Lecanodiaspis prosopidis (Maskell)

Family

Lecanodiaspididae

Common name

Common pit scale

Field characters

Adult female nearly circular, convex, covered by yellowish-white to reddish brown test, with faint longitudinal carina on midline, mediolateral ridges present but weakly developed; newly formed females tests with short nipples along margin. Male test yellowish white, elongate oval. Occurring on trunk, main branches, and twigs.

Validation characters

Without 2 elongate setae anterior of vulva; multilocular disk pores normally abundant on thorax; dorsum with 3 to 5 cribriform plates on each side of body; anterior and posterior spiracular setae present; posterior spiracular furrows divided; antennae 7- to 9-segmented; legs rudimentary, usually with less than 3 segments. Other characters: 8-shaped pores present; invaginated tubular ducts present; anal area with arch plate; stigmatic setae present.

Comparison

Lecanodiaspis prosopidis is similar to L. dendrobii by having 3 to 6 cribriform plates on each side of body; anterior and posterior spiracular setae present; posterior spiracular furrows divided; antennae 7- to 9-segmented; legs rudimentary. Lecanodiaspis prosopidis differs by lacking 2 long setae anterior of vulva (present in L. dendrobii). These species may be synonyms.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was not intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, but it had been intercepted at least 5 times before that. We have examined specimens taken in quarantine from Mexico (cactus, Astrophytum, Cattleya, Fouquieria). ScaleNet includes hosts in more than 35 plant families from the Nearctic zoogeographic region. Besides L. prosopidis,another species of Lecanodiaspis is included in this key, L. dendrobii (Douglas); no other species of Lecanodiaspis have been intercepted at a U. S. port-of-entry.

Important references

Gill1993; HowellKo1972.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

Click here for a Catalog.