Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than the superfamily Coccoidea due to taxonomic uncertainties. Adult females typically have soft bodies and no limbs, and are concealed underneath domed scales, extruding quantities of wax for protection. Some species are hermaphroditic, with a combined ovotestis instead of separate ovaries and testes. Males, in the species where they occur, have legs and sometimes wings, and resemble small flies. Scale insects are herbivores, piercing plant tissues with their mouthparts and remaining in one place, feeding on sap. The excess fluid they imbibe is secreted as honeydew on which sooty mold tends to grow. The insects often have a mutualistic relationship with ants, which feed on the honeydew and protect them from predators. There are about 8,000 described species.
The marbled lungfish is a lungfish of the family Protopteridae. Also known as the leopard lungfish, it is found in Eastern and Central Africa, as well as the Nile region. At 133 billion base pairs, it has the largest known genome of any vertebrate and one of the largest of any organism, along with Polychaos dubium and Paris japonica at 670 billion and 150 billion, respectively.
Coffea canephora is a species of coffee that has its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa. It is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. Though widely known as Coffea robusta, the plant is scientifically identified as Coffea canephora, which has two main varieties, robusta and nganda.
Cecidomyiidae is a family of flies known as gall midges or gall gnats. As the name implies, the larvae of most gall midges feed within plant tissue, creating abnormal plant growths called galls. Cecidomyiidae are very fragile small insects usually only 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) in length; many are less than 1 mm (0.039 in) long. They are characterised by hairy wings, unusual in the order Diptera, and have long antennae. Some Cecidomyiids are also known for the strange phenomenon of paedogenesis in which the larval stage reproduces without maturing first. In some species, the daughter larvae consume the mother, while in others, reproduction occurs later on in the egg or pupa.
The Sternorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains the aphids, whiteflies, and scale insects, groups which were traditionally included in the now-obsolete order "Homoptera". "Sternorrhyncha" refers to the rearward position of the mouthparts relative to the head.
Jackson's mongoose is a mongoose species native to montane forests in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It appears to be rare and has been classified as Near Threatened since 2008.
Batrachedra arenosella, the coconut moth or armoured scale eating caterpillar, is a species of moth of the family Batrachedridae found in India, Indonesia, Malaya, and Réunion, as well as New Zealand and Australia, from the Northern Territory and northern Queensland to New South Wales and South Australia. B. arenosella was first described by Francis Walker in 1864.
Conchaspididae is a small family of scale insects known as false armoured scales because of their resemblance to Diaspididae.
Coccus is a genus of scale insects in the family Coccidae. Several species, such as Coccus viridis, a major pest of coffee, are major agricultural pests. The type species is Coccus hesperidumLinnaeus.
Asterolecaniidae is a family of scale insects commonly known as pit scales or asterolecaniids. They typically cause a depression in the host plant's tissues and often cause distortion of the shoots. They are found on a range of hosts but are especially common on oaks, bamboos and a number of ornamental plants. Members of this family occur in most regions of the world but are most abundant in the northern hemisphere. There are about 25 genera and 243 recorded species.
Aphytis mytilaspidis is a species of chalcid wasp in the Aphelinidae family. The adults feed on scale insects and the larvae are ectoparasites of scales.
Antestiopsis is a genus of shield bug, commonly known as antestia and the variegated coffee bug. Several species in eastern Africa are pests of coffee plants, giving the coffee beans a distinctive 'potato taste', which is thought to be caused indirectly by bacteria entering through wounds created by the insects, leading to an increase in the concentration of isopropyl methoxy pyrazine. They feed on flowers, berries and growing tips, injecting a toxic saliva that often contains the spores of the Ashbya fungus, and then suck juices out.
Callococcus is a genus of Australian scale insect that feeds on species of Leptospermum, Hypocalymma, Kunzea and some other members of the tribes Chamelaucieae and Leptospermeae in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. Callococcus leptospermi induces stem-swelling galls on some species of Leptospermum, and it is considered to be a potential biological control agent of Leptospermum laevigatum in South Africa. The other described species of Callococcus do not induce galls.
Penicillium coffeae is a fungus species of the genus of Penicillium which was isolated from the plant Coffea arabica L. in Hawaii. Insects play a role in spreading Penicillium coffeae.
Asterolecanium is a genus of pit scale insects. Asterolecanium is distributed worldwide: species have been found in each of the six biogeographic realms, and nearly all of their respective subregions.
Saissetia coffeae, known generally as hemispherical scale, is a species of soft scale insect in the family Coccidae. Other common names include the helmet scale and coffee brown scale.
Saissetia is a genus of soft scale insects in the family Coccidae. There are at least four described species in Saissetia.
Eublemma scitulum, the grey eublemma, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Rambur in 1833. It is widespread in Africa and Asia.
Geococcus coffeae is a species in the mealybug family, Pseudococcidae, commonly known as the coffee root mealybug, or brown scale. It lives underground where it inserts its mouthparts into roots and sucks the sap.
