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 51 3
Asterolecaniidae 226 22
Beesoniidae 9 3
Carayonemidae 4 4
Cerococcidae 71 3
Coccidae 1,129 163
Conchaspididae 29 4
Dactylopiidae 10 1
Diaspididae 2,369 380
Electrococcidae 3 2
Eriococcidae 556 68
Grimaldiellidae 2 1
Halimococcidae 21 5
Inkaidae 1 1
Jersicoccidae 1 1
Kermesidae 90 10
Kerriidae 97 9
Kukaspididae 1 1
Labiococcidae 2 2
Lecanodiaspididae 78 12
Margarodidae 375 65
Micrococcidae 8 2
Ortheziidae 155 11
Phenacoleachiidae 2 1
Phoenicococcidae 1 1
Pseudococcidae 1,989 271
Putoidae 59 1
Stictococcidae 16 3
TOTAL 7,355 1050
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