Species Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead, 1894)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Dactylopius viridis Newstead, R. 1894. Scale insects in Madras. Indian Museum Notes 3(5): 21-32 [No. 5].
• Dactylopius vastator Maskell, W.M. 1895. Further coccid notes: with description of new species from New Zealand, Australia, Sandwich Islands, and elsewhere, and remarks upon many species already reported. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 27: 36-75 [65].
• Dactylopius perniciosus Newstead, R. & Willcocks, F.C. 1910. Characters and general morphology of the lebbek scale. Bulletin of Entomological Research 1: 138-140 [138].
• Pseudococcus solitarius Brain, C.K. 1915. The Coccidae of South Africa. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa 5: 65-194 [104].
• Ripersia theae Rutherford, A. 1915. Some new Ceylon Coccidae. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 24: 111-118 [111].
• Pseudococcus perniciosus Newstead, R. 1920. Observations on scale-insects (Coccidae) – VI. Bulletin of Entomological Research 10: 175-207 [179] [junior homonym of Pseudococcus perniciosus Newstead & Willcocks].
• Pseudococcus filamentosus corymbatus Green, E.E. 1922. The Coccidae of Ceylon. London : Dulau & Co. Vol. 5. [379].
• Trionymus sericeus James, H.C. 1936. New mealybugs from east Africa. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 85: 197-216 [203].

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. [245] (synonymy of Dactylopius perniciosus Newstead & Willcocks, 1910)
• De Lotto, G. 1958. The Pseudoccoidae (Hom.: Coccoidea) described by C.K. Brain from South Africa. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology (Supplement) 7: 79-120 [110] (synonymy of Pseudococcus solitarius Brain, 1915)
• 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 [212] (synonymy of Pseudococcus filamentosus corymbatus Green, 1922; synonymy of Trionymus sericeus James, 1936; p. 220 Pseudococcus perniciosus Newstead, 1920)
• Ali, S.M. 1970. A catalogue of the Oriental Coccoidea. (Part IV) (Insecta: Homoptera: Coccoidea). Indian Museum Bulletin 5: 71-150 [113] (synonymy of Dactylopius vastator Maskell, 1895)
• Williams, D.J. 1999. The mealybug species Ripersia theae Rutherford from Sri Lanka and Trionymus kayashimai Takahashi from Malaysia (Hem. Pseudococcidae). Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 135: 91-93 [91] (synonymy of Ripersia theae Rutherford, 1915)

Distribution

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

ID Keys

(Williams, D.J., 1985) [229] (female; Australia); (McKenzie, H.L., 1967) [206] (female; U.S.A., California); (Beardsley, J.W., 1960) [212] (male; Hawaii); (Ferris, G.F., 1953) [388] (female; North America); (Ferris, G.F., 1950) [103] (female; North America); (Zimmerman, E.C., 1948) [176] (female; Hawaii)

BIOLOGY

On citrus it infests twigs, shoots, leaves, flower buds and fruit. The mealybug colonizes on the host's branches, twigs, shoots, leaves, flower buds and fruits, and feed on roots. From these parts, the mealybug sucks up the plant sap, causing curling and dwarfing of the terminal growth, abortion of flowers, and yellowing of leaves and dropping of fruits (see Sharaf, N.W. & Meyerdirk, D.E. 1987. A review on the biology, ecology and control of Nipaecoccus viridis (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 66: 1–18).

SYSTEMATICS

Tinsley, J.D. 1900. Contributions to coccidology - II. Canadian Entomologist 32: 64–67 [65] erroneously synonymized Dactylopius vastator Maskell with Dactylopius filamentosus Cockerell.

STRUCTURE

Colour photograph given by Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp..

ECONOMIC AND CONTROL

Nipaecoccus viridis is widerspread throughout the tropics and subtropics, attacking numerous plant species and often causing considerable damage (see Clausen, C.P. 1978. Introduced parasites and predators of arthropod pests and weeds: a world review. Washington, D.C. : United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp.; Sharaf, N.W. & Meyerdirk, D.E. 1987. A review on the biology, ecology and control of Nipaecoccus viridis (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Miscellaneous Publications of the Entomological Society of America 66: 1–18). Biology and pest status on coffee presented by Le Pelley, R.H. 1968. In: Pests of Coffee. London : Longmans 588 pp..

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by 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. (as P. vastator), Ferris, G.F. 1954. New species of Diaspididae from Florida and the Caribbean Islands (Homoptera; Coccoidea). (Contribution No. 88). Microentomology 19: 41–50, De Lotto, G. 1957. New Aspidiotini (Hom.: Coccoidea: Diaspididae) from Kenya. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 10: 225–231, Ali, S.M. 1959. Female reproductive system of Pseudococcus vastator (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Indian Journal of Entomology 20: 142–146, Williams, D.J. 1985. Australian Mealybugs. London : British Museum (Natural History) 431 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. and by Ghosh, A.B. & Ghose, S.K. 1989. Descriptions of all instars of the mealybug Nipaecoccus viridis (Newstead) (Homoptera, Pseudococcidae). Environment & Ecology 7(3): 564–570. Good description of the adult female given by Abdul Rassoul, M.S. 1970. Notes on Nipaecoccus vastator (Maskell) (Coccidae: Homoptera): a serious pest of citrus trees and various plants—first record from Iraq. Bulletin (Iraq Natural History Museum) 4: 105–108, Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp. and by Tang, F.T. 1992. [The Pseudococcidae of China]. Taigu, Shanxi, China : Shanxi Agricultural University 768 pp.. Good description and illustration of the adult male given by Afifi, S. 1968. Morphology and taxonomy of the adult males of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae (Homoptera: Coccoidea). British Museum (Natural History), 2nd Report on Economic Zoology 13: 3–210 and by Ghosh & Ghose (1989). Good description of the adult male given by Beardsley, J.W. 1960. A preliminary study of the males of some Hawaiian mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 17: 199–243. Good description and illustration of the first-instar nymph, second-instar female and third-instar female, third-instar male nymph and fourth-instar male nymph given by Ghosh & Ghose (1989). Data on the taxonomy, synonyms, nomenclature, geographical distribution, host plants, biology and economic importance given by Ben-Dov, Y. 1994. A systematic catalogue of the mealybugs of the world (Insecta: Homoptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae and Putoidae) with data on geographical distribution, host plants, biology and economic importance. Andover, UK : Intercept Limited 686 pp..

General References

Kirkaldy, G.W. 1902. Hemiptera. Fauna Hawaiiensis 3(2): 93-174 [103] (Pseudococcus albizziae: misidentification)

Common Name References

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. (Cited also by ) (Lebbeck Mealybug)

Ben-Dov, Y. 1994. A Systematic Catalogue of the Mealybugs of the World (Insecta: Homoptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae and Putoidae) with Data on Geographical Distribution, Host Plants, Biology and Economic Importance. Andover, UK : Intercept Limited 686 pp. (Karoo Thorn Mealybug, Spherical Mealybug)

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