Aspidiotinae

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Aspidiotinae
Aspidiotus nerii from CSIRO.jpg
Aspidiotus nerii
oleander scale
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Euarthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Sternorrhyncha
Family: Diaspididae
Subfamily:Aspidiotinae
Tribes

Aspidiotinae is a large subfamily of armored scale insects, with 193 genera. [1] [2]

In biological classification, a subfamily is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoological names with "-inae".

Diaspididae family of insects

Diaspididae is the largest family of scale insects with over 2650 described species in around 400 genera. As with all scale insects, the female produces a waxy protective scale beneath which it feeds on its host plant. Diaspidid scales are far more substantial than those of most other families, incorporating the exuviae from the first two nymphal instars and sometimes faecal matter and fragments of the host plant. These can be complex and extremely waterproof structures rather resembling a suit of armor. For this reason these insects are commonly referred to as armored scale insects. As it is so robust and firmly attached to the host plant, the scale often persists long after the insect has died.

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Tortricidae family of insects

The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 10,350 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genus Heliocosma is sometimes placed within this superfamily. Many of these are economically important pests. Olethreutidae is a junior synonym. The typical resting posture is with the wings folded back, producing a rather rounded profile.

Saturniidae family of insects

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Nolidae family of insects

Nolidae is a family of moths with about 1,400 described species worldwide. They are mostly small with dull coloration, the main distinguishing feature being a silk cocoon with a vertical exit slit. The group is sometimes known as tuft moths after the tufts of raised scales on the forewings of two subfamilies, Nolinae and Collomeninae. The larvae also tend to have muted colors and tufts of short hairs.

Miridae family of insects

The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs. It is the largest family of true bugs belonging to the suborder Heteroptera; it includes over 10,000 known species, and new ones are being described constantly. Most widely known mirids are species that are notorious agricultural pests that pierce plant tissues, feed on the sap, and sometimes transmit viral plant diseases. Some species however, are predatory.

Satyrinae subfamily of insects

The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae. They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known diversity of brush-footed butterflies. The true number of the Satyrinae species is estimated to exceed 2400.

Leafhopper family of insects

A leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water repellent and carrier of pheromones. They undergo a partial metamorphosis, and have various host associations, varying from very generalized to very specific. Some species have a cosmopolitan distribution, or occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Some are pests or vectors of plant viruses and phytoplasmas. The family is distributed all over the world, and constitutes the second-largest hemipteran family, with at least 20,000 described species.

Ceratopogonidae A family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, or biting midges

Ceratopogonidae is a family of flies commonly known as no-see-ums, or biting midges, generally 1-3 mm in length. The family includes more than 5,000 species, distributed worldwide, apart from the Antarctic and the Arctic. The scientific name is from the Greek keratos (horn) and pogon (beard).

Chamaemyiidae family of insects

The Chamaemyiidae are a small family of acalyptrate flies with less than 200 species described worldwide. The larvae of these small flies are active and predatory and are often used for biological control of aphids, scale insects, and similar pests. Chamaemyiid fossils are poorly represented in amber deposits, but a few examples are known from the Eocene epoch onwards.

Choreutidae family of insects

Choreutidae, or metalmark moths, are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily Yponomeutoidea in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioidea. It is now considered to represent its own superfamily. The relationship of the family to the other lineages in the group "Apoditrysia" need a new assessment, especially with new molecular data.

Margarodidae family of insects

The Margarodidae or ground pearls are a family of scale insects within the superfamily Coccoidea. Members of the family include the Polish cochineal and Armenian cochineal and the original ground pearl genus, Margarodes. Beginning in 1880, a number of distinct subfamilies were recognized, with the giant coccis being the first. Although Maskell proposed a new family, many continued to regard the monophlebids as a mere subfamily for many years, and the Margarodidae classification continued to be polyphyletic through the 20th Century. Since then, taking the advice of Koteja several subfamilies and tribes have been elevated into their own families such as Matsucoccidae and Xylococcidae. The pared-down family of Margarodidae is monophyletic.

Paratachardina pseudolobata, the lobate lac scale, is a polyphagous and pestiferous lac scale insect, which damages trees and woody shrubs in Cuba, Florida, the Bahamas and the Australian territory of Christmas Island. It was mistakenly identified as Paratachardina lobata (Chamberlin), an insect native to India and Sri Lanka, but was in 2007 recognized and named as a distinct species based on material from Florida; its native distribution is as yet unknown. The new lac insect was described based on all stages of the female, during the revision of the genus Paratachardina, wherein all its known species were redescribed.

Coccidae family of insects

The Coccidae are a family of scale insects belonging to the superfamily Coccoidea. They are commonly known as soft scales, wax scales or tortoise scales. The females are flat with elongated oval bodies and a smooth integument which may be covered with wax. In some genera they possess legs but in others, they do not, and the antennae may be shortened or missing. The males may be alate or apterous.

Conchaspididae is a small and relatively unstudied family of scale insects.

Monophlebidae family of insects

Monophlebidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as the giant scales or monophlebids. They occur in most parts of the world but more genera are found in the tropics than elsewhere.

Diaspidinae subfamily of insects

Diaspidinae is the largest subfamily of armored scale insects, with 252 genera.

Furcaspidina is a subtribe of armored scale insects, traditionally regarded as part of the Aspidiotini. While the subtribe Furcaspidina was not mentioned in Takagi's 2002 study, the Aspidiotini were not deemed as problematical as the Diaspidini and Lepidosaphidini. In 2006, Williams reduced the Furcaspidina to a single genus, with about twenty-eight species. Andersen in 2009 suggested that the Furcaspidina belonged in an expanded subfamily of Diaspidinae; however, additional analysis suggests that the furcaspids are better placed in a distinct, but laterally equivalent subfamily to the Diaspidinae, possibly together with the gymnaspids which Borchsenius placed in the Aspidiotinae subfamily.

Gymnaspidina is a subtribe of armored scale insects. Takagi (2002) does not mention the Gymnaspidina, but in 2006 Morse and Normark still placed Gymnaspis aechmeae within the Parlatoriini tribe. Anderson (2010) found Gymnaspidina to be radically polyphyletic and suggested that the gymnaspids and the furcaspids might be placed in a distinct, but laterally equivalent subfamily to the Diaspidinae, rather than in the Aspidiotinae.

Phenacaspidina is a subtribe of armored scale insects.

Mempelaspidina is a subtribe of armored scale insects.

References

  1. Borkhsenius, N.S. (1966). A catalogue of the armoured scale insects (Diaspidoidea) of the world. Akademiia nauk SSSR. Zoologicheskii Institut, Moscow.
  2. Takagi, Sadao (2002). "One new subfamily and two new tribes of the Diaspididae (Homoptera: Coccoidea)". Insecta Matsumurana. 59: 55–100.