Lecanodiaspis africana (Newstead)
Common name: African scale insect.
Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Hemimetabola, Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Coccomorpha, Coccoidea, Lecanodiaspididae.
Geographical distribution: Africa, including Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Morphology: The shield is yellow-brown with a waxy covering that bears eight transverse ridges and a longitudinal ridge in the center. Body with numerous 8-shaped pores and cribriform plates. With small, well-developed legs.
Host plants: Polyphagous, infesting many plants of the genus Acacia. In Egypt a pest of guava (Psidium guajava L.).
Life history: In Israel this species is biparental, developing a single annual generation, whereas in Egypt it has two. Females occur on the twigs of host plants.
Economic damage: Infestations of guava cause defoliation, less blossoming, drop or production of smaller, dryer fruits
Biological control: Several natural enemies attack the pest in Egypt. The most important parasitoid is Scutellista caerulea, which parasitized about 50% of the scale population on guava; two Coccinellidae also prey on the pest.
References
Ben-Dov, Y. 2009. The species of Lecanodiaspis Targioni Tozzetti, 1869, in the Mediterranean region (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Lecanodiaspididae). Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France 114: 449-452.
Hodgson, C.J. 1973. A revision of the Lecanodiaspis Targioni-Tozzetti (Homoptera: Coccoidea) of the Ethiopian Region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology 27: 413-452.
Morsi, G. A. 2010. Population abundance of the African scale insect, Lecanodiaspis africana Newst. and its parasitoid, Scutellista cyanea Motch. in Upper Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control 20: 131-134. .
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