Micrococcidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as the Mediterranean scales. There are two genera and eight

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 ...

. Members of this family are found in Cyprus, Italy Global Biodiversity Information Facility
/ref> and other

Mediterranean countries The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

including Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey.

Taxonomy

Members of this family feed on

monocotyledon Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...

ous

hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places *Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People *Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman *Michel Host ( ...

as do members of the Aclerdidae which is believed to be a sister clade. The Asterolecanoid taxa form a well-defined group of families which also includes the Asterolecaniidae, Cerococcidae, Lecanodiaspididae and '' Pollinia pollini''. The placement of the latter is problematic as it seems to be the sister group to the rest of the Asterolecanoid taxa.

Biology

Adult females are broadly oval with six legs and a pair of antennae. They can be distinguished from members of other scale families by the fact that the

vulva The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulv ...

e are found on abdominal segment VI rather than on segment VIII. There are usually four female and five male

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ...

Genera

* ''

Micrococcus ''Micrococcus'' (mi’ krō kŏk’ Əs) is a genus of bacteria in the Micrococcaceae family. ''Micrococcus'' occurs in a wide range of environments, including water, dust, and soil. Micrococci have Gram-positive spherical cells ranging from abo ...

'' * '' Molluscococcus''

References

Scale insects Hemiptera families Neococcoids Taxa named by Filippo Silvestri {{Coccoidea-stub