Pinnaspis strachani ( Cooley, 1898 )

Caballero, Alejandro, Ramos-Portilla, Andrea Amalia & Kondo, Takumasa, 2017, Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) on sugarcane in Colombia, with description of a new species of Tillancoccus Ben-Dov (Coccidae), Zootaxa 4258 (5), pp. 490-500 : 495

Pinnaspis strachani ( Cooley, 1898)

Hosts. Polyphagous, known to feed on hosts belonging to more than 80 plant families. In Poaceae , five plant species have been recorded as hosts ( García Morales et al. 2016). This is the first record worldwide of P. strachani feeding on sugarcane.

Diagnosis. Body of adult female elongate, length twice its greatest width; head + prothorax not forming a rectangular structure. Anterior spiracles each with at least one spiracular pore, posterior spiracles each with 0–4 pores. Perivulvar pores numbering 35–67, in five groups. Preanal sclerosis represented by a sclerotized bar on each side of the pygidium. Apex of pygidium rounded. Medial lobes closely addressed but never fused, protruding slightly beyond as the level of the second lobes (Cooley, 1899; Miller & Davidson 1990; Suh 2014).

Distribution. Australasian, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oriental and Palaearctic regions ( García Morales et al. 2016). In Colombia, it has only been found on sugarcane in the department of Caldas (present study).

Economic importance and control. Beardsley & González (1975), Miller & Davidson (1990), and Arnett (1985) considered this species to be a serious pest on several crops, including cotton, coconut palm and pineapple, among others. The second author found this species on sugarcane in Caldas in low numbers.

Material studied. COLOMBIA: Caldas, Viterbo. 1000 m a.s.l., 8.v.2015, coll. A. Ramos, ex leaves of S. officinarum , 1 ♀, UNAB voucher N° 676.