''Conchaspis capensis'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient g ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

found on ''

Metalasia muricata ''Metalasia muricata'', commonly known as white bristle bush or blombos, is a hardy virgate or twiggy shrub with honey-scented flowers usually 2–4 m tall, woody with a rounded crown. It is native to the Cape Provinces of South Africa, where it ...

'' and ''

Phylica ''Phylica'' is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It contains about 150 species, the majority of which are restricted to South Africa, where they form part of the '. A few species occur in other parts of southern Africa, and on islands ...

'' species. It was originally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in his 1763 work ''

Centuria Insectorum file:Centuria Insectorum.png, The first page of ''Centuria Insectorum'', as included in ''Amoenitates Academicæ'' ' (Latin, "one hundred insects") is a 1763 Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Jo ...

''.

Description

A number of characteristics differentiate ''Conchaspis capensis'' from other

s. The animals normally have three segments to the antennae, although there may be as many as five. The multilocular pores (the pores through which scale insects secrete the waxy scale) are found on segments 3 to 5 of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

and sometimes on the sixth segment as well, but not the

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

; they are often arranged in clusters of 2–3 pores. The head and thorax are expanded on either side. There is also considerable reduction in the

legs A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...

, with various segments being fused together.

Distribution

''Conchaspis capensis'' is only known to occur in

Host plants

''C. capensis'' has been found on a range of host plants, belonging to two families. In the

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

, several species of ''

'' have acted as hosts, including '' Phylica axillaris'', '' Phylica capitata'', '' Phylica nervosa'' and '' Phylica stipularis'', while in the

Compositae Asteraceae () is a large family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchidaceae, and which is the larger fa ...

(=Asteraceae), only ''

'' has been recorded as a host for ''C. capensis'', and this may refer to ''

Metalasia densa ''Metalasia densa'', the bristle bush or blombos, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera ...

'', which was not differentiated from ''Metalasia muricata'' in Linnaeus' time.

Taxonomy

''Conchaspis capensis'' was first described by

as ''Coccus capensis'', based on material he had been sent from the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

by the province's governor,

Ryk Tulbagh Ryk Tulbagh (14 May 1699, Utrecht – 11 August 1771, Cape Town) was Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771 under the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Tulbagh was the son of Dirk Tulbagh and Catharina Catte ...

. It is unclear whether Tulbagh deliberately sent the scale insects, or whether they were merely attached to a plant which Tulbagh sent to Linnaeus. Linnaeus' description appeared in ''

'', a thesis defended by Linnaeus' student Boas Johansson. ''Conchaspis phylicae'', described by Mamet in 1954, is a subjective synonym. ''C. capensis'' was moved to the genus '' Conchaspis'' by Yair Ben-Dov in 1981. The species has no common name.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5158619 Conchaspididae Insects described in 1763 Insects of South Africa Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus