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PURPLE SCALE Lepidosaphes [= Cornuaspis ] beckii (Newman) -- Homoptera, Diaspididae (Contacts) GO TO ALL:
Bio-Control Cases This is one of the destructive insect
pests of citrus worldwide. Apparently
of Oriental origin, it has posed major problems in citrus in Central and
South America, Mediterranean areas, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, Florida,
Texas and California (DeBach & Landi 1961). Highly specific to citrus, purple scale is rarely found on
other plants. Purple
scale became a major pest of citrus in coastal areas around 1908, and is
thought to have invaded in 1889. Two
coccinellid predators, Orcus
chalybeus (Boisduval) and Rhizobius lophanthae (Blaisdell) were introduced in 1891, when it
was thought that this scale would become a major pest. Both predators were established, but only Rhizobius lophanthae remained common. However, no biological control is thought to have resulted from
this establishment (Rosen & DeBach 1978). During
1948-1950 the parasitoids Aphytis
lepidosaphes Compere and Coccobius (= Phycus) fulvus (Compere & Annecke) were imported from the
Oriental Region (DeBach & Landi 1961).
After efforts to colonize this parasitoid, it was recognized as
established throughout all infested areas (Kennett et al. 1999). Colonization attempts of C. fulvus were successful in only one area (Rosen &
DeBach 1978). The rate of scale
population growth was greathly reduced with the action of A. lepidosaphes (DeBach & Landi 1961); nevertheless, some
oil spraying was deemed necessary for grower satisfaction. Aphytis lepidosaphes
was translocated to other countries and states during 1952-1968, with
complete biological control occurring in most attempts (DeBach 1971). Reports of success were from Texas (Dean
1961), Mexico (Maltby et al. 1968), Peru (Herrara 1964), Chile (Gonzalez
1969), France (Benassy et al. 1974), Greece (DeBach & Argyriou 1967) and
South Africa (Bedford 1973, Annecke & Moran 1982). DeBach (1971) reported that A. lepidosaphes seemed responsible for substantial to
complete control in almost every area where accidental colonization (ecesis)
occurred (Rosen 1967, Fabres 1974).
Fortuitous biological control involving ecesis has also taken place
with other speices of Aphytis
(DeBach 1971). For
additional details of biological control effort and biologies of host and
natural enemies, please see the following (Isaac 1905, Flanders 1936, 1950,
1952, 1953; Ferris 1937, Quayle 1938, Rojas 1954, Dean 1955, Clausen 1956, Jimenez-Jimenez
1958, Clancy & Muma 1959, DeBach 1959, Ebeling 1959, Dean & Bailey
1960, Muma & Clancy 1961, Wood 1963, Rosen 1965, Gonzalez & Rojas
1966, Muma & Selhime 1967). REFERENCES: [Additional references may be
found at: MELVYL
Library ] Annecke, D. P. & V. C. Moran. 1982.
Insects and Mites of cultivated plants in South Africa. Butterworth & Co., South Africa. 383 p. Bedford, E. C.
G. 1973. Biological control
proves successful. Citrus and
Subtrop. Fruit J., Feb. 1973, p. 5-11. Benassy,
C., H. Bianchi & E. Franco.
1974. Note sur l'introduction
en France d'Aphytis lepidosaphes Comp. (Hymenopt., Aphelinidae)
parasite de la cochenille virgule des Citrus (Lepidosaphes beckii
Newm.) (Homopt., Diaspididae). Compt.
Rend. SCAN. Acad. Agri.
France 60: 191-96. Clancy, D. W. & M. H. Muma. 1959.
Purple scale parasite found in Florida. J. Econ. Ent. 52:
1025-26. Clausen, C.
P. 1956. Biological control of insect pests in the continental
United States. U . S.
Dept. Agric.
Tech. Bull. 1139. 151 p. Dean, H. A.
1955. Factors affecting
biological control of scale insects on citrus. J. Econ. Ent. 48: 444-47. Dean, H. A.
1961. Aphytis lepidosaphes
(Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), an introduced parasite of purple scale. Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer. 54:
918-20. Dean, H. A. & J. C. Bailey. 1960.
Introduction of beneficial insects for the control of citrus scale
insects and mites. Rio Grande
Val. Hort. Soc.
J. 14: 40-6. DeBach, P.
1959. New species and strains
of Aphytis (Hymenoptera,
Eulophidae) parasitic on the California red scale, Aonidiella aurantii
(Mask.) in the Orient. Ann. Ent. Soc.
