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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #279584
Title: Review of the lady beetle genus Phaenochilus Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Chilocorini), with description of a new species from Thailand and that preys on cycad auacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Diaspididae)

Author
item GIORGI, J. - University Of Georgia
item Vandenberg, Natalia

Submitted to: Zootaxa
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2012
Publication Date: 9/11/2012
Citation: Giorgi, J.A., Vandenberg, N.J. 2012. Review of the lady beetle genus Phaenochilus Weise (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Chilocorini), with description of a new species from Thailand and that preys on cycad auacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Diaspididae). Zootaxa. 3478:239-255.

Interpretive Summary: A lady beetle species from Thailand that is new to science is described, and identification aids are provided. The new lady beetle species is a voracious predator of a devastating and invasive scale insect, the cycad aulacaspis scale, that is killing sago palms and their relatives (the cycads) in the southern U.S. and other warm climates throughout the world. The economic importance of cycads and the cycad aulacaspis scale are discussed. The current paper will contribute to better quality control in the rearing of this promising new biological control candidate, and assist in evaluating the impact of any field releases. This work will be of value to biological control workers, conservationists, and nurserymen throughout the range where cycads are grown or naturally occurring.

Technical Abstract: Species of the genus Phaenochilus are reviewed, keyed, and illustrated, and an annotated checklist provided. A new species, Phaenochilus kashaya, that feeds on an invasive pest of cycads, cycad aulacaspis scale, Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Diaspididae), is described from Thailand. The economic importance of cycads and the cycad aulacaspis scale are discussed. A taxonomic history of Phaenochilus is provided.