Valid Names Results

Physokermes inopinatus Danzig & Kozár, 1973 (Coccidae: Physokermes)

Nomenclatural History

• Physokermes inopinatus Danzig & Kozár 1973: 832. Type data: HUNGARY: Csopak on northern shores of Lake Balaton, on Picea abies.. Holotype, female, Type depository: Budapest: Hungarian Natural History Museum, Zoological Department, Hungary; accepted valid name
• Physokermes inopiatus Danzig & Kozár, 1973; Camacho & Chong 2015: 9. misspelling of species epithet

Common Names

• Hungarian spruce scale KosztaKo1988F
• hungarian spruce scale KosztaKo1988F

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 2

Foes:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• KozarGoHo2012: pp.36 ( Adult (F) ) [Key to female Physokermes species found in the western Palaearctic Region]

Remarks

• Structure: See colour photograph in Kosztarab & Kozar (1988). Postreproductive females are 5-8 mm in diameter, kidney shaped and with a shiny brown color (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988). Under crowded conditions the size might be as small as 3 mm. (Olsson, et al., 2012)
• Biology: Life history studied by Danzig & Kozar (1973)and by Kosztarab & Kozar (1988). The females develop at the base of annual shoots and the base of needles. The scale completes one generation per year (Stathas and Kozár, 2010). The scale overwinters as 2nd instar nymph and pre-ovipositing females appear during May and June. Eggs are laid from mid-June to early August (Stathas and Kozár, 2010). Egg hatching occurs during July and August. The crawlers normally settle within a meter from their female (Marotta, 1997) but can travel further with the wind (Isacsson, 2010).
• Economic Importance: P. inopinatus feeds on the sap from the needles causing damage to the host tree. The feeding also has a secondary effect by producing honeydew that drips over the needles. If the honeydew is not collected by ants or bees, or washed away by rain, a favorable condition for the growth of sooty mold is created. The mold creates a black encrustation on the needles preventing light from reaching them, eventually leading to the needles being killed by the cover. (Olsson, et al., 2012) Olsson, et al. showed that damage caused by P. inopinatus and the associated black encrustation formed by sooty mold can be detected with high accuracy in medium resolution satellite data.
• General Remarks: Good description and illustration of adult female by Danzig & Kozar (1973) and by Kosztarab & Kozar (1988).

Illustrations

Citations