AW Insect Book: Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha Aphids & Scales
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AW Insect Book: Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha Aphids & Scales
Moderator: Klipspringer
Index to Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha Aphids & Scales
Index to Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha Aphids & Scales
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily: Coccoidea
Family: Monophlebidae (Giant Scales)
Icerya purchasi Cottony Cushion Scale, Australian Bug
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily: Coccoidea
Family: Monophlebidae (Giant Scales)
Icerya purchasi Cottony Cushion Scale, Australian Bug
AW Insect Book: Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha Aphids & Scales
Cottony Cushion Scale, Australian Bug Icerya purchasi (Australiese Luis)
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha. Superfamily: Coccoidea. Family: Monophlebidae
© BluTuna
Female, Magaliesberg, Gauteng
Description
The mature adult is oval in shape, reddish-brown with black hairs, 5 mm long. The mature females have bright orange-red, yellow, or brown bodies. The body is partially or entirely covered with yellowish or white wax. The most conspicuous feature is the large fluted egg sac, which will frequently be two to 2.5 times longer than the body. The legs, antennae and body hairs are conspicuously black. The nymphs and adult females produce long, hair-like, transparent rods of wax from the body. On reaching maturity, the female produces a white, fluted, wax ovisac with a series of uniform ridges running lengthwise over the surface. As the ovisac is produced, the rear end of the body is tilted upwards, sometimes almost perpendicular to the plant surface. The ovisac may reach the same length as the body, giving an overall combined length of up to 20 mm.
Immature I. purchasi have black limbs and an orange-brown body that is coated with white and yellow wax.
The males are rarely encountered and do not live long. The immature male stages are similar in appearance to those of the female. Pupation occurs in a fluffy, oblong white cocoon. The adult male has well developed antennae, one pair of dusky wings, a red body and tufts of long setae at the end of the abdomen.
Distribution
I. purchasi is generally considered to have originated in Australia. It was accidentally introduced to California in about 1868. The pest also reached New Zealand and South Africa at about the same time, and has subsequently spread widely through most of the tropical and subtropical countries of the world.
Habitat
House plants, gardens and veld.
Biology
I. purchasi have four ('female') or five (male) developmental stages. The 'females' are actually hermaphrodites with fertilization occurring between the eggs and the sperm of the same individual. Sexually functional males are occasionally produced from unfertilized eggs, but mating is not necessary for reproduction. Self-fertilization by a hermaphrodite will produce only hermaphrodites. Matings of a male and hermaphrodite will produce both males and hermaphrodites.
The adult females produce 500 to 2000 bright-red, oblong eggs over a period of 2 to 3 months. The number of eggs produced depends on the body size, condition of the host and climatic conditions. After leaving the egg sac, the crawlers settle along the midribs and veins of the leaves. The next two instars migrate to the larger twigs and branches and eventually moult into the adult 'female'.
Links: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa; University of Arizona: Cottony-Cushion Scale (Icerya purchasi); Corinne M. Unruh & Penny J. Gullan: Identification guide to species in the scale insect tribe Iceryini (Coccoidea: Monophlebidae) (Zootaxa 1803)
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha. Superfamily: Coccoidea. Family: Monophlebidae
© BluTunaFemale, Magaliesberg, Gauteng
Description
The mature adult is oval in shape, reddish-brown with black hairs, 5 mm long. The mature females have bright orange-red, yellow, or brown bodies. The body is partially or entirely covered with yellowish or white wax. The most conspicuous feature is the large fluted egg sac, which will frequently be two to 2.5 times longer than the body. The legs, antennae and body hairs are conspicuously black. The nymphs and adult females produce long, hair-like, transparent rods of wax from the body. On reaching maturity, the female produces a white, fluted, wax ovisac with a series of uniform ridges running lengthwise over the surface. As the ovisac is produced, the rear end of the body is tilted upwards, sometimes almost perpendicular to the plant surface. The ovisac may reach the same length as the body, giving an overall combined length of up to 20 mm.
Immature I. purchasi have black limbs and an orange-brown body that is coated with white and yellow wax.
The males are rarely encountered and do not live long. The immature male stages are similar in appearance to those of the female. Pupation occurs in a fluffy, oblong white cocoon. The adult male has well developed antennae, one pair of dusky wings, a red body and tufts of long setae at the end of the abdomen.
Distribution
I. purchasi is generally considered to have originated in Australia. It was accidentally introduced to California in about 1868. The pest also reached New Zealand and South Africa at about the same time, and has subsequently spread widely through most of the tropical and subtropical countries of the world.
Habitat
House plants, gardens and veld.
Biology
I. purchasi have four ('female') or five (male) developmental stages. The 'females' are actually hermaphrodites with fertilization occurring between the eggs and the sperm of the same individual. Sexually functional males are occasionally produced from unfertilized eggs, but mating is not necessary for reproduction. Self-fertilization by a hermaphrodite will produce only hermaphrodites. Matings of a male and hermaphrodite will produce both males and hermaphrodites.
The adult females produce 500 to 2000 bright-red, oblong eggs over a period of 2 to 3 months. The number of eggs produced depends on the body size, condition of the host and climatic conditions. After leaving the egg sac, the crawlers settle along the midribs and veins of the leaves. The next two instars migrate to the larger twigs and branches and eventually moult into the adult 'female'.
Links: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa; University of Arizona: Cottony-Cushion Scale (Icerya purchasi); Corinne M. Unruh & Penny J. Gullan: Identification guide to species in the scale insect tribe Iceryini (Coccoidea: Monophlebidae) (Zootaxa 1803)
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