Editor: Dug Miller

Systematic Entomol. Lab.

Building 005, Room 137

10300 Baltimore Avenue

Plant Sciences Institute

Beltsville Agric. Res. Ctr.

Beltsville, MD 20705 USA

dmiller@sel.barc.usda.gov

 

 

Volume XXX                                                              December 30, 2006

 


ISSIS-XI

Manuela Branco, Instituto Superior Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (ISA-INIA), Portugal: The XI ISSIS meeting will take place in Oeiras, Portugal, on September 24-27th, 2007. It will be jointly organized and sponsored by ISA-UTL and EAN-INIA. Located near the Atlantic Ocean, about 20 km from Lisbon, Oeiras offers mild and pleasant weather throughout the year. In September you can count on temperatures about 25ºC. During the meeting a field trip is planned to Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and there the possibility of a post-meeting excursion (September 28-30th) to Portuguese historical villages and natural parks. At present we have about 40 pre-registrations from many different countries covering a large spectrum of topics, such as genetics, zoogeography, population dynamics, biological control and host-insect interactions. There is still time to submit proposals for contributing presentations. Updated information is available on the web site http://www.isa.utl.pt/dppf/issis. Further information on accommodations, registration fees, instructions for the preparations of abstracts and excursions will be sent in the second circular and updated on the webpage in January 2007."

 

HISTORY OF “THE SCALE”

Because the future of “The Scale” is not clear at this time, I thought it might be of interest to give a brief description of its development over the years.  The first issue came out in February 1973 and was called the “Coccidologist’s Newsletter.”  The front page contained images of the cover of a male soft scale, an adult male soft scale, a lac scale female in cross section, 7 covers or pairs of covers of a diverse array of armored scales including crawler covers, a crawler of an armored scale, a mystery crawler, an adult female of Plotococcus eugeniae, a male mealybug cocoon, a Eucalymnatus soft scale, and an ortheziid (probably Insignorthezia insignis).  I suspect the cover was made by John Davidson.  1973 was the only year that there were 2 issues with number 2 issued in November of 1973; I guess I realized that each edition would take more effort, and there was limited time for such activities.  The sequence of volumes and dates went as follows:  Volume I, February 1973 and November 1973; Volume II December 1974; Volume III ? 1975 (don’t have a copy of this to confirm this date); Volume IV March 1976; Volume V September 1979; Volume VI February 1980; Volume VII June 1981; Volume VIII May 1982; Volume IX ? 1983 (don’t have a copy of this to confirm this date); Volume X December 1984; Volume XI December 1985; Volume XII December 1986; Volume XIII December 1987; Volume XIV June 1989; Volume XV July 1990; Volume XVI September 1991; Volume XVII October 1992; Volume XVIII December 1993; Volume XIX December 1994; Volume XX February 1996; Volume XXI March 1997; Volume XXII March 1998; Volume XXIII March 1999; Volume XXIV March 2000; Volume XXV March 2001; Volume XXVI April 2002; Volume XXVII April 2003; Volume XXVIII December 2004; Volume XXIX December 2005; Volume XXX December 2006.  The years 1977, 1978, 1988, and 1993 were missed.  In 1983 there was an edict from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Information Office that no “newsletters” were to be issued without their approval.  When I realized that Information Office approval was unlikely I found a loop hole by changing the title to “The Scale.”  It no longer qualified as a newsletter and was continued in a new form.  John Davidson designed the new cover, this time with a balance scale weighing an armored scale on one side and a soft scale on the other.  Interestingly the weight of the two seems equal.  The 1987 volume was mislabeled as XII; it should have been XIII.  The first few volumes were produced with a typewriter; I am not sure when the computer took over.  The first online edition was produced in 1996.  We still mail out hard copies for those who want them, but for those who are able, we ask that they download a copy from the SEL Coccoidea Web Page at  http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/Coccoidea/scaleframe.html.

 

NEWS

Evelyna Danzig, Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. I am now retired, but continue to work as before. I have finished a revision of the genus Heliococcus Sulc of the former USSR. The manuscript contains a key and review of 27 species that is a majority of species of the genus. Helioccocus shows a wide diversity of morphological characters, but the presence of special crateriform ducts and the consistency of other morphological characters suggest that it is a natural group. Description of separate genera for certain species does not seem correct. This revision is a continuation of the monographic work on “Mealybugs of Russia and neighbouring territories”. For the last several years Ilya Gavrilov helped me with this work including the revision of some difficult groups. In 2006 the English translation of the second part of the Phenacoccus revision was published; as usual it was in Entomol. Rev. This year the paper “A new species of Greenisca from Russia” was also published. This summer I lived in the forest near St. Petersburg. I was very surprised by the enormous proliferation of two species of the genus Eriopeltis: E. stammeri Schm. and E. lichtensteinii Sign. For many years I have visited these forests but for the first time I see millions of females. Perhaps it is connected with the unusually warm and dry summer.

 

Ilya Gavrilov, Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia. I have finished the catalogue of chromosome numbers and genetic system of scale insects of the world. It will be published soon in Israel Journal of Entomology. Also, I have published some taxonomic and faunistic papers, mainly on mealybugs. In particular, I have described a new genus Nudicauda Gavrilov, 2006 with type species Ehrhornia nigra Matesova, 1957. The new genus differs from other mealybugs by a combination of characters but primarily in the presence of oral rim tubular ducts with a broad flat ring and in an unusual ovisac that opens over the posterior tergites of the female body. Also, I have finished a review of genus Mirococcopsis Borchsenius, 1948 and I shall send it to press soon.  These and some other revisions will be parts of the monograph “Mealybugs of Russia and neighbouring territories” that Evelyna Danzig and I are preparing.  Beginning this year Evelyna Danzig and I will supervise a postgraduate student Irina Trapeznikova, who will prepare a PhD thesis: “Karyosystematics and reproductive biology of mealybugs.” Irina has already mastered methods of morphological preparation of scale insects and preparation of chromosomes.

