Gavrilov-Zimin, I.A. 2020 A taxonomic survey of pigments in scale insects (Homoptera: Coccinea). Part 2. Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 330(2): 324–344

Keywords:

  • morphology
  • survey
  • taxonomy
  • Notes: This paper, the second and final part of the survey, discusses biological and chemical data on pigments in the following neococcid families (superfamily Coccoidea): Pseudococcidae s.l., Eriococcidae s.l., Kermesidae, Dactylopiidae, Micrococcidae, Asterolecaniidae s.l., Conchaspididae, Phoenicococcidae, Diaspididae, Beesoniidae, Stictococcidae, Aclerdidae, Coccidae and Kerriidae. The family-level classification follows the system of Danzig and Gavrilov-Zimin (Danzig 1986; Gavrilov-Zimin 2018, 2025; Gavrilov-Zimin et al. 2021). Particular attention is paid to the genera and species that are little known in the historical and technological literature, but could have been involved in dyeing trades in previous historical periods. These are some species from the genera Antonina, Nipaecoccus, Octococcus, Porococcus, Trabutina (Pseudococcidae), Ceroplastes, Toumeyella (Coccidae) and others. The taxonomic analysis presented here indicates that the pigment diversity is highly uneven among scale insect families worldwide. Significant pigment diversity is evident even in the most archaic family Margarodidae s.l. and reaches its highest level in the family Pseudococcidae. On the other hand, insects of some small families, subfamilies and tribes, for example, Ortheziidae, Xenococcidae, and Rhizoecini, are either completely devoid of visible pigmentation, or this pigmentation is expressed extremely weakly in the form of pale shades of yellow and green. In the largest family Diaspididae, visible green pigments are not noted. Many soft scale insects (Coccidae) show species-specific changes from light to much darker coloration as individuals age.