The identity of the cottony camellia scale, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood) (Coccidae: Pulvinariini) in Egypt.

Abstract

This study was to clarify identity of the cottony camellia scale insect, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood, 1870) in Egypt. All mounted slides of P. floccifera presented in Plant Protection Research Institute’s scale insects collection, Ministry of Agriculture, Cairo, Egypt were examined and compared with P. urbicola which has been recently recorded for the first time by Abdel-Razak (2012). Our findings indicate that the 14 adult females, P. floccifera, identified by Ezzat and Hussein (1967) is a misidentification of P. urbicola Cockerell, 1893. Some diagnostic characteristics of the adult females of the two species may help in the future identification of soft scale insect. Moreover, it could lead to find a better way for controlling scale insects indoor and outdoor.