''Newsteadia floccosa'', the boreal ensign scale, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of scale insect in the family

Ortheziidae Ortheziidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as the ensign scales or ortheziids. They occur in most parts of the world but the majority of the species are found in the Neotropical and Nearctic regions while there are not many species i ...

. It is native to Europe and is found in the soil and amongst

plant litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constitue ...

and mosses on the ground.

Description

The adult female is about long and has a round or oval shape, a pair of yellow antennae, three pairs of yellow legs and no wings. The antennae usually have six segments, the two basal ones being larger than the remainder. The eyes are borne on curved stalks. The upper surface of the body is yellow and covered by ten ornate, white waxy plates, in two longitudinal rows; the sides of the insect bear a further ten marginal waxy processes, which are smallest at the front and largest at the rear. Behind the insect is the ovisac, a waxy pouch that encloses the eggs, extending from the underside of the abdomen. It has ribbed sculpting and is similar in length to the body. The adult male has been described but is seldom observed.

Distribution and habitat

''Newsteadia floccosa'' has been found in soil samples taken from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Corsica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. In a Europe-wide study conducted using samples from the

Hungarian Natural History Museum The Hungarian Natural History Museum ( hu, Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum) in Budapest, dating back to 1802, houses the largest natural history collections of Hungary and the region. History of the museum Foundation In 1802, Count Fere ...

, this species was found to be the most common scale insect present in the soil. Although there was some variability across the range, especially in the number of antennal segments, the researchers were satisfied that they represented morphological variation of ''N. floccosa''. It is found at high elevations in moss growing in wet meadows as well as in forest floor litter.

Ecology

Scale insects in general feed by sucking the sap of plants, however the feeding habits of this and other members of the genus '' Newsteadia'' are unclear; Morrison (1925) suggested that it might feed on fungal hyphae, or alternatively suck sap from exposed roots.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10600323 Ortheziidae Hemiptera of Europe Insects described in 1778 Taxa named by Charles De Geer