Amer. 52: 354-62. DeBach,
P. 1971. Fortuitous
biological control from ecesis of natural enemies. In: Entomological Essays to Commemorate the
Retirement of Professor K. Yasumatsu.
Hokuryukan Publ. Co., Tokyo.
389 p. DeBach, P. & L. C. Argyriou. 1967.
The colonization and success in Greece of some imported Aphytis spp. (Hym.:
Aphelinidae) parasitic on citrus scale insects (Hom.: Diaspididae). Entomophaga 12: 325-42. DeBach, P. & J. Landi. 1961.
The introduced purple scale parasite, Aphytis lepidosaphes
Compere, and a method of integrating chemical with biological control. Hilgardia 31: 459-97. Ebeling, W.
1959. Subtropical Fruit
Pests. Univ. of Calif. Div. Agric.
Sci. Publ. 436 p. Fabres,
G. 1974. Contribution O l'etude d'A.
lepidosaphes (Hym.: Aphelinidae)
parasites de Lepidosaphes beckii (Hom.: Diaspididae) en
Nouvelle Caledonie. Ann. Soc. Ent.
France 10: 371-79. Ferris, G. F.
1937. Atlas of the Scale
Insects of North America, Series I.
The Diaspididae. Stanford Univ.
Press, Stanford, Calif. 275 p. Flanders, S.
E. 1936. Coccidophilus citricola Brethés, a predator
enemy of red and purple scales. J.
Econ. Ent. 29: 1023. Flanders, S. E. 1950. An enemy of
purple scale recently established in California. Calif. Citrog. 36:
64-5. Flanders, S. E. 1952. Another parasite
of purple scale established in California.
Calif. Citrog. 37: 234,
256-57. Flanders, S. E. 1953. Hymenopterous
parasites of three species of Oriental scale insects. Portici R. Scuola Super. di Agric. Lab.
Zool. Gen. e Agric. Bol. 33: 10-28. Gonzalez,
R. 1969. Biological control
of citrus pests in Chile. Proc. 1st
Intern. Citrus Symp., Riverside, Calif. 2:
839-47. Gonzalez,
R. H. & S. P. Rojas. 1966. Estudio analítico del control biológico de
plagas agrícolas en Chile. Agric. Tech. 26: 133-47. Herrara, J. M.
1964. Ciclos biólogicos de los
queresas de las cítricos en la costa central. Peruana
Ent. 7: 1-8. Isaac, J.
1905. Bug vs. bug. Calif. State Hort. Comm. 1st Bienn. Rept.,
1903-04: 79-107. Jimenez-Jimenez,
E. 1958. Aphytis lepidosaphes, un enemigo
natural de la escame purpurea Lepidosaphes
beckii (Newm.). Fitofilo 11: 37-42. Kennett, C., J. A. McMurtry & J.
Beardsley. 1999. Subtropical and tropical crops. In:
Bellows, T. S. & T. W. Fisher (eds.), Handbook
of Biological Control: Principles and
Applications. Academic Press, San
Diego, New York. 1046 p. Quayle, H. J.
1938. Insects of Citrus and
Other Subtropical fruits. Comstock
Publ. Co., Ithaca, New York. 583 p. Maltby, W.
L., E. Jimenez Jimenez & P. DeBach.
1968. Biological control of armored scale
insects in Mexico. J. Econ.
Ent. 61: 1086-88. Muma, M. H. & D. W. Clancy. 1961.
Parasitism of purple scale in Florida citrus groves. Gla. Ent. 44: 159-65. Muma, M. H.
& A. G. Selhime. 1967. Aphytis Howard (Hymenoptera:
Eulophidae) on Florida citrus. Fla.
State Hort. Soc. Proc. (1966) 79:
86-91. Rojas, P.
S. 1954. Aphytis sp. X,
enemigo natural de la "Concheuela Morada" de los citrus. Agric. Tech. Chile 14:
112-15. Rosen, D.
1965. The hymenopterous
parasites of citrus armored scales in Israel (Hymenoptera:
Chalcidoidea). Ann. Ent. Soc.
Amer. 58: 388-96. Rosen, D.
1967. Biological and
integrated control of citrus pests in Israel. J. Econ. Ent. 60:
1422-27. Rosen, D.
& P. DeBach. 1978.
Diaspididae. In: C. P. Clausen (ed.), Introduced Parasites and Predators of
Arthropod Pests and Weeds. U.S.D.A.
Agric. Handbk. No. 480, Washington, D.C.
545 p. Wood, B. J.
1963. Imported and indigenous
natural enemies of citrus coccids and aphids in Cyprus, and an assessment of
their potential value in integrated control programmes. Entomophaga 8: 66-82. |