Insignorthezia Kozár

Watson, Gillian W., 2022, Towards identification of the scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) of continental Africa: 2. Checklists and keys to six archaeococcoid families, Zootaxa 5105 (3), pp. 301-356 : 341

Genus Insignorthezia Kozár

Insignorthezia is a Neotropical genus of ten species. Only Insignorthezia insignis ( Fig. 23 ) has spread to many other parts of the tropics, including Africa ( García Morales et al. 2016). When it was accidentally introduced to Hawai’i, initially it was regarded as a potential biological control agent for invasive Lantana camara ( Bartlett 1978) ; however, the species is polyphagous, and the sooty mould associated with infestations can be an unsightly problem on ornamental shrubs and fruit trees. Insignorthezia insignis became a serious pest of coffee and ornamental trees and shrubs in Kenya so the Mexican predator Hyperaspis jocosa (Mulsant) ( Coleoptera ; Coccinellidae ) was successfully introduced as a biological control agent ( Bartlett 1978). In life, I. insignis has patches of bare dark green cuticle on the dorsum. The only other ortheziid known to feed on aerial plant parts in Africa is Praelongorthezia praelonga ( Fig. 25 ), which in life has the dorsum completely covered in white wax plates ( Kondo et al. 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 23. Insignorthezia insignis (Browne), adult female, modified from Kozár (2004: 307, Fig. 129) with permission from Agrártudományi Kutatóközpont. AS: abdominal spiracles; A: appearance in life from Green (1922: Plate CLXXIV, 2 and 4).

FIGURE 25. Praelongorthezia praelonga (Douglas), adult female, reproduced from Kozár (2004: 421, Fig. 181) with permission from Agrártudományi Kutatóközpont. AS: abdominal spiracles.