HALIMOCOCCIDAE Brown & McKenzie 1962

Type species: Halimococcus lampas Cockerell by monotypy.

Introduction. This small family includes 21 species in 5 genera all of which feed on palms. It is generally considered that halimococcine scales are closely related to the Phoenicococcidae and Diaspididae (and are sometimes included in the latter) although no molecular studies have yet included them. The adult males of Halimococcus lampas Cockerell (Fig. 58) were studied by Stickney (1934) who included them in the Phoenicococcidae . On the basis that the secondinstar nymph has a distinct operculum, Brown and McKenzie (1962) introduced the family Halimococcidae . The adult males are all apterous (Fig. 58).