 

Michelle Leddel, retired Century High School, Alhambra, California, USA mleddel@earthlink.net.  After 35 years of teaching at the secondary and adult levels, I have left my classroom, however,   my interest in the study of Dactylopius spp.  (cochineal scale insects) continues at a more global level.  The III International Congress on Cochineal and Other Natural Colorants (Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico: November, 2006), provided two new opportunities.  First, I gave a slide presentation on our cochineal scale classroom lessons and community outreach.  Secondly, I met with and sat in on workshops and presentations by growers, artists, weavers and dyers, promoters, scientists, and researchers that are working with the cochineal scale insects.   In this case, their work centered on the 'fine' Dactylopius coccus Costa, where as in southern California and parts of Arizona, I found only the 'wild' species. Earlier in the year I also gave slide presentations to educators at the State Conference of the California Continuation Education Association in Los Angeles, and the Teacher Recognition Day at the California 48th District Agricultural Association in Pomona, California.  Needless to say, teachers see the unique entomological opportunities available in the study of this colorful scale insect.  Participants at three California teachers' agriculture conference/seminars also received our 8-page cochineal mini-book, complete with student lessons and drawings of the insects.  Brief discussions at three cactus and succulent societies meetings/conference in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, further helped to educate cacti hobbyists about the cochineal host plant, Opuntia spp. Interpreters at Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, continue to discuss and display the many uses of this scale insect colorant during the 1700 and 1800's. On display at this 'living museum' are examples of cochineal as it was used as a natural pink coloring in liquid medicines; pink powder for wigs; food coloring in multi-colored gelatin recipes and sugar coated almond deserts; and as a colorant for pink book covers, yarns, and fabrics.  The John D. Rockefeller. Jr. Library also has historical resources, used not only by the interpreters, but the general public. Finally, as "The Scale" goes to press, the Internet indicates another book about the Dactylopius, however, I have not found it in the U.S.  Look for "Cochineal Red: Travels Through Ancient Peru," by Hugh Thomas  (published July, 2006) in United Kingdom.

 

Yair Ben-Dov, Department of Entomology, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel: On November 2006, we (Yair Ben-Dov and Douglass R. Miller) completed the First Edition of ScaleNet. As of December all 27 families of the Coccoidea, namely Aclerdidae, Asterolecaniidae, Beesoniidae, Carayonemidae, Cerococcidae, Coccidae, Conchaspididae, Dactylopiidae, Diaspididae, Electrococcidae, Eriococcidae, Grimaldiellidae, Halimococcidae, Inkaidae, Jersicoccidae, Kermesidae, Kerriidae, Kukaspididae, Labiococcidae, Lecanodiaspididae, Margarodidae, Micrococcidae, Ortheziidae, Phenacoleachiidae, Phoenicococcidae, Pseudococcidae and Stictococcidae, are on-line in ScaleNet.  This is the appropriate time to thank colleagues for their comments, notes and corrections. We very much appreciate your feedback, as it contributes to the upgrade of ScaleNet, for the benefit of all.The Catalogue of eight scale insect families ( Ben-Dov, Y.  2006.  A systematic catalogue of eight Scale Insect Families (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of the world Aclerdidae, Asterolecaniidae, Beesoniidae, Carayonemidae, Conchaspididae, Dactylopiidae, Kerriidae and Lecanodiaspididae. Elsevier, Amsterdam. 368 pp.) was published in August 2006. The Catalogue is available for purchase from the Publisher; Elsevier Ltd.  Additional information is available at Elsevier’s site:

In 2004 I initiated and placed on the Internet the website Directory of Scale Insect Systematists Directory of Scale Insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) Systematists URL: http://www.agri.gov.il/Publications/systematists. Feedback from colleagues and users will be highly appreciated. If you discover that a particular scale insect systematist is not included in the Directory, or you have new information and corrections, please contact me by email    During 2006 I started to re-construct and re-activate the web-site Scale Insect Forum. Hopefully it will be placed on the Internet at a new site in 2007. The new web-site will also include, among various items, a Directory of Coccidologists, i.e. a list of persons who are studying or are interested in any aspect of scale insects studies, such as taxonomy, phylogeny, economic importance, fauna, molecular biology, cytogenetics, life history, biological control, zoogeography, chemical ecology, useful scale insects, and interrelationship with ants. The entry of each person will provide his/her affiliation address, email address, phone and fax numbers and areas of research or interest. I believe that such a list will be very useful and helpful for scale insects students all over the world.  If you are interested in having your name included in the Directory please contact me at .   Please forward information about Scale Insect Forum to any of colleagues, who are involved in Scale Insect Studies.

 

