Live Appearance and Habitat
Female scale cover approximately circular and exuvia either more or less central or towards one side, the scale cover nearly always translucent with pale yellow female body showing through, but cover may be more opaque beige-brown on different host plants. Male scale cover, when present, elongate oval with pale exuvia towards one end. Settled 1st-instar nymphs are ‘white caps’, this white dot remaining on the exuvia of young adult female scale covers for some time. Most often on leaves and may be found on the trunk, branches, and fruits of host plants.
Diagnosis. Adult female
Body approximately circular with oval, pointed pygidium margin at posterior end; body membranous except for lightly sclerotised pygidium. With 3 pairs of lobes, the median lobes not yoked, each with a distinctive basal sclerosis extending onto venter, at least as long as distal part of lobes; L1 slightly notched either side, with rounded apex, L2 and L3 not bilobed, similar in shape to L1 but much smaller. Without heavily sclerotised paraphyses between L1-L2 and L2-L3. Plates longer than lobes, fimbriate, with about 5 plates lateral to L3, then some smaller, simple projections.
Dorsal macroducts 1-barred, short and wide, present in a band about 2 ducts wide on pygidium margin-submargin, absent submedially; with a few smaller dorsal ducts on prepygidial submargins, and a series of even smaller ducts with their openings aligned to the prepygidial margin present to segment II. Anal opening positioned near posterior 1/3 of pygidium.
Ventral microducts few, scattered, always with 1, sometimes 2, microducts within area of fine dermal granulation by each anterior spiracle. Antenna with 1 seta. Perispiracular pores absent. Perivulvar pores in 4–5 groups, a few pores present or absent in median group, the 2 lateral groups aligned with a strongly sclerotised bar on each side.
Keys
Miller & Davidson (2005).
