Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio

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 : 50

Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio

( Fig. 17 , distribution map Fig. 89H )

Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio, 1900: 3 .

Field characteristics: Live adult female body almost circular with an irregular margin, convex, covered with thick wax. Wax of young females white, divided into 8 plates, 5 near margins with a blurred brownish patch at the centre of each; in ventral view, with narrow white strip of secretion between each spiracle and margin. Old females with reddish brown wax, with plate divisions and darker brown patches indistinct.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body oval, convex, with shallow stigmatic clefts. Caudal process short and stout.

Dorsum. Derm membranous in young females, except for sclerotized caudal process. Derm with 8 clear areas. Setae each cylindrical with a rounded or pointed apex. Pores mostly trilocular, of 3 main types: (i) oval trilocular pores, (ii) triangular trilocular pores, and (iii) bilocular pores; a few 4-locular pores also present, particularly at anterior end. Preopercular pores present in a transverse band, numbering about 8–20 pores. Tubular ducts and duct tubercles absent. Anal plates each with 3 large dorsal setae on posterior quarter of each plate, plus a smaller apical seta (not shown in Fig. 17 ).

Margin. Marginal setae flagellate; with 2−4 marginal setae between anterior and posterior stigmatic clefts on each side; anal lobe with 3 or 4 marginal setae; submarginal setae more frequent than marginal setae. Stigmatic clefts shallow, each with 18−54 hemispherical, bullet-shaped or lanceolate spiracular setae in 3 or 4 irregular rows in each cleft.

Venter. Derm membranous. Pregenital disc-pores restricted to around anogenital fold and across 2 preceding abdominal segments; much less frequent medially and occasionally present mediolaterally on segment V; generally absent from segment IV and more anteriorly. Spiracular disc-pore bands at narrowest point each only 3 or 4 pores wide, but about 5 or 6 pores wide near margin. Cruciform pores scattered (not illustrated). Simple microducts (filamentous ducts) present around margins, not always visible. Ventral tubular ducts present in groups on head and around anogenital fold. Antennae each usually with 7 segments (but 8 in Iranian specimens). Legs well-developed, each with a tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis; claw digitules both broad; each claw with an almost imperceptible denticle.

Distribution: Ceroplastes sinensis is a widespread species in warm temperate to subtropical countries; in Iran, it is found in Gilan and Mazandaran provinces ( Moghaddam 2017).

Host-plants: The scale is polyphagous, mostly on woody broad-leafed hosts. In Iran, it has been found on Punica granatum ( Lythraceae ), Rosa sp. ( Rosaceae ) ( Moghaddam 2017), Hedera helix ( Araliaceae ) ( Feli Kohikheili & Damavandian 2015), and Citrus spp. ( Rutaceae ).

Economic importance: The species is a serious pest of Citrus trees in the northern provinces of Iran.

Natural enemies: The following parasitoid wasps ( Hymenoptera ) have been observed attacking C. sinensis in Iran: Aphytis hispanicus (Mercet) and Coccophagus lycimnia (Walker) ( Aphelinidae ); Microterys nietneri (Motschulsky) ( Encyrtidae ), and Alaptus priesneri Soyka ( Mymaridae ) ( Feli Kohikheili & Damavandian 2015).

Figures

FIGURE 17. Adult female of Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio.

FIGURE 89. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Asterodiaspis minor (Russell); B, Asterodiaspis quercicola (Bouché); C, Bambusaspis bambusae (Boisduval); D, Bodenheimera rachelae (Bodenheimer); E, Ceroplastes floridensis Comstock; F, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell; G, Ceroplastes rusci (Linnaeus); H, Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio; I, Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus; J, Coccus pseudomagnoliarum (Kuwana); K, Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger; L, Didesmococcus unifasciatus (Archangelskaya).