Palaeococcus fuscipennis (Burmeister)
Taxonomic placing: Insecta, Hemimetabola, Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Coccomorpha, Coccoidea, Margarodidae.
Geographical distribution: Central Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Host plants: Pines (Pinus spp.).
Morphology: Female body pink-red, anteriorly covered by diffuse wax, about 9 mm in length, the legs and antennae dark. The male has one pair of wings and antennae with 12 dark segments.
Life history: The pest lives and feeds on the bark of various pines, whereon it lays its red eggs.
Economic importance: A serious pest of pines. Infested trees become covered with honeydew and thick layers of the resultant sootymold.
Management:
Biological control: The introduced coccinellid predator Novius cruentatus the endoparasitoid Cryptochaetum jorgepastori control the pest in Israel.
References
Cadahia, D. 1982. Palaeococcus fuscipennis Burm. Homoptera, Margarodidae, plaga de los pinares de la costa de Huelva. Boletín Servisio Plagas 8: 201-214.
Mendel, Z., Assael, F., Zeidan, S. and Zehavi, A. 1998. Classical biological control of Palaeococcus fuscipennis (Burmeister) (Homoptera: Margarodidae) in Israel. Biological Control 12: 151–157.
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