Chris Hodgson, The National Museum of Wales, Wales, UK:  This has been another busy year and most of the projects which were underway at the time of writing last year have now either been completed or are very close to completion: the revision of some Porphyrophora species from the Middle East etc. with Hassan Vahedi should come out in Biological Systematics and Diversity fairly early in the New Year; the “Review of the Margarodidae sensu Morrison (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) and some related taxa based on the morphology of the adult males”, co-authored with Imre Foldi, was published in Zootaxa in July; the morphology of all stages of Marchalina hellenica was published in Zootaxa earlier in the year, co-authored with Sophia Gounari; the check list of alian insects on the Galapagos Islands and implications for conservation was published in Conservation Biology and Biodiversity (by C.A. Causton, S.B. Peck, B.J. Sinclair, L. Roque-Abelo, CJH  and B. Landry) in January; and lastly, the paper on the systematic and biology of the eriococcid Calycicoccus merwie (by P.J. Gullan, JH Giliomee, CJH and L.G. Cook) came out in African Entomology. If readers want copies of these papers, please email me at hodgsoncj@cardiff.ac.uk.  The revision of the margarodoid genus Stigmacoccus has been completed (co-authored by Heather Gamper, Amauri Bogo and Gillian Watson) and will hopefully be published in the coming year.  Also completed is a revision of the rhizoecine mealybugs based on adult male morphology – which (I believe) suggests that this could be considered to be a separate family from the Pseudococcidae – but this is not supported by cladistic studies currently being undertaken in Davis (!!) and so I await the outcome of their analysis, based mainly on DNA (but including my data on adult males).  The study of the margarodoid genus Palaeococcus has come to a halt as type specimens of the type species (P. fuscipennis) cannot currently be located.  P. fuscipennis was apparently originally described from deciduous trees, whereas all the material currently available from the Mediterranean is off Pinus species.  If any reader has seen material off a deciduous tree (or can suggest where I might locate specimens) I would be most grateful.  The main emphasis in the New Year will be a redescription of the type species of South American Eriococcidae genera (senior author Dug Miller); completion of my part of the soft scales of Australia (with Penny Gullan); and, hopefully, a start will be made on the immature stages of New Zealand Coccidae (senior author Rosa Henderson).  I also hope to complete a review of the non-margarodoid families based on the morphology of the adult males, which is fairly well advanced; and perhaps to produce a more definitive phylogeny of the Coccoidea based mainly on adult male characters.  A number of other small projects are also underway and some may come to fruition in the coming year.  As before, this comes with my very grateful thanks to The National Museum of Wales for on-going support and facilities.  And I look forward to meeting you all in Portugal next autumn.

 

University of California, Davis, USA

Penny Gullan: The Gullan scale lab had a very productive year in 2006. Demian Kondo (postdoc), Cory Unruh and Nate Hardy (PhD students) have written their own news, which you can be read below. Penny returned from her South African sabbatical in February via short visits to Tasmania and then New Zealand. In Tasmania, she collected a few scales, especially Nothofagus- and eucalypt-feeding ones, and in New Zealand she visited Rosa Henderson at the NZAC. Much of the rest of 2006 was spent teaching, but Penny had a very enjoyable research month in the summer when Lyn Cook from Australia visited for work on several collaborative projects, including on coccids with Demian.  Penny, Lyn and Nate are working on Nothofagus eriococcids, and Penny and Lyn have several other scale projects in various stages of completion.  Doug Williams and Penny published a small paper on Icerya imperatae, which is a new pest of grasses in Palau. Doug has been working hard to complete the drawings and descriptions of all known Protortonia species and Penny has been helping a little. Demian and Penny have been looking at Paratachardina lac insects in order to identify a species that has become a pest in Florida and elsewhere. As usual, this paper has grown and Demian has been kept busy measuring specimens and sequencing lac DNA, in addition to his coccid DNA. Penny's former Masters student, Janie Booth, has completed her dissertation on the phylogeny of Matsucoccus (one small paper is published so far) and will become a mother early in 2007. Bora Kaydan, our good colleague from Turkey, has been here since early August working with Penny on the systematics of Ferrisia mealybugs and learning molecular techniques from Demian, Nate and Cory. There are several new Ferrisia species, and Bora has become an expert at discerning small differences among species and illustrating the adult females. He returns home before Christmas, but we'll see him at ISSIS in 2007. Xie Yingping is planning a short visit to our lab in mid December (currently he is working with Paris Lambdin for a 6-month sabbatical).

Demian Kondo: Although it is a well-deserved retirement, it is sad news to hear that Dug Miller will leave the US Department of Agriculture/Smithsonian. He has been so helpful to my research, and to many others who engage in taxonomic studies of scale insects. Without his help, my studies in the past 10 years would have been impossible to achieve. I take this opportunity to thank him for his great achievements in the field of coccidology and for all his patience and help. Thank you Dug. His retirement will be a great loss in our field of scale insect studies, but I hope he will find time to continue working on scale insects from time to time, perhaps as a hobby or a pastime and continue to guide the next generation of coccidologists. As for myself, I have had and still am having the best days of my life here at UC Davis. Soon after graduating (actually a month before graduating) on April 2003 from Auburn University under the supervision of Mike Williams, I came to the Penny Gullan and Peter Cranston’s lab. Since then I have been able to dedicate full time on the research of my favorite insects and have been able to publish on various scales including part of my dissertation. I have learned a lot from Penny and Peter, not only about taxonomy, but also about dedication and hard work. I thank them for encouraging me to work on a molecular level phylogenetic study of the family Coccidae, my favorite family of scale insects. I thank Mike Williams for introducing me to the soft scale insects. With Lyn Cook we have been working on coccid phylogeny for almost 3 years, and we are starting to produce some results which we hope to publish before my post-doctoral contract expires in September 2007. I have been working on several side projects including revisions of a few genera of coccids and lac insects, and other small projects which have become a hobby to me. This year has been a slow one for me in respect to published papers. Dug keeps telling me to stop writing TPs (pronounced “tee-pees” and meaning short papers; an abbreviation for “toilet paper”), so I have decided to write longer papers this year. I have also been working on a taxonomic revision of the lac insect genus Paratachardina, this has proven to be a real challenge, but one which I’ve been enjoying. My 2 trips to Chile in 2003 and 2006 have resulted in the description of two new interesting genera and species of eriococcids, and I was also able to write a paper on a new coccid genus from Africa which resulted from a trip to Ghana in 2005.

