Valid Names Results

Matsucoccus acalyptus Herbert, 1921 (Matsucoccidae: Matsucoccus)

Nomenclatural History

• Matsucoccus acalyptus Herbert 1921: 20. Type data: USA: Idaho, southern Idaho, on single-leaf pinon, Pinus monophylla, collected R.W. Doane.. Holotype, female and first instar, Type depository: Davis: The Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, California, USA; accepted valid name

Common Names

• pinyon needle scale Gill1993
• Cochinilla del pino monoaguja KondoGuMe2022

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 2

Foes:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• Gill1993: pp.42 ( Adult (F) ) [USA, California]
• RayWi1984: pp.768-769 ( Adult (F) ) [North America]
• Boraty1952a: pp.321-324 ( Adult (F) ) [World]
• Morris1928: pp.53 ( Immature (F) ) [Species of Matsucoccus.]

Remarks

• Structure: Colour photograph of adult female given by Gill (1993). Adult females brown or reddish brown, resembling a mealybug but derm devoid of mealy wax; producing loose waxy filaments, body widest posteriorly, up to 3.0 mm long, often found partially inside cyst. Eggs yellow, laid in clusters surrounded by loose, white cottony wax. Fully grown cysts (second instar) 1.5 mm long, 0.7 mm wide; brownish or black. Males with a pair of well-developed wings, often found copulating with females that are just emerging from the cyst. (Kondo, et al., 2022)
• Biology: Develops one annual generation in USA, California (McCambridge & Pierce, 1964), Furniss & Carolin (1977). Insects mate in April; eggs hatch in May to early June; fully grown first-instar nymphs moult into the cyst stage (second instar) in late August. Overwintering occurs in the cyst stage. (Kondo, et al., In the southwestern United States, the pinyon needle scale, Matsucoccus acalyptus , can cause defoliation and mortality of pinyon pine (Pinus edulis Engelmann) after repeated feeding. (Mech, et al., 2013)
• Economic Importance: Repeated infestations of M. acalyptus weaken the pine host and predispose the trees to attacks by the bark beetle, Ips confusus (LeConte) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae). Symptoms in affected trees include yellowing of pine needles, defoliation and dieback. Infested small trees have thin foliage with shorter needle lengths, often severely weakening or killing them. (Kondo, et al., 2022)
• General Remarks: Description and illustration of adult female given by Herbert (1921) and by Gill (1993).

Illustrations

Citations