Species Antonina graminis (Maskell, 1897)

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Species Antonina graminis (Maskell, 1897)

Felted Grass Coccid, Grass-crown Mealybug, Grass-root Antonina, Rhodesgrass Scale

Sphaerococcus graminis Maskell, W.M. 1897. On a collection of Coccidae, principally from China and Japan. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 33: 239-244 [244].
Chaetococcus graminis Maskell, W.M. 1898. Further coccid notes: with descriptions of new species, and discussion of points of interest. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 30[1897]: 219-252 [250].
Antonina indica Green, E.E. 1908. Remarks on Indian scale insects (Coccidae), Part III. With a catalogue of all species hitherto recorded from the Indian continent. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture India, Entomological Series 2: 15-46 [27].
Antonina littoralis Cockerell, T.D.A. & Bueker, E.D. 1930. New records of Coccidae (Homoptera). American Museum Novitates 424: 1-8 [1].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Zimmerman, E.C. 1948. Homoptera: Sternorrhyncha. 268 in Zimmerman, E.C. (ed.). Insects of Hawaii. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press Vol. 5 464 pp. [156] (synonymy of Antonina indica Green, 1908)
Williams, D.J. 1985. Australian Mealybugs. London : British Museum (Natural History) 431 pp. [45] (synonymy of Chaetococcus graminis Maskell, 1898)
Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W. 1988. The Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific Region. Pt. 2: The mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). London : CAB International Institute of Entomology 260 pp. [20] (synonymy of Antonina littoralis Cockerell & Bueker, 1930)

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

ID Keys

(Williams, D.J., 2001) [847] (female; Africa); (Wu, S., 2001) [48] (female; China); (Hendricks, H. & Kosztarab, M., 1999) [96] (female; world); (Tang, F.T., 1992) [20] (female; China); (Williams, D.J., 1985) [44] (female; Australia); (Wang, T.C., 1982) [14, 15] (female; China); (Kawai, S., 1980) [122] (female; Japan); Williams D. J. 1970 [114] (female; world); (McKenzie, H.L., 1967) [74] (female; U.S.A., California); (Yang, S.P. & Kosztarab, M., 1967) [13, 49, 66] (larva; world); (Ferris, G.F., 1953) [289] (female; North America); (Zimmerman, E.C., 1948) [150] (female; Hawaii); (Kuwana, S.I., 1932) [214] (female; Japan)

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by Ferris, G.F. 1953. Atlas of the Scale Insects of North America, v. 6, The Pseudococcidae (Part II). Palo Alto, California : Stanford University Press 506 pp., McKenzie, H.L. 1967. Mealybugs of California with taxonomy, biology, and control of North American species (Homoptera: Cooccoidea: Pseudococcidae). Berkeley : Univ. Calif. Press 526 pp., Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W. 1988. The Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific Region. Part 1. The armoured scales (Diaspididae). London : CAB International Institute of Entomology 290 pp., Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp., Tang, F.T. 1992. [The Pseudococcidae of China]. Taigu, Shanxi, China : Shanxi Agricultural University 768 pp. and by Williams, D.J. 2001. African species of the mealybug genus Antonina Signoret (Hemiptera: Coccoidea Pseudococcidae). Journal of Natural History 35: 833–848. While identifying this species, the user should be aware of the following taxonomic notes: Ferris in Zimmerman, E.C. 1948. Homoptera: Sternorrhyncha. pp. 268 in Zimmerman, E.C. (ed). Insects of Hawaii. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press Vol. 5 464 pp. illustrated trilocular pores on the female's dorsum, whereas Ferris, G.F. 1953. Atlas of the Scale Insects of North America, v. 6, The Pseudococcidae (Part II). Palo Alto, California : Stanford University Press 506 pp. indicated in the key that these pores are absent. Williams, D.J. 1958. Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera) described by W.M. Maskell, R. Newstead, T.D.A. Cockerell and E.E. Green from the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology 6: 205–236 and Williams, D.J. 1985. Australian Mealybugs. London : British Museum (Natural History) 431 pp. pointed out that trilocular pores are present on the dorsum. Good description and illustration of the female second-instar nymph and female third-instar nymph given by Yang, S.P. & Kosztarab, M. 1967. A morphological and taxonomical study on the immature stages of Antonina and of the related genera (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Research Division Bulletin Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 3: 73 pp..

