Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell)

This species was not included in Williams and Watson’s (1988b) review of the Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific. However, it is a polyphagous species and has become established in many countries. On Viti Levu, at least, it is now extremely abundant and was collected frequently on a range of crops but appeared to be a particularly serious problem on palms in Suva. It was also collected off Annona muricata, Artocarpus altilis, Epipremnum pinnatum, Musa sp. and Psidium guajava . This species appeared to have the potential to be a serious pest. As Fiji is a hotspot for palms, with 24 native palm species (Doyle & Fuller, 1998), of which at least 8 are considered to be either endangered or critically endangered, it is clear that N. nipae is potentially very important.