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RED WAX SCALE Ceroplastes rubens Maskell -- Homoptera, Coccidae (Contacts) ----- CLICK on Photo to enlarge &
search for Subject Matter with Ctrl/F. GO TO ALL: Bio-Control Cases A pest of numerous
plants of economic importance, including citrus in south Asia, Japan,
Australasia and Pacific islands, red wax scale ranges also to Kenya and the
Seychelles islands (Kennett et al. 1999).
It was found in Japan in 1897, where it soon became serious on citrus
in Kyushu, and later spreading to Honshu and Shikoku. Attempts to establish natural enemies from
California in 1924 and Hawaii in 1932-38 were not successful (Yasumatsu &
Tachikawa 1949). A highly effective
parasitoid was found in western Kyushu in 1946, however (Yasumatsu
1951). Originally described as Anicetus annulatus Timberlake, the parasitoid was later identified
as A. ceroplastis Ishii, and then finally as A. beneficus Ishii & Yasumatsu in 1957. This parasitoid was colonized throughout
citrus areas of Honshu and Shikoku where it produced complete biological
control within three to four host generations (Yasumatsu 1953). Significant
reductions of C. rubens were obtained in Korea
following the introduction of A.
beneficus in 1975 (Kim et
al. 1979). It was suggested by
Yasumatsu (1958) that A. beneficus was actually native
to Japan, but might have arisen as a mutation from A. ceroplastis,
a closely related species that attacks another species of Ceroplastes in Japan. Alternatively, A. beneficus
may have been accidentally introduced, although it is not known naturally
outside of Japan. The discovery that A. beneficus attacks C.
rubens in China (Jiang &
Gu 1983) suggests that it came from there, however. For additional details on
biological control effort and biologiesl of host and natural enemies, please
also see the following (Green 1909, Tachikawa 1955, Clausen 1958, Ohgushi
1958, Wilson 1960). REFERENCES: [Additional references may be found at: MELVYL
Library ] Clausen, C.
P. 1958. Biological control
of insect pests. Ann. Rev. Ent.
3: 291-310. Green, E. E.
1909. The Coccidae of Ceylon.
Part IV: 251-334. Dulou & Co.,
London. 334 p. Jiang, H.
& H. G. Gu. 1983.
An investigation on parasitoids of red wax scale, Ceroplastes rubens
Maskell. Nat. Enem. Insects 5: 249-50. Kennett, C. E., J. A. McMurtry & J. W.
Beardsley. 1999. Biological control in 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. Kim, H. S., D. Y. Moon, J. S. Park, S. C. Lee,
P. C. Lippold & Y. D. Chang.
1979. Studies on integrated
control of citrus pests. (2) Control of ruby scales (Ceroplastes rubens)
on citrus by introduction of a parasite natural enemy, Anicetus beneficus
(Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae). Korean J.
Plant Protect. 18: 107-10. Ohgushi, R.
1958. Studies on the host
selection by three species of Anicetus
wasps (Encyrtidae) parasitic on Ceroplastes
scales (Coccidae). Kyoto Univ. Col.
Sci. Mem. Ser. B 25: 31-8. Tachikawa, T.
1955. Some notes on the
Japanese species of the genus Anicetus
Howard (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae).
Japanese J. Appl. Zool. 20:
173-76. Wilson, F.
1960. A review of the
biological control of insects and weeds in Australia and Australian New
Guinea. Commonwealth Inst. Biol.
Control, Tech. Commun. 1. 102 p. Yasumatsu, K.
1951. Further investigations
on the hymenopterous parasites of Ceroplastes
rubens in Japan. J. Kyushu Univ. Fac. Agric.
10: 1-27. Yasumatsu,
K. 1953. Preliminary
investigations on the activity of a Kyushu race of Anicetus ceroplastis
Ishii which has been liberated against Ceroplastes
rubens Maskell in various
districts in Japan. Sci. Bull. Kyushu Univ.
Fac. Agric. 14: 17-26. Yasumatsu,
K. 1958. An interesting case
of biological control of Ceroplastes
rubens Maskell in
Japan. Proc. 10th Intern. Congress
Ent. 4: 771-75. Yasumatsu, K. & T. Tachikawa. 1949.
Investigations on the hymenopterous parasites of Ceroplastes rubens
Maskell in Japan. J. Kyushu
Univ. Fac. Agric.
9: 99-120. |