Nate Hardy: I became a doctoral candidate and a published author this year (in a Zootaxa paper with Demian, Lyn, and Penny), describing and illustrating a new felt scale genus and species from Chile. I also had two additional papers accepted, one to the Australian Journal of Entomology, describing a new genus and four new species of felt scale on Eucalyptus, and a second to Systematic Entomology discussing the phylogenetic utility of two new nuclear protein-coding loci for scale insect phylogenetics. I also submitted a short paper describing a new species of Phacelococcus to The Australian Entomologist. As mentioned above I have been working with Penny, Lyn and Rosa Henderson on the Nothofagus felt scale fauna, redefining the genus Madarococcus, using a combination of morphological and molecular data, and describing a number of new Australian species. Chris Hodgson, Nate and Penny are working together on a subfamily level classification of the Pseudococcidae.

Cory Unruh: I have been working hard this year to finish my PhD research on the systematics of iceryine scale insects and expect to graduate in spring 2007.  Penny and I produced a revision of the ground pearl genus Heteromargarodes which should be published in The Entomological Society of Washington in January, 2007. As for my dissertation research, I completed molecular labwork at the beginning of the year and worked with Lyn Cook this summer sorting out the the intricaces of iceryine molecular data. (Many, many thanks, again, to everyone who provided fresh material for this study.) I am currently preparing the results of my phylogenetic study for publication and a new classification of the tribe.  I am also revising the iceryine species of the southwestern U.S. and am working with the USDA to make available an interactive Lucid tool to the species of the Iceryini. Demian Kondo and I are describing a new species of iceryine from Colombia. We were very lucky to secure a loan (with Penny and  Demian's hard work and help from Peter Cranston and Dug Miller) of type material for several Icerya species from the Museu Zoologio de Sao Paolo, Brazil. This material was extremely useful to us in identifying a new pest (Icerya genistae Hempel) from Florida and the Caribbean.

 

Imre Foldi, Museum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris.  I am mainly working on the archaeococcoid genera to provide an illustrated generic revision and an assessment of generic relationships based on a phylogenetic analysis of the morphology of the adult females and immature instars.  In 2006, three works were published, i.e., two new species of the archaeococcid genera Protortonia from Ecuador, described females and males of the unusual genus Stigmacoccus from Brazil, including the female, cyst, and first instar-nymph, and a joint work consisting of 250 pages with Chris Hodgson on the morphology of the adult males of Margarodidae sensu Morrison and related taxa. We published (Foldi & Kozàr) two new mealybug species, Cataenococcus from Brazil and Puto from Venezuela, with data on other species of mealybugs collected on one of my collecting trips in South America.   Several projects are in preparation or at an advanced stage that probably will be published in 2007 or 2008.  The generic revision of the Monophlebidae (44 genera) is progressing well and currently includes four new species belonging to the genera Crypticerya and Icerya.  A taxonomic review of the Afrotropical genus Aspidoproctus has been initiated; the type species of the genus, A. pertinax, and some other adult females, males and first instar-nymphs will be described and illustrated.  This is a fascinating group that includes very large specimens, not only long but very wide and high.  I have already received material from Berlin (except the Lindinger’s species which could not be found in the museum fur naturkunde Humboldt-Universitat), from Pretoria, from London and we have in Paris Vayssière’s material including six of the 20 known species.  Many of the original descriptions are brief and poorly illustrated, therefore, Aspidoproctus species identifications may be confused. In some cases, old, sclerotized females were utilized to describe species with only external macroscopic morphological features, and never included teneral females in slide mounted-specimens. In spite of these difficulties, it appears that one or two new species will be described and a key may well be provided.  A revision of two small archaeococcoid families, the Coelostomidiidae and the Steingeliidae, with descriptions of new species, is also in progress.  In groups other than the archaeococcoids, we are working on the Eriococcidae with Ferenc Kozár, a project on our material from South America.

 

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

Benjamin Normark: The central project in our laboratory continues to be molecular systematics of armored scale insects.  We are always keen to receive specimens of any armored scale insects (ideally in 100% ethanol) and to discuss collaborative projects.  Currently four graduate students in my laboratory are working on scale insect projects.  Matthew Gruwell is completing his dissertation research on endosymbiotic bacteria associated with armored scale insects.  Rodger Gwiazdowski is the first author of a 2006 paper on phylogenetics and phylogeography of beech scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga) and his dissertation will be about the molecular phylogenetics of sexual and parthenogenetic lineages in the Chionaspis pinifoliae complex.  Two first-year graduate students, Jin Wu and Jeremy Andersen, are working on an expanded study of armored scale phylogeny.   I am about to embark on an 8-month sabbatical at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.  I plan to collect lots of Australian armored scales for our phylogenetic studies and to work with Scott O'Neill (who studies bacterial endosymbionts of insects) and with

Lyn Cook.

Matthew Gruwell, University of Massachusetts, graduate student in Entomology

and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.  I am completing my dissertation research on the endosymbionts of armored scale insects. In the scope of this research we have found the primary endosymbionts of armored scales to be in the Phylum Bacteriodetes and class Flavobacteria.  We have evidence that these endosymbionts have co-speciated with their host insects and follow strict verical transmission from mother to offspring.  We have also found a scattered distribution of Cardinium secondary endosymbionts in the armored scale insects and are working to understand this distribution using phylogenetics.  I plan to finish my Ph.D. program in June of 2006 and am currently looking for post-doctoral work that will allow me to continue investigateing scale insects and endosymbionts.

 

Lyn Cook, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia:  The second half of 2006 has been a fun, interesting and a busy time for me. During June and July I visited Penny Gullan's lab at UCDavis to work on some collaborative projects with Penny, Nate Hardy and Demian Kondo. An added bonus to visiting Penny at that time of year was watching the world cup soccer at a decent time of day and escaping the cold Canberra winter - swapping it for a nice hot Californian summer. In August, I moved from the ANU (Canberra) to the University of Queensland in Brisbane to take up the insect molecular systematics position. My new contact details are: School of Integrative Biology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, 4072, Australia.  email: l.cook@uq.edu.au For all of September and half of October, I went on a collecting trip through tropical eastern Australia with Mike Crisp and David Morris from ANU. The trip was fantastic - visiting very interesting places in rainforest and the monsoon tropics through to the arid zone, and also finding new species (genera?) of gall-inducing eriococcids (sensu lato).

