ORTHEZIIDAE Amyot & Serville

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 : 171-173

Family ORTHEZIIDAE Amyot & Serville

The family Ortheziidae is considered to be one of the most ancient families of Coccomorpha ( Koteja 1996; Vea & Grimaldi 2012, 2016), being either ancestral to all other scale insects or a ‘primitive’, isolated branch of the archaeococcoids ( Vea & Grimaldi 2012, 2016). It currently contains 24 genera and 214 species ( García Morales et al. 2016). The two ortheziid species currently known from Iran belong to the genera Orthezia Bosc d’Antic and Ortheziola Šulc.

Appearance in life: In life, some ortheziid species occur on leaf veins and twigs in association with sooty mould growths, where they are often quite conspicuous; others live in leaf litter or moss, or underground. The adult females secrete symmetrical white wax plates on the dorsum and margins. A long, often fluted ovisac present attached to the posterior end of the body (not the host); this is carried about by the mobile female like a white flag (hence the common name, ‘ensign scales’). The legs and antennae are quite long and usually dark brown ( Watson 2022b).

Diagnostic characters: The most diagnostic characters of the family Ortheziidae are ( Fig. 85 ): adult female circular or oval; antennae ( Fig. 85A ) each with 3‒8 segments, apex with a thick terminal seta; eyes ( Fig. 85B ) each situated on a short stalk; legs ( Fig. 85C ) usually as long as body, leg setae robust, spine-like or hair-like, each leg with fused trochanter and femur; atrium of thoracic spiracles ( Fig. 85D ) often with multilocular pores just outside each opening; abdominal spiracles ( Fig. 85E ) numbering 4‒8 pairs; pores in derm ( Fig. 85F ) mostly quadrilocular, rarely multilocular disc pore or clustered pores present; anal ring ( Fig. 85G ) located on surface at apex of abdomen, containing pores and bearing setae; ventral ovisac band ( Fig. 85H ) usually present, composed of spines and pores; body with a few slender setae and numerous rather stout spines, latter grouped in definite bands and clusters.

KEY TO GENERA OF ORTHEZIIDAE IN IRAN, based on slide-mounted adult females.

1(0) Tibia and tarsus not fused; antenna usually with 8 segments; abdominal spiracles small but distinct, numbering 7 or 8 pairs.................................................................................... Orthezia Bosc d’Antic

- Tibia and tarsus fused; antenna usually with 3 segments; abdominal spiracles not clearly defined.......... Ortheziola Šulc

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.