Orthezia urticae (Linnaeus)

Moghaddam, Masumeh & Watson, Gillian W., 2024, The Scale Insects Of Iran (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) Part 3 The Soft Scales (Coccidae) And Other Families, Zootaxa 5542 (1), pp. 1-202 : 173

Orthezia urticae (Linnaeus)

( Fig. 85 , distribution map Fig. 91F )

Aphis urticae Linnaeus, 1758: 453 . Orthezia urticae (Linnaeus) ; Signoret 1876b: 389.

Field characters: Live adult female body ovoid; dorsum covered by 6 rows of wax plates, but without plates at midline; fully developed ovisac longer than body.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body oval. Antennae each with 8 segments. Eye stalks elongate conical, bearing 1 or 2 distinct lateral tubercles. Legs well developed; claws each with 2, rarely 3 small denticles. Atrium of each thoracic spiracle surrounded by a conspicuous collar of spines. Abdominal spiracles numbering 8 pairs.

Distribution: Orthezia urticae is a Palaearctic species that has been recorded from 40 countries ( García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it has been recorded from the provinces of Ardebil, Azarbaijan -e Gharbi, Azarbaijan -e Shargi, Bushehr, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Fars, Ghazvin, Golestan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan -e Jounobi, Khorasan -e Razavi, Khorasan -e Shomali, Khouzestan, Kohgiluyeh & Boryerahmad, Kordestan, Lorestan, Markazai, Sistan & Balouchestan, and Zanjan ( Moghaddam 2013).

Host-plants: The species is polyphagous, having been recorded on host-plants in 88 genera belonging to 31 families ( García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it has been found on Eryngium bungei ( Apiaceae ); Achillea millefolium , Artemisia sp. , Echinops ritro and Gundelia sp. ( Asteraceae ), Astragalus sp. ( Fabaceae ) and Daphne mucronata ( Thymelaeaceae ) ( Moghaddam 2013).

Economic importance: Orthezia urticae is of no economic importance in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Figures

FIGURE 85. Adult female of Orthezia urticae Linnaeus, reproduced from Kaydan et al. (2015), page 164, fig. 3, with kind permission from the authors and the Chief Editor of Turkish Journal of Zoology. A, antenna with robust apical seta; B, prominent eye; C, legs with trochanter and femur fused; D, thoracic spiracle; E, abdominal spiracles; F, different types of disc-pores; G, anal ring with six setae and many concentric rings of pores; H, ovisac band of spines and pores; I, hind tarsus without digitules, and claw with digitule and denticles.

FIGURE 91. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Kermes quercus (Linnaeus); B, Kermes spatulatus Balachowsky; C, Neoacanthococcus pamiricus (Bazarov); D, Neoacanthococcus tamaricicola Borchsenius; E, Nidularia balachowskii Bodenheimer; F, Orthezia urticae (Linnaeus); G, Ortheziola marottai Kaydan & Szita; H, Palaeolecanium bituberculatum (Signoret); I, Palmaspis phoenicis (Ramachandra Rao); J, Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché); K, Parthenolecanium persicae (Fabricius); L, Phoenicococcus marlatti Cockerell.