Soo-jung Suh, National Plant Quarantine Service(NPQS), South Korea: I've started the new project, "taxonomic revision of the Korean armored scale insects" and found two new species records. I wish I could add more species to the list of Korean armored scale insects. Greg Hodges and I have written a paper on a new record (Kuwanaspis hikosani (Kuwana)) from South Korea that will be out soon. This species was previously reported in Korea by Paik (1978), according to ScaleNet. This is incorrect because he only provided a key to 4 species of Kuwanaspis, including K. hikosani, but didn’t report it from Korea. I’ve had the opportunity to examine lots of foreign specimens of scale insects taken in quarantine at ports of entry. I'm trying to identify undetermined specimens of mealybugs and armored scales taken in quarantine from New Zealand (on Echeveria), Netherlands (on Crassula), Taiwan (on Cycas) etc.  I am extremely grateful to Drs. Greg Hodges and Sadao Takagi for their help.

Douglas Williams, The Natural History Museum, London, UK: In the past year I have been completing some short papers that I have had in mind for many years, working mainly at home. At present, I am trying to finish a work on Linnaeus including the scale insects he described and listing all the scale insect literature in bibliographical form that Linnaeus cited. I am still unable to make sense of two of his references. I have a few other papers in press including Lichtenstein with Daniele, Pulvinaria urbicola and its synonyms, a paper with Yair on Coccus limonii Murray,  Sternorrhyncha of Ascension Island, a new Conchaspis with Daniele, Asterolecaniidae and Eriococcidae of New Caledonia, two forgotten species of  Coccus described by Westwood with Yair, and papers on Stringaspidiotus and Furcaspis with Dug Miller. I am working on papers on a revision of Protortonia and the Icerya of Australia with Penny.  Unfortunately during the last month or so my eyes have deteriorated to such an extent that I fear I may never be able to illustrate another scale insect. 

 

Michael Kosztarab, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA: Although the curator of  the VaTech dry insect collections, Mr. Eric Day, provided me with the key to the building housing the collection, unfortunately there are no Coccoidea kept, except for displays and teaching. Also, there are no scales in the liquid collection, curated by Dr. J. Reese Voshell. As reported in The Scale earlier, after my retirement, the Coccoidea collections from VaTech were donated to the USDA-ARS-SEL, with my library, also the photographs, and slides on scale workers. - Our VaTech collections benefited from two short visits by the USDA scientist Dr. Oliver Flint last summer.- In May, I attended the meetings of the Hungarian Entomological Society in the building where I taught horticultural entomology in Budapest and met a number of old-time colleagues and friends. - While visiting in S. Slovakia in June, also in Belgium and Hollland in August, I have collected some pest scale insect samples. - I am looking forward to meeting many former students and colleagues at the ESA National Meetings in Indianapolis in December and ISSIS in Portugal next year. Some good family news: both grandsons are biology majors at the University of Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Martin, The Natural History Museum, London, UK:  Curates the Sternorrhyncha collections at London's Natural History Museum, and is appealing for scale insect field workers in the Neotropical Region to look out for whitefly nymphs that resemble soft scale insects.  Jon is investigating a group of neotropical whiteflies which have unusually large nymphal stages. The taxonomy is traditionally based upon the last (4th) nymphal stage, termed a "puparium" because a fully winged adult emerges from it. A few adults are present in collections that exceed 8 mm in length, with one even exceeding 1 cm - but all of these are lacking any associated puparia and their taxonomic position is highly uncertain. From field observations (a paper is in press about this matter), Jon thinks that such large adults will have puparia that resemble those shown in the accompanying three photographs. These are atypical for their subfamily, developing individually (rather than in distinct colonies) and having much reduced waxy secretions (others in the group have dense tangles of white filaments, as in the Spiralling and Giant whiteflies). When an adult is close to emergence, a telltale pair of reddish eyespots are usually visible at the anterior end. The ideal is for any such large puparia to be kept in a small container to see if an adult emerges, and to then preserve both adult and associated empty case in alcohol. If, instead, a parasitoid or group of hyperparasites emerge(s) that is also of interest. If puparia are found with no signs of adult emergence, those puparia are still of interest and they can be kept dry on the leaves. Jon expects that the puparia of the really large species will exceed 5mm in length, but that they will be widely scattered. Mating aggregations of large adult whiteflies are also of interest - collected into alcohol. Jon will provide feedback on any material that is discovered, and sends thanks in advance.

 

Rosa Henderson, Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand: The two papers on gall-inducing scale insects of New Zealand finally got into print in June of this year (New Zealand Entomologist 29). Since then I have been delving into the Eriococcidae of New Zealand including some species established here from Australia. Penny Gullan visited my lab one hot day in February to discuss species that feed on Nothofagus and to give me advice on the labia of Eriococcidae. A paper describing a tiny species with quite unusual morphology, that was collected from epiphyte mats 30 m high up native trees, is accepted for publication in the next issue of New Zealand Entomologist. A manuscript describing some interesting genera and species adapted to alpine wet grasslands is ready for submitting. I am ever hopeful that the revision of New Zealand Diaspididae might get underway very soon, especially now that I have figured out how to draw the figures electronically. At the moment (November 2006) our summer weather is slow to arrive and keeps yo-yoing back to cold spells, probably because of the effect of some enormous icebergs floating off our southern coast. These apparently broke off the other side of Antarctica in 2000 and have circled round to catch a current towards us. This must be global warming, but it sure is cool!  

