''Paratachardina pseudolobata'', the lobate lac scale, is a
polyphagous
Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...
and pestiferous
lac
Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''.
Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...
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 ...
, which damages trees and woody shrubs in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
and the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n territory of
Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
. It was mistakenly identified as ''
Paratachardina lobata'' (Chamberlin), an insect native to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, but was in 2007 recognized and named as a distinct species based on material from Florida; its native distribution is as yet unknown. The new lac insect was described based on all stages of the female (adult, second-instar nymph and first-instar nymph), during the revision of the genus ''
Paratachardina
''Paratachardina'' is a genus of true bugs belonging to the family Kerriidae.
The species of this genus are found in Central America and Australia.
Species:
*'' Paratachardina capsella''
*''Paratachardina decorella''
*'' Paratachardina javan ...
'', wherein all its known species were redescribed.
Biology
The lobate lac insect is known to feed on more than 300 plant species.
[Howard et al]
Lobate lac scale, ''Paratachardina pseudolobata'' Kondo & Gullan.
''Featured Creatures''. 2008. Last accessed 2008-12-19 It reproduces
parthenogenetically
Parthenogenesis (; from the Greek grc, παρθένος, translit=parthénos, lit=virgin, label=none + grc, γένεσις, translit=génesis, lit=creation, label=none) is a natural form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development ...
, in contrast with the morphologically similar ''P. lobata'', which
reproduces sexually.
Footnotes
References
* Balachowsky, A.S. (1950) Sur deux Tachardina Ckll. (Coccoidea-Lacciferinae) nouveaux du Sahara Central.
ontribution à l'étude des Coccoidea du Nord Africain, 28e note.(In French). EOS 26, 7–17.
* Ben-Dov, Y. (2006) A systematic catalogue of eight scale insect families (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of the world: Aclerdidae, Asterolecaniidae, Beesoniidae, Carayonemidae, Conchaspididae, Dactylopiidae, Kerriidae and Lecanodiaspididae. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 368 pp.
* Chamberlin, J.C. (1923) A systematic monograph of the Tachardiinae or lac insects (Coccidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research, 14, 147–212.
* Chamberlin, J.C. (1925) Supplement to a monograph of the Lacciferidae (Tachardiinae) or lac insects (Homopt. Coccidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research, 16, 31–41.
* Green, E.E. (1922) The Coccidae of Ceylon, Part V. Dulau & Co., London, 472 pp.
* Green, E.E. & Mann, H.H. (1907) The Coccidae attacking the tea plant in India and Ceylon. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture in India, Entomological Series, 1, 337–355.
Hamon, A.B. & Hodges, G. (2002) Pest Alert. Lobate lac scale, Paratachardina lobata lobata (Chamberlin) (Hemiptera: Kerriidae). (10 December 2006).* Howard, F.W., Pemberton, R.W., Hodges, G.S., Steinberg, B., McLean, D. & Liu, H. (2006) Host plant range of lobate lac scale, ''Paratachardina lobata'', in Florida. Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society, 119, 398–408.
(9 December 2008).
* Kapur, A.P. (1958) A Catalogue of the Lac Insects (Lacciferidae, Hemiptera). Lac Cess Commission, Ranchi, India, 47 pp.
* Kondo, T. & Gullan, P.J. (2007) Taxonomic review of the lac insect genus Paratachardina Balachowsky (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Kerriidae), with a revised key to genera of Kerriidae and description of two new species. Zootaxa 1617: 1-41.
* MacGillivray, A.D. (1921) The Coccidae. Tables for the Identification of the Subfamilies and Some of the More Important Genera and Species, together with Discussions of their Anatomy and Life History. Scarab, Urbana, Illinois, U.S.A., 502 pp.
* Mahdihassan, S. (1923a) Classification of lac insects from a physiological standpoint. Journal of the Science Association, Maharajah's College, Vizianagaram, 1, 47–99.
* Mahdihassan, S. (1923b) Observations on the life-cycles of south Indian lac insects. Indian Forester, 49, 653–663.
* Mahdihassan, S. (1946) Two varieties of Tachardina lobata. Current Science (India) 15, 135–136.
* Mannion, C., Howard, F., Hodges, G. & Hodges, A. (2005) Lobate lac scale, Paratachardina lobata (Chamberlin). Regional IPM center pest alert. Available from
(August 18, 2005).
