungi in leaf litter, sucking juices from the hyphae. They are often attended by Crematogaster Ants and there was one of these ants present among the nymphs (see pictures 3 and 6). The legs and antennae are not visible in these pictures, but you can see them well in this spotting (different species?) from mid Mexico (San Luis Potosí) https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1975436002/fullscreen.