''Coelostomidia zealandica'' (

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

: great giant scale) is a

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the ...

endemic to New Zealand. The female is notably larger and very different in appearance from the small winged male.

Taxonomy

This species was described in 1880 by William Maskell as ''Coelostoma zealandica'' from specimens collected in Otago on the bark of trees, and Canterbury "buried in the ground and in the chinks of rocks, by the Sumner Road, Lyttelton, interspersed with another curious Coccid, feeding on ''

Muehlenbeckia ''Muehlenbeckia'' or maidenhair is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to the borders of the Pacific, including South and North America, Papua New Guinea and Australasia. It has been introduced elsewhere, includin ...

'', a creeping plant growing thereabouts". The new genus name ''Coelostoma'' was later found to be already in use, and Cockerell in 1900 proposed the new genus ''Coelostomidia'' to replace it. ''C. zealandica'' was redescribed by Morrison & Morrison in 1922, who also provided a full diagnosis of ''Coelostomidia''. The type specimens are now housed in the

New Zealand Arthropod Collection The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

, Landcare Research,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Excretion of honeydew

''C. zealandica'' feeds on sap and then excretes honeydew that is rich in sugar and provides a food source for birds, insects and lizards such as

gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

. For example, the Duvaucel’s gecko feeds on honeydew from ngaio trees (''Myoporum laetum'') that host a high density of scale insects. Trees infested with a large number of scale insects can become coated with a

sooty mould Sooty mold (also spelled sooty mould) is a collective term for different Ascomycete fungi, which includes many genera, commonly ''Cladosporium'' and ''Alternaria''. It grows on plants and their fruit, but also environmental objects, like fences, ...

- a black fungus complex.

References

External links

* * ''Coelostomidia_zealandica'' discussed on

RNZ Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

Critter of the Week ''Critter of the Week'' is a weekly RNZ National programme about endangered and neglected native plants and animals of New Zealand. Beginning in 2015, ''Critter of the Week'' is an approximately 15-minute discussion between Nicola Toki of the ...

''
3 May 2024
{{Taxonbar, from=Q783121 Sternorrhyncha Scale insects Endemic fauna of New Zealand