Melanaspis

Hosseininaveh, Fatemeh, Nozari, Jamasb, Kaydan, Mehmet Bora & Hosseininaveh, Vahid, 2016, Molecular and morphological identification of pistachio armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 4200 (4), pp. 523-543 : 528

Key to adult female Melanaspis species in the Palearctic Region

(adapted from Danzig 1993 and Balachowsky 1951).

1. Paraphyses on pygidial margin of unequal size; external paraphyses on segment 8 more developed than others........... 3

- Paraphyses of pygidial margin thick and fusiform, more or less all the same size....................................2

2. Pygidial lobes each without medial notch; number of submarginal macroducts on segment V fewer than 20................................................................................................ M. inopinata (Leonardi)

- Pygidial lobes each with one distinct medial notch; number of submarginal macroducts on segment V more than 20........................................................................ M. pistaciae Hosseininaveh & Kaydan sp. n.

3. Perivulvar pores absent; lobe size gradually increasing from L1 to L4; dorsal macroducts on segments VI–VII arranged in irreg- ular rows or sometimes in two rows...................................................... M. smilacis Comstock

- Perivulvar pores present; L1 larger than other lobes; dorsal macroducts of segments VI–VII arranged in oblique regular single row................................................................ M. louristanus Balachowsky & Kaussari