Classification

Scale insects are members of the Order Hemiptera. Until fairly recently they were thought to belong to the Order Homoptera, but it now is evident that the assemblage placed in the Homoptera is an unnatural group. Scale insects belong to a distinct suborder called the Sternorrhyncha including the aphids, psyllids, aleyrodids, and scale insects. There currently is considerable debate among scale workers about the appropriate level of classification of the scale insects; the question is whether they should be a superfamily (Coccoidea) or a suborder (Coccinea). For the purposes of ScaleNet, we will consider the group to be a superfamily. There seem to be no objective criteria to resolve this question.

The following table gives the classification that will be used in this database. Again there is no clear consensus among coccidologists about the status of certain families. For example some believe that species in the genera Cryptococcus and Kuwanina should be placed in a family distinct from the Eriococcidae called the Cryptococcidae. The status of the Putoidae also is controversial; it is not clear whether it should be a separate family or part of the Pseudococcidae. The statistics provided below are only estimates. Only after this project is complete will we have definitive figures.

Family Name Estimated Number
of Species & Subspecies		 Estimated Number
of Genera
Aclerdidae 58 5
Arnoldidae 2 1
Asterolecaniidae 246 25
Beesoniidae 15 6
Carayonemidae 4 4
Cerococcidae 72 3
Coccidae 1,157 172
Conchaspididae 30 4
Dactylopiidae 10 1
Diaspididae 2,437 400
Electrococcidae 3 2
Eriococcidae 578 80
Grimaldiellidae 2 1
Grohnidae 1 1
Halimococcidae 21 5
Hammanococcidae 2 1
Inkaidae 1 1
Jersicoccidae 1 1
Kermesidae 91 10
Kerriidae 100 9
Kukaspididae 1 1
Labiococcidae 2 2
Lebanococcidae 1 1
Lecanodiaspididae 82 12
Lithuanicoccidae 2 1
Margarodidae 451 74
Micrococcidae 8 2
Ortheziidae 195 20
Pennygullaniidae 1 1
Phenacoleachiidae 2 1
Phoenicococcidae 2 1
Pseudococcidae 2,246 275
Putoidae 59 1
Serafinidae 1 1
Stictococcidae 16 3
Weitschatidae 2 1
TOTAL 7,902 1,129
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