 

Dug Miller and Alessandra Rung, Beltsville, Maryland, USA:  The big news is that the first “edition” of ScaleNet is now available on line.  It has been nearly 12 years since Yair and I received our first grant from the Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) in 1995. BARD was an important financial force in making the project happen.  Major players include the Israel team headed by Yair Ben-Dov, the US team headed by Dug Miller, the data base system developed by Gary Gibson and Jennifer Read, the reference system maintained and enhanced by Karen Veilleux, and the query system developed by Jane Laroussi of Carson & Associates.  It has been a lot of hard work and headaches, but from the comments that we hear, it was worth the effort.  In Beltsville there are 2 major thrusts to our research program. Alessandra is working on the development of a molecular diagnostic tool to differentiate Planococcus minor from P. citri.  The COI sequence differences that she has discovered have already been useful to the US quarantine service (APHIS) in sorting out a quarantine problem in California.  We plan to publish our results in the next few months.  Other major projects include finishing Lucid keys for the identification of scale insects intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry.  To date a family key, mealybug key, and soft scale key are available on line, with a beta version of the “other scales” key currently in draft form (see http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/ScaleKeys/ScaleInsectsHome/ScaleInsectsOthers.html).  APHIS/CPHST plans to issue a CD with all 4 keys. With my impending retirement (January 3, 2007) I am spending considerable time cleaning out the backlog of materials that have accumulated for the past 37 years.  My plan is to continue to work on scale-insect systematics about half time, so the Miller Hotel will still be functional and available for visits to the collection.  I am hopeful that the USDA administration will fill my position in 2007.  Research that currently is in press or near completion includes 2 armored scale papers with Doug Williams, a paper on South American eriococcids with Chris Hodgson, and a ScaleNet-based catalog on the Diaspidinae, Leucaspidinae, and Ulucoccinae. The Miller Hotel had a few visitors this year including Jan and Warnia Giliomee, Benjamin Normark, Rodger Gwiazdowski, Matt Gruwell, Peter Cranston, and Bora Kaydan.

 

RECENT LITERATURE

Compiled by Karen Veilleux

Each year I have had the opportunity to write a short message in this part of  “The Scale” about Karen’s major contribution to keeping us aware of the vast reference information that has been published over the past year.  Each time I have felt that I haven’t given sufficient accolades for all of the energy, effort, and devotion that she has given to this project.  Karen is a special person, who quietly manages one of the most difficult areas in the ScaleNet system, i.e., the reference file.  Through her librarian, computer, and language skills she has added enourmously to the success of ScaleNet for all of our benefit.  Without her I am not sure how it would have been done, but certainly not with the accuracy that we have all come to expect. Unfortunately, Karen has decided to end her valuable input to the ScaleNet system. I guess with my retirement it seemed like a good time to take on new challenges.  I am sure that I speak for the entire coccidology community in wishing her well and giving our hearty thanks for a job well done!!

Results

Abd-Rabou, S. 2005. The effect of augmentative releases of indigenous parasitoid, Anagyrus kamali (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) on populations of Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Egypt. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 38(2): 129-132. Notes: The encyrtid parasitoid Anagyrus kamali (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) was mass reared and released at monthly intervals in grape orchards infested with Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) at two locations in Egypt. Approximately 300,000 adult individuals were augmentatively released from August 2001 to August 2002. Increases of the rate of parasitism were from 35 to 76 and from 28 to 68 in Beni-Suef and El-Minya, respectively. These results indicate that A. kamali is an effective parasitoid in controlling M. hirsutus on grapes in Egypt. It is concluded that the releases of parasitoid for control of M. hirsutus were suitable for control. However, it is essential for a successful control programme that this parasitoid should be continually reared and consecutively periodically released so as to attain the maximum benefit of biological control of this pest.

 

Abd-Rabou, S. 2005a. Importation, colonization and establishment of Coccophagus cowperi Gir. (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on Saissetia coffeae (Walk.) (Homoptera: Coccidae) in Egypt. Journal of Pest Science 78(2): 77-81. Notes: The hemispherical soft scale, Saissetia coffeae (Walker) (Homoptera: Coccidae), is one of the most important pests attacking olive trees in Egypt. During the period 2001-2003, a total of about 300,000 individuals of the parasitoid Coccophagus cowperi Girault (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), obtained from India, was released at 35 sites for the biological control of S. coffeae on olive trees in Egypt. The maximum parasitism rates reached 53 and 62%, while average parasitism rates were 17.2 and 30.8% in the Marsy Mattrouh and El-Arish locations, respectively. These results indicate establishment of this parasitoid on this important economic plant in Egypt.

 

Abd-Rabou, S. 2005b. The holotype deposition of Aphytis sinaii Abd-Rabou (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), an external parasitoid of the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii (Maskell). Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control 15(1/2): 159. Notes: Aphytis sinaii, a newly recorded species from Aonidiella aurantii (infesting Ficus nitida [F. benjamina] in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt), is described for the first time. The depository for the holotype of A. sinaii was designated in the Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

 

Abd-Rabou, S. & Abd-El-Samea, S.A. 2005. New record and host of Encarsia bifasciafacies (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) on sugarcane soft scale, Pulvinaria tenuivalvata (Homoptera: Coccidae), on sugarcane in Egypt. (In English with summary in Arabic.) Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research 83(3): 1213-1215. Notes: In September 2004, sugarcane leaves heavily infested by the sugarcane soft scale, Pulvinaria tenuivalvata (Homoptera: Coccidae), were collected from Qena (Nag-Hammadi), and then transferred to the laboratory for parasitoid emergence and identification. Encarsia bifasciafacies emerged from soft scale samples. This parasitoid is recorded for the first time attacking its new host, P. tenuivalvata, in Egypt.

