Hemiptera

Kondo, Takumasa & Cortés, Ronald Simbaqueba, 2014, Sarucallis kahawaluokalani (Kirkaldy) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), a new invasive aphid on San Andres island and mainland Colombia, with notes on other adventive species, Insecta Mundi 2014 (362), pp. 1-10 : 4

( Hemiptera : Coccoidea)

A few scale insects also have been reported as invasive in Colombia in recent years. The pink wax scale, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell, 1893 ( Hemiptera : Coccidae ) ( Fig. 2B ), was reported in 2008 from the State of Valle del Cauca on Philodendron sp. and Aglaonema sp. (Kondo 2008) and since then it has also been collected on avocado leaves of various cultivars in the coffee growing region of Colombia, which includes the States of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca ( Kondo et al. 2011). In the Neotropical region, C. rubens has been reported from Colombia (Kondo 2008), Guadeloupe (Matile- Ferrero and Étienne 2006), Haiti ( Perez-Gelabert 2008), Martinique ( Matile-Ferrero and Étienne 2006) and Puerto Rico ( Nakahara and Miller 1981). In Colombia, C. rubens is commonly found in low numbers and it is not considered a pest (T.K. personal observation).

The Colombian fluted scale, Crypticerya multicicatrices Kondo and Unruh, 2009 ( Hemiptera : Monophlebidae ) ( Fig. 2C ), was reported as an invasive pest on the islands of San Andres and Old Providence in 2010 ( ICA 2010b). It likely arrived on the islands of San Andres and Old Providence on infested ornamental plants brought from continental Colombia ( Kondo et al. 2012a). Crypticerya multicicatrices is endemic to mainland Colombia and has only been reported as an invasive species on San Andres and Old Providence islands ( ICA 2010b; Kondo et al. 2012a).

The pink hibiscus mealybug (PHM), Maconellicoccus hirsutus ( Green 1908) ( Hemiptera : Pseudococcidae ) ( Fig. 2D ), was originally reported from the States of Atlántico, Cesar, Guajira and Magdalena, on mainland Colombia ( Kondo et al. 2008). The oldest known museum specimens of the PHM from mainland Colombia are dated 2006 ( Kondo et al. 2008), but the insect was introduced to Colombia in 2003 (M.A. Alterio, pers. comm. apud Kondo et al. 2012a). The PHM was reported as an invasive pest on Old Providence Island in 2010 ( ICA 2010b) and later from the island of San Andres in 2012 ( Kondo et al. 2012a). In the New World, the PHM was first recorded from Grenada in 1993 ( Persad 1995), and later spread to many other Caribbean islands, Colombia, USA (California and Florida), and Venezuela ( Kondo et al. 2012a). The PHM has continued to spread in South America, being recently reported as an invasive species in neighboring Brazil ( Culik et al. 2013; Marsaro-Júnior 2013). Like C. multicicatrices , M. hirsutus probably arrived on the islands of San Andres and Old Providence on infested ornamental plants brought from continental Colombia ( Kondo et al. 2012a).

Figures

Figure 2. Recent invasive species in Colombia. A. Diaphorina citri Kuwayama. B. Ceroplastes rubens Maskell. C. Crypticerya multicicatrices Kondo and Unruh. D. Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green). E. Harmonia axyridis (Pallas). F. Singhiella simplex (Singh). Photos taken by T. Kondo.