Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret)

Lázaro-Castellanos, Carlos, González-Hernández, Héctor, Nápoles, Jesús Romero-, Ortega-Arenas, Laura D., Equihua-Martínez, Armando & Ochoa-Ascencio, Salvador, 2023, Armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) associated with avocados (Persea americana) in México’s main production areas, with keys for identification and natural enemies, Zootaxa 5357 (2), pp. 241-269 : 257-258

Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret)

Aspidiotus lataniae Signoret 1869b: 124 .

Aspiditous cydoniae Comstock 1881b: 295 .

Aspidiotus punicae Cockerell 1893b: 255 .

Aspidiotus diffinis lateralis Cockerell 1894: 130 .

Aspidiotus (Hemiberlesia) cydoniae (Comstock) ; Cockerell 1897a: 21.

Aspidiotus (Aspidiotus) lataniae (Signoret) ; Cockerell 1897a: 29.

Aspidiotus (Diaspidiotus) punicae (Cockerell) ; Cockerell 1897a: 24.

Aspidiotus (Hemiberlesia) crawii Cockerell 1897a: 23 .

Aspidiotus cydoniae tecta Maskell 1897: 240 .

Aspidiotus (Diaspidiotus) greenii Cockerell 1897a: 27 .

Aspidiotus implicatus Maskell 1897: 241 .

Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret) ; Cockerell 1905b: 202.

Diaspidiotus lataniae (Signoret) ; MacGillivray 1921: 412.

Aspidiotus aspleniae Sasaki 1935: 864 .

Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret) ; Borchsenius 1966: 306.

Field diagnosis. Adult female cover subcircular, convex, 1.5‒2.0 mm in diameter, white and waxy, with orange to yellow subcentral exuviae. Live adult female body membranous, yellow, subcircular to pyriform, 0.7‒0.9 mm long.

Discussion. Hemiberlesia lataniae is close to H. rapax , but H. lataniae has perivulvar pores which H. rapax lacks, and the distance between the anal opening and the rear edge of the pygidium is greater than the diameter of the anal opening in H. lataniae (shorter than the diameter of the anal opening in H. rapax ).

Habits on the hosts. Hemiberlesia lataniae is found on leaves, branches and fruits, individually or in groups, in high or low or densities on different substrates; on leaves it was found on the adaxial and/or abaxial surfaces, alone or associated with other species of armored scale such as Ac. albopicta , Ac. scutiformis , Ao. aurantii , Asp. nerii , Chr. dictyospermi , Cl. herculeana , Da. aguacatae , D. near coccois , H. crescentiae , H. cyanophylli , H. diffinis , H. rapax , Ho. biclavis , L. pinnaeformis and P. parlatorioides . Generally, H. lataniae had the highest number of individuals in the samples, and in some orchards, it was the only species present.

Hosts. The scale is highly polyphagous, attacking members of 321 genera belonging to 114 plant families, among which are several economically important species such as avocado, coffee, citrus, macadamia, mango, pear and grape, among others ( Watson 2002; García Morales et al. 2016). In this study we collected it on the avocado varieties Booth, Hass, Hass-Jiménez, Hass-Méndez, Fuerte, Mexicano 1 and Mexicano 2.

Distribution. Hemiberlesia lataniae is a cosmopolitan species, widely distributed in almost all zoogeographic areas of the world; it has been identified in 111 countries on five continents ( Watson 2002; García Morales et al., 2016). In México it was recorded in Baja California, without the host being specified ( García Morales et al. 2016), and in the State of México, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Morelos, and Puebla as an avocado pest (González Hernández & Atkinson 1984) as well as in Michoacán ( Lázaro-Castellanos et al. 2012). In the present study it was collected in the following states and orchards: State of México: La Pitaya, Papalote 1, Bordo 2, Chirimoyo, La Colonia, Potrero and M6Texcoco; Morelos: Metepec 1, Xolosuchitl 1, Isla Chica 1, Isla Chica 2, M10Mor, Santa Cruz Axopilco, Santo Domingo, Paluca 1 and Paluca 2; Puebla: La Aguacatera, Acapulco, Tochimilco 1, Amexatl 1, Amexatl 2 and El Carmen; Colima: Rancho Alto and La Calma; Guanajuato: M1Gto; Nayarit: UAN, Crucero La Curva, Camichin 2, El Aguacate, Entrada El Cuarenteño and La Fortuna; Jalisco: La Providencia, Los Depósitos, El Fresnito, Frutícola GMI-3 Marías, Agro Leal, Loma Delgada 1, Loma Delgada 2, Jasmín 2, La Loma, Hacienda El Colomo and El Cerezo; and Querétaro: M1Qro, M2Qro, Adjuntas de Higueras, San Miguel and La Estancia.

Natural enemies. Hemiberlesia lataniae has a long list of natural enemies worldwide. The list of parasitoid wasps includes 34 species of Aphelinidae in the genera Aphytis (19), Coccobius (1), Coccophagus (1), Encarsia (6), Marietta (4), Paraphytis (1), Prophyscus (1), and Pteroptrix (1); 12 species of Encyrtidae in Adelencyrtus (2), Comperiella (2), Habrolepis (2), Metaphycus (1), Plagiomerus (3) and Thomsonisca (2); and 10 species of Signiphoridae in Signiphora ( Watson 2002; García Morales et al. 2016; Noyes 2019). Predators include one species of Cecidomyiidae in Dentifibula ; 1 species of Chrysopidae in Chrysoperla ; 8 species of Coccinellidae in Chilocorus (3), Coccidophillus (1), Cycloneda (1), Rhyzobius (2) and Scymnus (1); 1 species of Forficulidae in Forficula ; 1 species of Phlaeothripidae in Karnyothrips (= Watsoniella); two species of Hemisarcoptidae in Hemisarcoptes ; 1 species of Cheyletidae in Cheletomimus , and 1 pathogenic fungus ( Nectriaceae ) in Nectria ( Watson 2002; Garcia-Morales et al. 2016). In the present study, 278 individuals were obtained parasitizing H. lataniae : Aphelinidae : Aphytis diaspidis (15F, 1M), Aph. holoxanthus (3F, 2M), Aph. lepidosaphes (7F, 6M), Aph. lignanensis (1F), Aph. melinus (1M), Aph. proclia (12F, 1M), Coccobius averini (2F), Cocc. juliae (1F), Encarsia aurantii (1F), E. citrina (40F), E. juanae (57F), E. lounsburyi (3F), and Marietta montana (2M); Encyrtidae : Metaphycus sp. 4 (1M), Plagiomerus diaspidis (2F, 4M); and Signiphoridae : Signiphora falcata (1F), S. fax (2F, 2M), S. flavella (48F, 42M), and S. perpauca (19F, 2M).