Species Maskellia nigra (Froggatt, 1898)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370-379 [376].

Generic Combinations

• Maskellia nigra (Froggatt, 1898). —
  Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J. 2009. Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt (Eriococcidae) is an armored scale Maskellia nigra (Froggatt) (Diaspididae) (Hemiptera: Coccoidea). pp. 59-62 in Branco, M., Franco, J.C., Hodgson, C. (eds). Proceeding XI International Symposium on Scale Insect Studies, Sept 24–27, 2007, Oeiras, Portugal. Lisbon : ISA Press.

Introduction

Hardy & Gullan (2009) redescribed Maskellia nigra adult female and its gall, and reassigned the species from Eriococcidae to Diaspididae.

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

GENERAL

Detailed description and illustrations of male and female adults, first-instar nymphs and galls by Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379.

BIOLOGY

When host is slightly infested, the galls are large and regular in form, varying from pale green to brown, but when numerous, they twist the foliage and twigs into an irregular mass as large as a man's head, and it is tinted with red and brown (see Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379).

STRUCTURE

Female gall slender, thorn or spur shaped, springing from an enlarged growth or swelling upon the branchlet, broadest at the base, curving round at the tip. Female is minute and pear shaped, purplish-brown. Adult female is black and irregular. Male gall is smooth, blunt cylindrical and tube shaped; brightly tinted with red or pink, often growing in a regular row. Adult male is brown, testaceous, with ochreous tints upon the abdomen (see Froggatt, W.W. 1898. Notes on the subfamily Brachyscelinae, with descriptions of new species. Part V. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 23: 370–379).

General References

Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J. 2009. Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt (Eriococcidae) is an armored scale Maskellia nigra (Froggatt) (Diaspididae) (Hemiptera: Coccoidea). pp. 59-62 in Branco, M., Franco, J.C., Hodgson, C. (eds). Proceeding XI International Symposium on Scale Insect Studies, Sept 24–27, 2007, Oeiras, Portugal. Lisbon : ISA Press.

History of changes