Family DIASPIDIDAE

Diaspididae, Armoured Scales

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Introduction

The armoured scales, or diaspidids, are some of the most familiar members of the Coccoidea. Worldwide they number over 1700 species (Borschsenius 1966). Two hundred and forty-six species in 93 genera are listed for the Australian fauna. Among these are some 24 introduced species, several of which are serious pests of the citrus industry. However, most of the species are endemic to Australia. A brief account of morphology and life history of armoured scales is given by Williams (1991).

Specimens possibly representing the genus Acanthomytilus Borchsenius, 1947 have been collected from Magnetic Island, QLD, but have not been identified to species.

Specimens possibly representing the genus Mongrovaspis Bodenheimer, 1951 have been collected from Lowandal Is., Onslow, W.A.

A.R. Brimblecombe records the genus Parlatoreopsis Lindinger, 1912 in Australia, but no species have been formally identified.

Excluded Taxa

Other Excluded

DIASPIDIDAE: Pentalaminaspis minuta (Kotinsky, 1908) [presence in Australia is based on a USNM specimen labelled "Australia: Mont. Rhasia, ex. Loranthus ampullaceus [=Macrosolen cochinchinensis] listed by Smith-Pardo et al. (2012). No gazetteer lists the locality in Australia and the host plant is not known in the country as well, all of which leads to think of a mislabelling.] — Smith-Pardo, A.H., Evans, G.A. & Dooley, J.W. 2012. A review of the genus Chrysomphalus Ashmead (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Diaspididae) with descriptions of a new species and a new, related genus. Zootaxa 3570: 1–24 [22]

General References

Borchsenius, N.S. 1947. On three new species of scales (Coccoidea, Diaspididae) from central Asia. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 58: 343-344 [in Russian] [344]

Borchsenius, N.S. 1966. [A Catalogue of the Armoured Scale Insects (Diaspidoidea) of the World]. Moscow & Leningrad : Nauka 449 pp. [in Russian]

Lindinger, L. 1912. Die Schildläuse (Coccidae) Europas, Nordafrikas und Vorder-Asiens, einschliesslich der Azoren, der Kanaren und Madeiras. Stuttgart : E. Ulmer 388 pp. [14]

Takagi, S. 1969. Diaspididae of Taiwan based on material collected in connection with the Japan-U.S. Co-operative Science Programme, 1965 (Homoptera: Coccoidea) Part 1. Insecta Matsumurana 32: 1-110 [40-41]

Williams, D.J. 1991. Superfamily Coccoidea. pp. 457–464 in, Chapter 30. Hemiptera (Bugs, leafhoppers, cicadas, aphids, scale insects etc.). pp. 429-509 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 xiii 542 pp.

Common Name References

Williams, D.J. 1991. Superfamily Coccoidea. pp. 457–464 in, Chapter 30. Hemiptera (Bugs, leafhoppers, cicadas, aphids, scale insects etc.). pp. 429-509 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 xiii 542 pp. (Diaspidids)

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