Coffee mealybug

Scientific name

Planococcus lilacinus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Other common names

oriental cacao mealybug, lilac mealybug

Similar species

citrus mealybug, Planococcus citri

passionvine mealybug, Planococcus minor. Passionvine mealybug also has the common name of coffee mealybug but has not been reported as a pest of citrus.

Distribution

United States: Not known to occur in the United States.

Worldwide: Africa and surrounding island nations, tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Native to southern Asia.

Diagnostic characteristics

Adults

• 1.2 - 3.1 mm (0.05 - 0.12 in.) in length, and 0.7 - 3.0 mm (0.03 - 0.12 in.).
• Brownish-red or tan with segmented clumps of pink to purple wax covering the body. A wide but indistinct stripe is noticeable on its back.
• Rotund and noticeably rounded from a side view.
• 18 laterallateral:
  with an orientation pertaining to the side
  wax filaments protrude from the margin.
• Legs are robust with a thick thigh-like segment (femur).
• The longest hair-like structures (setae) on the top of the insect (dorsum) are longer than 50 microns (0.002 in.).
• No ovisacovisac:
  structure attached to the body that contains eggs; produced by many scale insects
  .
• Positive identification requires a properly slide-mounted female specimen.

Immatures

• Females complete three nymphal stages before maturation.
• Males complete two nymphal stages followed by a pre-pupal and pupal stage before maturation.
• Pale maroon.
• Ovoid.

Eggs

• Hatch within the female so young are born live.

Hosts

Citrus hosts

All citrus and their hybrids, but the following are specifically identified in scientific literature:

• lemon, Citrus limon
• pummelo, Citrus maxima
• sour orange, Citrus aurantium

Non-citrus hosts

Broad host rangehost range:
the range of species that a particular organism can feed on to achieve successful growth and reproduction
, plants from over 35 families serve as hosts including:

• avocado, Persea americana
• Bauhinia spp.
• black nightshade, Solanum nigrum
• coconut, Cocos nucifera
• coffee, Coffea arabica
• custard apple, Annona muricata
• Erythrina spp.
• four-o'clock, Mirabilis jalapa
• grape, Vitis spp.
• green amaranth or pigweed, Amaranthus gracilis
• guava, Psidium guajava
• kapok tree, Ceiba pentandra
• longan, Dimocarpus longan
• Ludwigia hyssopifolia
• lychee, Litchi chinensis
• mango, Mangifera indica
• palms, many genera
• pomegranate, Punica granatum
• potato, Solanum tuberosum
• sowthistle, Sonchus arvensis
• Spondias spp.
• tamarind, Tamarindus indica
• toothache plant, Spilanthes acmella

Host damage

Fruits

• May retard or delay ripening.
• Can become abnormally shaped and drop prematurely.
• Honeydew honeydew:
  the sugar-rich waste product excreted by aphids, mealybugs, and scales insects as a result of feeding on the phloem of plants
  excreted by mealybugs coats the outside of fruit and promotes the growth of sooty mold fungus that inhibits photosynthesis, weakens the plant, and makes fruit unattractive.

Leaves

• Infestation can cause leaf chlorosischlorosis:
  yellow or white spotting on leaves and fruit resulting from feeding by certain pests
  and defoliation.

Roots

• Infestation reported only reported on coffee and tamarind.

Twigs

• Can be infested.

Biology

Coffee mealybugs give birth to live young called "crawler crawler:
the mobile first instar of many scale species
s." Crawlers seek out leaves and shoots to feed upon until they mature. Immaturesimmatures:
term used to describe the sub-adult stages of insects that do not undergo complete metamorphosis; see also nymph
and adults pierce soft tissues of the plant to feed on the phloem.

Comments

Planococcus lilacinus has been detected at ports-of-entry numerous times and is one of the ten most frequently intercepted mealybugs.

All phloem-feeding, honeydew-producing pests have the potential to be tended by ants. The ants feed on the honeydewhoneydew:
the sugar-rich waste product excreted by aphids, mealybugs, and scales insects as a result of feeding on the phloem of plants
excreted by the pest and protect the pest from natural enemies. This protection can disrupt biological control programs.

References

Ben-Dov, Y. 2009. ScaleNet database: Planococcus lilacinus (Cockerell)(http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/catalogs/pseudoco/Planococcuslilacinus.htm).

Cox, J.M., and A.C. Freeston. 1985. Identification of mealybugs of the genus Planococcus (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) occurring on cacao throughout the world. J. of Nat. Hist. 19: 719-728 (http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/00222938500770431).

Gill, R.J. 1997. Coccid pests of important crops: Citrus, pp. 207-215. In Y. Ben-Dov, C.J. Hodgson (Eds.). World Crop Pests, Vol. 7B, Soft scale insects - their biology, natural enemies and control. Elsevier Science B.V.

Gullan, P.J. 2000. Identification of the immature instars of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) found on citrus in Australia Aust. J. Entomol. 39, 160-166. (http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/gullanandcranstonlab/Gullanpdfs/citrus.pdf).

Janick, J., and R.E. Paull (Eds.). 2008. The encyclopedia of fruit and nuts. CABI International Publishing, North America.

MacLeod, A. 2006. CSL Pest Risk Analysis for Planococcus lilacinus. (http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/pestsDiseases/documents/plano.pdf).

Miller, D.R., G.L. Miller, G.W. Watson. 2002. Invasiveinvasive:
term used to describe species that are not native and have the ability to adversely effect habitats they invade either ecologically or economically
species of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and their threat to U.S. agriculture. Proc. Entomol. Soc. Wash. 104: 825-836.

Miller, D.R., A. Rung, G.L. Venable, and R.J. Gill. 2007. Scale Insects: Identification tools for species of quarantine significance. CBIT Publishing, Queensland, Australia (http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/ScaleKeys/ScaleInsectsHome/ScaleInsectsHome.html).

Waite, G.K., and R.M. Barrera. 2002. Insect and mite pests, pp. 345-346. In A.W. Whiley, B. Schaffer, B.A. Schaffer, and B.N. Wolstenholme (eds.). The avocado: botany, production and uses. CABI publishing: Cambridge, MA.

Authors

Weeks, J.A., K.W. Martin, A.C. Hodges, and N.C. Leppla