Peña, J.E., & McMillan, R.T. 1986 Verticillium lecanii, a new fungal parasite of the scale Philephedra tuberculosa n. sp. (Homoptera: Coccidae) in Florida.. Florida Entomologist 69(2): 416-417.

Notes: The coccid Philephedra tuberculosa is a recently described pest of many tropical fruit trees and ornamental plants grown in Florida, with population peaks in July-October during the rainy season. The fungus Verticillium lecanii was found in Dade County infecting both immature and adult coccids for the first time in August-October 1983, beginning after 3 moderate to heavy rains. The same pattern was observed in July-October 1984, when the form isolated from the coccid on leaves of Calophyllum and custard apple (Annona squamosa) was found to differ from the usual one. In preliminary greenhouse and laboratory experiments with suspensions of spores of V. lecanii applied at various concentrations against scales collected from A. squamosa, the infectivity of the fungus was confirmed. Suspensions of 1000 or 10 000 spores/ml afforded significant control 10 or 15 days after application, giving over double the mortality occurring naturally on untreated scales and reducing the number of crawlers per female by a factor of 26.3. V. lecanii is concluded to be one of the most promising biological control agents for use against P. tuberculosa in Florida.