Scale insect species names that have been combined with the genus name Dactylopius Costa (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha)
(original) (raw)Related papers
Scales (Hemiptera, Superfamily Coccoidea). Chapter 9.3
BioRisk, 2010
Scale insects are frequent invaders. With 129 established species, they numerically represent one of the major group of insects alien to Europe. Scales are usually small insects with wingless females. Due to this small size and concealment, many species, mainly belonging to the families Diaspididae, Pseudococcidae and Pseudococcidae, have been accidentally introduced to Europe, mostly originating from tropical regions and essentially from Asia. Th e trade of fruit trees and ornamentals appears to be the usual pathway of introduction. At present, alien scales represent an important component of the European entomofauna, accounting for about 30% of the total scale fauna.
The biology of Dactylopius tomentosus (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae)
Bulletin of Entomological Research, 2009
Dactylopius tomentosus (Lamarck) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) is a cochineal insect whose host range is restricted to Cylindropuntia species (Caryophyllales: Cactaceae). This insect has been utilized successfully for biological control of Cylindropuntia imbricata (Haw.) F.M. Knuth in Australia and South Africa. Despite this, its biology has not been studied previously, probably due to the widely held belief that the biology of all Dactylopius species is similar. This study investigated the life cycle and the morphological and reproductive characteristics of D. tomentosus. Results revealed some unique characteristics of D. tomentosus: (i) eggs undergo a much longer incubation period, an average of 17 days compared to <1 day in its congeners; (ii) eggs are laid singly but are retained as an egg mass secured in a mesh of waxy threads attached to the female; (iii) the developmental times of males and females are longer compared to other Dactylopius spp. due to a longer egg incubation p...
Scientific Reports, 2017
Scale insects (Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) are one of the most invasive and agriculturally damaging insect groups. Their management and the development of new control methods are currently jeopardized by the scarcity of identification data, in particular in regions where no large survey coupling morphological and DNA analyses have been performed. In this study, we sampled 116 populations of armored scales (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) and 112 populations of soft scales (Hemiptera: Coccidae) in Chile, over a latitudinal gradient ranging from 18°S to 41°S, on fruit crops, ornamental plants and trees. We sequenced the COI and 28S genes in each population. In total, 19 Diaspididae species and 11 Coccidae species were identified morphologically. From the 63 COI haplotypes and the 54 28S haplotypes uncovered, and using several DNA data analysis methods (Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery, K2P distance, NJ trees), up to 36 genetic clusters were detected. Morphological and DNA data were congruent, except for three species (Aspidiotus nerii, Hemiberlesia rapax and Coccus hesperidum) in which DNA data revealed highly differentiated lineages. More than 50% of the haplotypes obtained had no high-scoring matches with any of the sequences in the GenBank database. This study provides 63 COI and 54 28S barcode sequences for the identification of Coccoidea from Chile. Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) are key pests on crops and ornamental plants worldwide. The three most important families in terms of economic damage and number of genera are Diaspididae (419 genera), Pseudococcidae (272 genera) and Coccidae (170 genera) 1. Scale insects can cause economic damage directly, through sap sucking, the injection of toxins and the transmission of viruses that weaken the plant, lowering fruit quality and yield. Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) and soft scales (Coccidae) may also cause indirect damage, by excreting honeydew onto the plant surface, thereby favoring the development of sooty mold fungi. Scale insects are also invasive pests 2 for which quarantine is required in several markets, leading to the rejection of products during international trade. As a result, active inspections for these insects are carried out by national phytosanitary services, and their presence is monitored by most farm advisors. One of the principal problems in scale insect management concerns the difficulty of their identification. Morphological identification is possible but difficult: it requires high level of expertise and the examination of adult females, which are not always found in the field or in the commercial products. Moreover, even when adult females are examined, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between very similar species 3, 4. These difficulties have resulted in an overall lack of knowledge for fine-scale taxonomic identification 5, 6 and, probably, widespread errors in management, with the implementation of control methods that are inappropriate for the species actually present in the target area 7. In this context, the use of DNA barcoding has gradually increased over the last decade, as a means of disentangling complexes of cryptic species and surveying the biodiversity occurring in various regions of the world 8, 9. Studies have been performed on the Diaspididae 10-12 , Pseudococcidae 12-16 and Coccidae 3, 17. Phylogenetic studies have also provided useful
2020
In April 2017, several scale insect specimens in the family Dactylopiidae were collected from infested cladodes of wild Opuntia tomentosa Salm-Dyck, 1822 (Cactaceae) in the outskirts of Morelia City, Michoacan, Mexico. The specimens were identified as Dactylopius confusus (Cockerell, 1929) (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Dactylopiidae). In this article, the presence of D. confusus in Michoacan state, Mexico, is recorded for the first time. A subsequent finding of D. confusus on Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., (1768) (Cactaceae) in October 2019 was confirmed with 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA
The distribution pattern of species of the genus Dactylopius Costa in Mexico was analyzed in relation to the distribution of their host plants (subfamily Opuntioideae) to evaluate the speciiicity of the insect-host association. The distribution of Dactylopius currently recognized is narrower than that of its hosts and probably is not representative. Therefore, a broader distribution of the Dactylopius species in correspondence with those of their hosts was hypothesized. Insects and their hosts were collected and georeferenced in 14 states of Mexico from 2005 to 2007. The distribution areas, maps, and habitat characteristics of Dactylopius, Opuntia sensu stricto, Nopalea and Cylindropuntia were determined on the basis of ield collections and examination of museum collections. This information was complemented with information from the exhaustive examination of microscope slides from a local insect collection, plants from local herbaria, and literature reviews. The current distribution of the genus Dactylopius and its hosts included 22 and 25 states of Mexico, respectively, and Dactylopius had a continuous distribution according to its hosts, broader than recognized hitherto. The new georeferenced records of the ive Mexican Dactylopius species are reported. Insects with morphological characteristics of D. confusus combined with those of D. salmianus were identiiied, as well as insects with characteristics of D. opuntiae combined with those of D. salmianus. These records suggest that the number of local Dactylopius species could be higher than previously thought or that possible new processes of hybridization between native and introduced species may be occurring.
Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) are key pests of agricultural crops and ornamental plants worldwide. Their populations are difficult to control, even with insecticides, due to their cryptic habits. Moreover, there is growing concern over the use of synthetic pesticides for their control, due to deleterious environmental effects and the emergence of resistant populations of target pests. In this context, biological control may be an effective and sustainable approach. Hymenoptera Chalcidoidea includes natural enemies of scale insects that have been successfully used in many biological control programs. However, the correct identification of pest scale species and their natural enemies is particularly challenging because these insects are very small and highly specialized. Integrative taxonomy, coupling DNA barcoding and morphological analysis, has been successfully used to characterize pests and natural enemy species. In this study, we performed a survey of parasitoids and preda...