BIOLOGY

The adult females are parthenogenetic and reproduce ovoviviparously. In Texas, USA the life cycle ranges from 60–70 days, and the mealybug develops five annual generations. Chada, H.L. & Wood, E.A. 1960. Biology and control of the rhodes-grass scale. United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1221: 1–21 and Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Pseudococcidae. In, Clausen, C.P. (ed). Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds: a World Review. Washington, D.C. : Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp. discussed in great details the distribution, host plants, biology, economic importance and control of this pest.

STRUCTURE

McKenzie, H.L. 1967. Mealybugs of California with taxonomy, biology, and control of North American species (Homoptera: Cooccoidea: Pseudococcidae). Berkeley : Univ. Calif. Press 526 pp., Parida, B.B. & Moharana, S. 1982. Studies on the chromosome constitution in 42 species of scale insects (Coccoidea: Homoptera) from India. Chromosome Information Service, Tokyo 32: 18–20, Nur, U., Brown, S.W. & Beardsley, J.W. 1987. Evolution of chromosome number in mealybugs (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera). Genetica 74: 53–60 and Moharana, S. 1990. Cytotaxonomy of Coccids (Homoptera: Coccoidea). In, [Unknown] (ed). Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of Scale Insect Studies, Part II. Cracow, Poland: August 6–12, 1990. Cracow : Agricultural University Press reported chromosome number 2n=16. Colour illustration given by McKenzie, H.L. 1967. Mealybugs of California with taxonomy, biology, and control of North American species (Homoptera: Cooccoidea: Pseudococcidae). Berkeley : Univ. Calif. Press 526 pp.. Colour photograph given by Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp..

ECONOMIC AND CONTROL

The Rhodes-grass scale has been recorded from a wide range grasses, but severe damage was reported mainly on Rhodes-grass, Chloris gayana. Occasionally it is a pest of sugarcane, Bermuda grass, Cynodon dactylon and St. Augustine grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum. The mealybug infests principally the stem bases and the rhizomes, causing browning and wilting of the grasses (see Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Pseudococcidae. In, Clausen, C.P. (ed). Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds: a World Review. Washington, D.C. : Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp.). Effective reduction of the pest population has been achieved following the introduction of the encyrtid Neodusmetia sangwani (Subba Rao) into Texas, USA. (see Dean, H.A., Schuster, M.F., Boling, J.C. & Riherd, P.T. 1979. Complete biological control of Antonina graminis in Texas with Neodusmetia sangwani (a classic example). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America 25: 262–267) and in Israel (see Gerson, U., Mescheloff, E. & Dubitzki, E. 1975. The introduction of Neodusmetia sangwani (Rao) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) into Israel for the control of the Rhodes-grass scale, Antonina graminis (Maskell) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Journal of Applied Ecology 12: 767–779). Chada, H.L. & Wood, E.A. 1960. Biology and control of the rhodes-grass scale. United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1221: 1–21 discussed the host range and control of the mealybug. Natural enemies discussed by Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Pseudococcidae. In, Clausen, C.P. (ed). Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds: a World Review. Washington, D.C. : Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp. and by Moore, D. 1988. Agents used for biological control of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Biocontrol News & Information 9(4): 209–225). In Hawaii it rarely occurs on sugarcane under field conditions, and is considered of no economic importance (see Beardsley, J.W. 1960. Observations on sugar cane mealybugs in Hawaii. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists. 954–961 pp.).