Species Austrotachardia melaleucae (Maskell, 1892)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Carteria melaleucae Maskell, W.M. 1892. Further coccid notes: with descriptions of new species, and remarks on coccids from New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 24: 1-64 [dated 1891] [54].

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by Chamberlin, J.C. 1923. A systematic monograph of the Tachardiinae or lac insects (Coccidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 14: 147–212.

STRUCTURE

Female insects producing a quantity of very dark-red or purple resinous matter, which may be aggregated in masses on the twigs, or in detached semi-globular pieces each of which contains an insect. On the outside of these resinous masses may be frequently seen small quantities of white cottony fibres (see Maskell, W.M. 1892. Further coccid notes: with descriptions of new species, and remarks on coccids from New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 24: 1–64 [dated 1891]). Froggatt, W.W. 1921. A descriptive catalogue of the scale insects ('Coccidae') of Australia. Part III. Science Bulletin, Department of Agriculture, New South Wales 19: 1–43 [28] illustrated the external appearance of the female test. Chamberlin, J.C. 1923. A systematic monograph of the Tachardiinae or lac insects (Coccidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research 14: 147–212 described "Lac dark red to purplish; surface of test smooth. isolated individuals have the test rather elongate and beset with two pairs of symmetrical lobes. In crowded conditions the tests fuse, and this characteristic lobation is lost. Length 4.5 mm, width 2 mm, height 2 mm.

General References

Dominguez, J.A. 1906. La laque de la Tusca (Acacia cavenia Hook. et Arn.). Anales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina 62: 219-223 [222] (Tachardia melaleuca: misspelling of species name)

History of changes