 

Abd-Rabou, S. & Hendawy, A.S. 2005. Updating nomination of the parasitoids of pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), in Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research 83(3): 1135-1139. Notes: This study was carried out to update the checklist of parasitoids of the pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus, in Egypt. Eight primary parasitoids and five hyperparasitoids associated with the pest were collected. Four parasitoids and three hyperparasitoids were collected and re-identified. The new list includes primary parasitoids (Allotropa sp., Anagyrus kamali, Clausenia josefi, Gyranusoida indica, Leptomastidea abnormis, Leptomastix algirica, Leptomastix nigrocoxalis, Rhopus nigiriclavus) and hyperparasitoids (Chartocerus subaeneus, Marietta leopardina, Pachyneuron sp., Prochiloneurus aegyptiacus, Prochiloneurus annulatus).

 

Abdel-Moniem, A.S.H., Farag, N.A. & Abbass, M.H. 2005. Vertical distribution of some piercing sucking insects on some roselle varieties in Egypt and the role of amino acids concentration in infestation. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 38(4): 245-255. Notes: The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover was found to be the only aphid species infesting the tested roselle varieties (Sudani, Masri and White), Hibiscus sabdariffa L. which were cultivated in El-Kanater El-khayria (about 30 km north Cairo) as ex situ old land. The vertical distribution of the whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.); the leafhopper, Empoasca spp. and the pink hibiscus mealy bug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green, as insect pests attacking this crop had been studied. Moreover, certain morphological characters and amino acids concentrations in the three varieties of roselle, were obtained. The obtained results indicated that the experimental insect pests severely attacked leaves of the stem nodes from the 8th to the 11th (counting from the top of the plant), whereas whitefly were more abundant on these nodes. All tested insect species were less abundant on the 4th stem node. This may be due to the extensive existence of gland hairs that excrete some compound, especially phenols, that might prevent the insects from reproducing on the leaves. The opposite was, however, true for M. hirsutus as it did not attack Sudani and Masri varieties but the infestation occurred at the highest level on the White variety.

 

Abdullah, M., Biswas, M.M. & Siddiquee, M.N.A. 2006. Response of some promising sugarcane clones to major insect pests of sugarcane. Indian Sugar 56(3): 23-28. Notes: A field experiment was conducted during 2003-04, in Pabna and Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, to evaluate the response of 6 promising sugarcane clones (I245-99, I262-99, I429-99, I433-99, I446-99 and I486-99) and 2 standard cultivars (Isd 20 and Isd 32) to some major insect pests. Results revealed that early shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus) and black beetle (Alissonotum impressicolle) infestation ranged from 0.51 to 3.32% and 0.22 to 15.48%, respectively, among the test clones/cultivars. Top shoot borer (Scirpophaga excerptalis) and stem borer (Chilo tumidicostalis) infestation ranged from 4.55 to 53.58% and 5.25 to 55.21%, respectively, with the highest level of infestation being observed in clone I429-99. Rootstock borer (Emmalocera depressella [Polyocha depressella]) infestation ranged from 6.40% (in Isd 20) to 40.55% (in I245-99). The lowest scale insect (Melanaspis glomerata) and mealy bug (Saccharicoccus sacchari) infestation was observed in the clones I429-99 and I446-99, respectively. White grub (Scarabaeidae) populati on ranged from 0.00 to 3.67 among the test clones/cultivars.

 

Abdullah, M., Rahman, M.A. & Biswas, M.M. 2006. Reaction of some promising sugarcane clones to major insect pests under field condition. Indian Sugar 55(10): 37-42. Notes: A field experiment was conducted to evaluate promising sugarcane clones I 5-98, I 82-98, I 89-98, I 98-98, I 101-98, I 110-98, I 117-98, I 120-98, I 124-98, I 139-98, I 142-98 and the standard cultivar Isd 29 against some major insect pests at Ishurdia and Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, during 2002/03. In Pabna, early shoot borer (Chilo infuscatellus), black beetle (Alissonotum impressicole [A. impressicolle]), top shoot borer (Scirpophaga excerptalis), stem borer (Chilo tumidicostalis) in stalk, stem borer in internode, rootstock borer (Emmalocera depressella [Polyocha depressella]), scale insect (Melanaspis glomerata), mealy bug (Saccharicoccus sacchari) and white grub incidence was lowest in I 5-98, I 120-98, I 124-98, I 139-98, I 142-98, Isd 29, I 98-98, I 101-98 and Isd 29, respectively. Comparative data on the infestation levels of some major insect pests to promising clones in Thakurgaon during 2002/03 are also tabulated.

 

Aguilera, P.A., Ellena, D.M., Seguel, B.I., Montenegro, B.A., San Martin, A.J. & Torralbo, B.L. 2005. [First records of insects and other phytophagous invertebrates associates with Murta berry ugni Molinae Turcz. (Myrtaceae), in south of Chile.]. (In Spanish.) Idesia 23(1): 7-11. Notes: [Original title: Primeras determinaciones de insectos y otros invertebrados fitofagos asociados a murta Ugni molinae Turcz. (Myrtaceae), en el sur de Chile.] This study provides information about phytophagous invertebrate species that were found feeding on murta, Ugni molinae, a wild plant berry from southern Chile. As far as a two-Year survey maly indicate, 18 insect species, one spider mite, and three terrestial arthropods were recorded. An armored scale Dactylaspis sp., and the murta green-moth, Palaephatus albicerus Davis, are registered for the first time feeding on a host-plant species in Chile.

 

Akkuzu, E., Arslangundogdu, Z. & Selmi, E. 2006. Contribution to the knowledge of scale insects (Homoptera: Coccoidea) of coniferous trees from Turkey. Journal of Biological Sciences 6(3): 591-595. Notes: To date, a total of 31 species of scale insects have been recorded on coniferous trees in Turkey. The scale insect families Margarodidae, Pseudococcidae, Coccidae, Eriococcidae and Diaspididae consist of 3, 3, 6, 1 and 18 species, respectively. Thirteen out of 31 species were found in the European part of Turkey. From the zoogeographical standpoint, 3 are native, 11 are cosmopolitan and 17 are palearctic species.

