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 ...
s commonly known as the Mediterranean scales. There are two
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and eight
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), ...
Mediterranean countries
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
including Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Turkey.
Taxonomy
Members of this family feed on
monocotyledon
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks ...
ous
hosts
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
* Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica
People
* ...
as do members of the Aclerdidae which is believed to be a sister clade. The Asterolecanoid taxa form a well-defined group of families which also includes the
Asterolecaniidae
Asterolecaniidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as pit scales or asterolecaniids. They typically cause a depression in the host plant's tissues and often cause distortion of the shoots. They are found on a range of hosts but are espe ...
Lecanodiaspididae
Lecanodiaspididae is a family of scale insects commonly known as false pit scales or lecanodiaspidids. Members of this family come from all parts of the world but are most numerous in the Far East.Pollinia pollini''. The placement of the latter is problematic as it seems to be the sister group to the rest of the Asterolecanoid taxa.
Biology
Adult females are broadly oval with six legs and a pair of antennae. They can be distinguished from members of other scale families by the fact that the
vulva
In mammals, the vulva (: vulvas or vulvae) comprises mostly external, visible structures of the female sex organ, genitalia leading into the interior of the female reproductive tract. For humans, it includes the mons pubis, labia majora, lab ...
e are found on abdominal segment VI rather than on segment VIII. There are usually four female and five male
instar
An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...
s.
Genera
* ''
Micrococcus
''Micrococcus'', from Ancient Greek μικρός (''mikrós''), meaning "small", and κόκκος (''kókkos''), meaning "sphere", is a genus of bacteria in the Micrococcaceae family (biology), family. ''Micrococcus'' occurs in a wide range of en ...