Valid Names Results

Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards, 1960 (Matsucoccidae: Matsucoccus)

Nomenclatural History

• Matsucoccus macrocicatrices Richards 1960: 179. Type data: CANADA: Ontario, Lynedoch, on Pinus strobus, June 3, 1958, collected N.W.B. Watson.. Holotype, female, Type depository: Ottawa: Canadian National Collection of Insects, Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research, Ontario, Canada; accepted valid name

Common Names

• Canadian pine scale Koszta1996
• Cochinilla del pino de Canadá KondoGuMe2022

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Foes:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Associates:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• AhmedRaMo2020: pp.8 ( Adult (F) ) [Eastern U.S.]
• Koszta1996: pp.44 ( Adult (F) ) [Northeastern North America]
• RayWi1984: pp.768-769 ( Adult (F) ) [North America]

Remarks

• Systematics: M. macrocicatrices can be distinguished from other species by having (characters of M. alabamae, M. gallicolus, and M. krystalae are given in parentheses) enlarged setae on the last five antennal segments (four antennal segments) and by cicatrices that are greater than 15 microns in diameter (less than 15 microns).
• Structure: Adult females are mealybug-like, reddish brown to dark brown, about 4.0 mm long and 2.0 mm wide. Cysts (second-instar stage) spherical, dark brown or black, waxy, with stylets inserted in bark of host tree, in branch crotches or cankers, and often associated with fungal mats and lichen. Eggs are ovoid in shape, pearly yellow, about 1 mm long. (Kondo, et al., 2022)
• Biology: Develops one generation every two years; overwinters at cyst stage in fungal mats of Septobasidium pinicola Snell, apparently in a mutualistic relationship. Eggs are deposited in lichens and bark crevices in spring; crawlers migrate to fungal mats, feed and molt to cyst stage, where they remain for two years, then mature during the third spring. Males are rare (Miller, 1985b). The lack of overlapping generations and synchronous adult emergences in early 2012 and again in early 2013 suggests that M. macrocicatrices may have a 1-yr life cycle in Georgia. (Mech, et al., 2013)
• Economic Importance: Unlike some of the other pine bast scales, M. macrocicatrices has not historically been associated with tree dieback or mortality, The variability of fungi found with cankers and tissue associated with feeding individuals of M. macrocicatrices reviewed in Mech, et al. (2013) indicates that the insect is most likely not associated with a single pathogen. Because scales are found either deeply embedded in the cankers or present on top of the bark with clear necrotic tissue under their feeding area, they hypothesizee that they may be creating wounds that are then infested by opportunistic fungi such as Caliciopsis pinea. However, in recent years, it has become a novel pest in the southern Appalachian Mountains of eastern USA, causing dieback on eastern white pine P. strobus. Infestation symptoms include branch flagging, excessive outflow of resin from lesions at branch crotches and main stem, thinning of the tree canopy, cankers on branches and tree trunk, and dieback. (Kondo, et al., 2022)
• General Remarks: Description and illustration of adult female by Richards (1960) and by Kosztarab (1996).

Illustrations

Citations