 

Aleman, J., Martinez, M.A., Milan, O., Masso, E. & Rijo, E. 2005. [Monitoring the quality of growth of Cryptolaemus montrouzieri.] Monitoreo de calidad en la cría de Cryptolaemus montrouzieri. (In Spanish.) Fitosanidad 9(1): 71-72. Notes: Cryptolaemus montrouzieri has been introduced to Cuba for the control of Maconellicoccus hirsutus. Studies on the quality of this predator were carried out on several populations. The evidence indicated favourable adaptation to artificial culture conditions during the first generations.

 

Amar, Z., Gottlieb, H., Varshavsky, L. & Iluz, D. 2005. The scarlet dye of the holy land. Bioscience 55(12): 1080-1083. Notes: We present evidence based on chemical analysis that identifies the scarlet dye produced by the scale insect Kermes echinatus as the shani ("red" in Hebrew) used toward the end of the second Holy Temple (AD 70). We know that this dye is produced by a coccoid species of scale. However, it is not yet known which of the coccoid species was used in the Holy Land in ancient times. Our results confirm the presence of the red pigment kermesic acid in K. echinatus extracts. The fact that K. echinatus is found in Israel suggests that the origin of the shani color mentioned in the Bible could have been local and that this dye was not an import from abroad, as most scholars have assumed. Our hypothesis, backed by our long-term observations, is supported by the color quality of kermesic acid, by the relative concentration of the pigment, and by the prevalence of K. echinatus in Israel.

 

Aonidiella citrina. 2005. Bulletin OEPP 35(2): 327-330. Notes: Field identification and important characters are provided.

 

Apenite, I. & Cinitis, R. 2006. Major pests in cranberry plantations in Latvia. (In English with summary in Polish.) Journal of Fruit and Ornamental Plant Research 14 (Suppl. 3): 133-136. Notes: [International workshop on pest and weed control in sustainable fruit production, Skierniewice, Poland, 1-3 September 2005.] Major pests in cranberry (cv. Stevens) plantations in Latvia were studied during 2002-05. In the eastern part of Latvia, the cranberry tipworm (Dasineura vaccinii [D. oxycoccana]) was the main cause of yield loss (6.2, 4.4 and 1.75 t/ha in 2002, 2003 and 2004, respectively). In the western part of Latvia, Orgyia antiqua was the major pest, and its population reached 9-20 larvae/m SUP 2. In a plantation in Talsu, this pest reduced the yield by 8.0 t/ha in 2003 and by 4.0 t/ha in 2004. Other pests observed were Rhopobota naevana, Sparganothis sulfureana, Chionaspis salicis, Lochmaea caprea and Mamestra pisi [Lacanobia pisi].

 

Aversenq, S., Gratraud, C. & Pinatel, C. 2005. [Olive tree pests and beneficials: a summary of three years of monitoring in S.E. France.] Ravageurs et auxiliaires des oliviers: synthese de trois ans d'observations dans le Sud-Est de la France. (In French with summary in English.) Phytoma 586: 32-36. Notes: A study of the entomofauna of French olive groves was conducted for 3 years to enhance integrated pest management after providing details of the main olive pests present in France, i.e. olive fly (Bactrocera oleae), olive moth (Prays oleae), olive scale (Saissetia oleae) and olive psyllid (Euphyllura olivine), and their natural enemies found around the world. The olive scale, psyllid and moth appeared to be well regulated, the former by mass release of the hymenopterous insect Metaphycus lounsburyi in association with its natural enemies, the second by its natural enemies and the third by general predators. The olive fly is more of a problem due to pest infestations and no natural enemies, whether in conventional olive groves with integrated pest management or in organic groves.

 

Bacandritsos, N., Sabatini, A.G., Papanastasiou, I. & Saitanis, C. 2006. Physico-chemical characteristics of Greek FIR honeydew honey from Marchalina hellenica (GEN.) in comparison to other Mediterranean honeydew honeys. (In Italian with summaries in English and Italian.) Italian Journal of Food Science 18(1): 21-31. Notes: The first samples of recently produced fir honeydew honey, obtained from Marchalina hellenica (Gennadius) (Homoptera, Coccoidea, Margarodidae), originating from Mount Helmos in Greece were analysed and examined on the basis of physical and chemical parameters including humidity, acidity, sugar profile, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and diastase activity. These data were compared with five other Mediterranean honeydew honeys of different origin obtained from the literature. Analytical data of the Greek fir honey from M. hellenica honeydew complied with the E.U. legal limits. The sensorial analysis indicated that the organoleptic characteristics of this type of honeydew honey were very similar to the Greek fir honey derived from other coccids with respect to colour, taste and smell. The statistical analysis of the physico-chemical parameters of the six honey types revealed two major groups. One group consisted of three Greek honeys and the other included one Spanish and two Italian honeys. It also showed a marked similarity between the two Greek honeys that came from M. hellenica honeydew on either fir or pine trees.

 

Balakina, G.G., Vasiliev, V.G., Karpova, E.V. & Mamatyuk, V.I. 2006. HPLC and molecular spectroscopic investigations of the red dye obtained from an ancient Pazyryk textile. Dyes and Pigments 71(1): 54-60. Notes: The cloth specimens of Pazyryk culture from frozen burials of Altai Mountains (500-200 B.C.) were investigated by molecular spectroscopy and high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode-array and mass selective detection. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of ancient red dyes were conducted. Natural dyes of plant origin - alizarin and purpurin and of insect origin - carminic acid and kermesic acid were determined.