* Maskell, W.M. (1893) Further coccid notes: with descriptions of new species from Australia, India, Sandwich Islands, Demerara, and South Pacific. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 25(1892), 201–252.
* Maskell, W.M. (1895) Further coccid notes: with description of new species from New Zealand, Australia, Sandwich Islands, and elsewhere, and remarks upon many species already reported. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 27(1894), 36–75.
* Miller, D.R. (1991) Superfamily Coccoidea, In Stehr, F. W. (Ed), Immature Insects, Volume 2. Kendall/ Hunt Publishing Company, Iowa, U.S.A., pp. 90–111.
* Miller, D.R., Rung, A., Venable, G.L. & Gill, R.J. (2007) Scale insects: identification tools for species of quarantine importance. Other scales; Paratachardina sp. nr. lobata, ARS & APHIS, USDA.
* Misra, A.B. (1930) On a collection of lac insects from northern India. Bulletin of Entomological Research, 21, 161–164.
* Morrison, H. (1920) The nondiaspine Coccidae of the Philippine Islands, with descriptions of apparently new species. The Philippine Journal of Science 17, 147–202.
* Morrison, H. & Morrison, E.R. (1966) An annotated list of generic names of the scale insects (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Miscellaneous Publication United States Department of Agriculture, 1015, 1–206.
* Munting, J. (1965) Lac insects (Homopera: Lacciferidae) from South Africa. Journal of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa, 28, 32–43.
* Munting, J. (1966) Lac insects (Homoptera: Lacciferidae) from South Africa. -- II. Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaine, 74, 121–134.
* O'Dowd, D.J., Green, P.T. & Lake, P.S. (2003) Invasional 'meltdown' on an oceanic island. Ecology Letters, 6, 812–817.
* Pemberton, R.W. (2003). Invasion of Paratachardina lobata lobata (Hemiptera: Kerriidae) in South Florida: A snapshot sample of an infestation in a residential yard. Florida Entomologist, 86, 373–377.
* Pemberton, R.W., Nguyen, R., Winotai, A. & Howard, F.W. (2006) Host acceptance trials of Kerria lacca (Kerriidae) parasitoids from northern Thailand on the pest lobate lac scale (Paratachardina lobata) (Kerriidae). Florida Entomologist, 89, 336–339.
* Ramakrishna Ayyar, T.V. (1919) A contribution to our knowledge of South Indian Coccidae. Bulletin of the Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, India, 87, 1–50.
* Ramakrishna Ayyar, T.V. (1921) A check list of the Coccidae of the Indian region. Proceedings of the Entomology Meetings, India, 4, 336–362.
* Varshney, R.K. (1967) A note on the several species of Indian coccids (Homopt., Coccoidea), proposed by E. E. Green as nomina nuda. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, 102 (1223-1225), 77–79.
* Varshney, R.K. (1968) Revision of the systematics of lac insects (Tachardiidae, Homoptera), Part I - Subfamily Tachardininae. Proceedings of the 55th Indian Science Congress, Sect. 7 (Zoology & Entomology), 488–489.
* Varshney, R.K. (1977) Taxonomic studies on lac insects of India (Homoptera: Tachardiidae). Oriental Insects, Supplement 5(1976), 1–97.
* Varshney, R.K. (1984) A review of the family Tachardiidae (Kerriidae) in the Orient (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Oriental Insects, 18, 361–384.
* Varshney, R.K. (1997) An up-to-date list of the lac insects of the world. Proceedings of the National Seminar: Lac Industry—Challenges and Solutions, 27–31.
* Varshney, R.K. & Teotia, T.P.S. (1968) A supplementary list of the host-plant of lac insects. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 64, 488–511.
* Wang, T.C. (1986)
new species of Paratachardina Balachowsky (Homoptera: Coccoidea). n Chinese; Summary In English Acta Entomologica Sinica, 29(2), 196–198.
* Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W. (1990) The Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific Region. Pt. 3: The soft scales (Coccidae) and other families. CAB International Institute of Entomology, London, 267 pp.
Agricultural pest insects
Insect pests of ornamental plants
Hemiptera of Asia
Kerriidae
{{Coccoidea-stub