Rosenblueth, M., Martínez-Romero, J., Ramírez-Puebla, S.T., Vera-Ponce de León, A, Rosas-Pérez, T., Bustamante-Brito, R., Rincón-Rosales, R., & Martínez-Romero, E. 2018 Endosymbiotic Microorganisms of Scale Insects. TIP Revista Especializada en Ciencias Químico-Biológicas 21(1): 53-69
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Notes: Scale insects or cochineals feed on the sap of plants, which is rich in carbon but poor in nitrogen and so they require symbionts to compensate for diet deficiencies. Some scale insects are devastating crop pests. In this article, we review the symbionts of some scale insects focusing on carmine- and wax cochineals, which have commercial, art and craft interest. In the cochineals studied we found diverse microbial communities that can synthesize amino acids, vitamins, fix nitrogen or recycle the waste products of nitrogen metabolism.
