Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91600
Title: WORLD REVISION OF THE GENUS ORTHEZIOLA SULC, 1895 (HOMOPTERA: COCCOIDEA) WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF ELEVEN NEW SPECIES

Author
item KOZAR, FERENC - HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCI
item Miller, Douglass

Submitted to: Entomology International Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/3/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Scale insects are frequently encountered on various agricultural commodities at U.S. ports-of-entry. These pests may be a serious threat to U.S. agriculture if they are introduced and become established and have the potential for causing billions of dollars of damage each year. To counteract this threat, it is important to know the correct identity of species that have been collected in quarantine. The results of this research includes a detailed analysis of a genus of ensign scales including two species that have been intercepted at U.S. ports and includes 11 species previously unknown to science. This information is important to U.S. quarantine programs so that inspectors and identifiers will be able to determine the correct identity of the species and will be able to make informal decisions on actions to be taken against these pests.

Technical Abstract: Soil samples, and Museum collections were analyzed from all zoogeographic regions of the World. From this material eleven new species of Ortheziola are described from Africa and the United Kingdom, five additional species are redescribed, and a key is presented for the identification of all 16 species. A slightly modified concept of the genus is presented and several new characters are given as diagnostic of the genus. A phylogenetic hypothesis is given based on analysis of the morphological features of adult females. Results show that Ortheziola is most diverse in eastern Africa where both primitive and advanced species occur.