Hemiberlesia cyanophylli (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 : 255-256

Hemiberlesia cyanophylli (Signoret)

Aspidiotus cyanophylli Signoret 1869b: 119 .

Aspidiotus (Evaspidiotus) cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Leonardi 1898: 53.

Furcaspis cyanophylli (Signoret) ; MacGillivray 1921: 407.

Hemiberlesia cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Ferris 1938: SII-237.

Abgrallaspis cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Balachowsky 1948: 308.

Diaspidiotus cyanophylli /Signoret); Bodenheimer 1952: 337.

Aspidiotus (Hemiberlesia) cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Merrill 1953: 18.

Hemiberlesia (Abgrallaspis) cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Takagi & Yamamoto 1974: 39. Hemiberlesia cyanophylli (Signoret) ; Watson 2002; Normark et al. 2014: 44.

Field diagnosis. Adult female scale cover circular or slightly oval, flat, 1.5 to 2.0 mm in diameter, white to grey white, with subcentral exuviae yellow or light brown; on avocado fruits the cover becomes slightly brown. Body of adult female membranous, pyriform to subcircular, yellow, pygidium slightly acute.

Discussion. Hemiberlesia cyanophylli can be confused with Oceanaspidiotus spinosus and Asp. nerii . Both H. cyanophylli and O. spinosus have large dorsal macroducts approximately 15 times longer than wide, but in H. cyanophylli the anal opening is larger than L1 (smaller than L 1 in O. spinosus ); and O. spinosus lacks paraphyses on the pygidial lobes (present in H. cyanophylli ). The separation of Asp. nerii from H. cyanophylli has been discussed above.

Habits on the hosts. The scale was found associated with leaves, branches, and fruits and was observed singly or grouped, mainly on the fruits; on leaves it was found on both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Hemiberlesia cyanophylli was found alone or associated with other species such as Ac. scutiformis , Chr. dictyospermi , D. near coccois , H. diffinis , H. lataniae , H. rapax , Ho. biclavis and P. parlatorioides .

Hosts. This is a polyphagous species that attacks members of 141 plant genera belonging to 73 families, including several economically important species such as coconut, mango, cocoa, grape, avocado and other fruit and ornamental species ( Watson 2002; García Morales et al. 2016). In the present study it was found attacking the avocado varieties Hass, Hass-Jiménez, Hass-Méndez and Fuerte.

Distribution. Hemiberlesia cyanophylli has a wide distribution in tropical and subtropical parts of the world, and even in temperate regions; it has been recorded in 70 countries on five continents ( Watson 2002; García Morales et al. 2016). In México it has been collected as a pest of Hass avocado in the state of Michoacán in the municipalities of Tancítaro, Zitácuaro, Cherangueran, and Uruapan (González Hernández, pers. comm., 2019). In the present study it was found in the following states and orchards: Colima: Agosto; Jalisco: Loma Delgada; State of México: Papalote 1, Bordo 2, Chirimoyo, and Lindero; Morelos: Tezantetelco; Nayarit: Camino Cerro San Juan and Los Terreros; and Querétaro: Rancho Quemado and Adjuntas de Higueras.

Natural enemies. For H. cyanophylli , 16 species of natural enemies have been reported belonging to the following genera: Aphytis (4), Encarsia (3) ( Aphelinidae ); Signiphora (4) ( Signiphoridae ); Chilocorus (1), Rhyzobius (2) and Telsimia (1) ( Coccinellidae ); and the fungus Fusarium (1) ( Nectriaceae ) ( Watson 2002; Garcia-Morales et al. 2016). In the present work, 30 individuals from the following families and species were obtained: Aphelinidae : Aphytis holoxanthus (1F), Aph. melinus (2F, 2M), Coccobius averini (3F), Cocc. juliae (6F, 1M), Encarsia aurantii (2F), E. citrina (5F), E. juanae (2F), E. titillata (3F); and Encyrtidae : Metaphycus sp. 4 (2F), and Plagiomerus diaspidis (1M).