Clavaspis herculeana (Cockerell & Hadden)

Lázaro-Castellanos, Carlos, González-Hernández, Héctor, Nápoles, Jesús Romero-, Ortega-Arenas, Laura D., Equihua-Martínez, Armando & Ochoa-Ascencio, Salvador, 2023, Armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) associated with avocados (Persea americana) in México’s main production areas, with keys for identification and natural enemies, Zootaxa 5357 (2), pp. 241-269 : 253

Clavaspis herculeana (Cockerell & Hadden)

Aspidiotus herculeanus Cockerell & Hadden in Doane & Hadden 1909: 298.

Aspidiotus subsimilis anonae Houser 1918: 163 .

Aspidiotus anonae (Houser) ; Ferris 1921: 94.

Clavaspis anona (Houser) ; MacGillivray 1921: 441.

Aspidiotus symbioticus Hempel 1932: 334 .

Chrysomphalus alluaudi Mamet 1936: 93 .

Clavaspis alluaudi (Mamet) ; McKenzie 1939:

Clavaspis symbioticus (Hempel) ; Vernalha 1953: 169.

Aspidiotus (Clavaspis) herculeanus (Cockerell & Hadden) ; Merrill 1953: 21.

Clavaspis herculeana (Cockerell & Hadden) ; Borchsenius 1966: 318.

Diagnosis. Adult female scale cover circular, about 1.0 mm diameter, brown, with subcentral exuviae. Body of live adult female subcircular or slightly oval with an acute pygidium, yellowish white, about 0.75 mm long and 0.68 mm wide. When slide mounted, pygidium of adult female with well-developed and prominent median lobes; L2 reduced to almost a point; L3 and L4 absent; and plates simple. Pygidium with 3 pairs of well-developed paraphyses; L1 with inner paraphyses medium sized and external paraphyses conspicuously long, each ending in a globular apical club.

Discussion. Clavaspis herculeana could be confused with Melanaspis deklei ( Deitz & Davidson, 1986) because of the similar shape and size of the external paraphyses on L1. However, Cl. herculeana has only two obvious pairs of pygidial lobes, while M. deklei has four.

Habits on the hosts. The scale was found on branches, in low abundance and solitary, but sometimes associated with other diaspidid scales like Chr. dictyospermi and H. lataniae .

Hosts. Clavaspis herculeana is reported to be associated with members of 43 genera belonging to 25 plant families, several of which are of economic importance such as mango, soursop, papaya, fig and pear ( García Morales et al. 2016). In this study it was found associated only with Hass avocado.

Distribution. Clavaspis herculeana has been recorded in 31 countries in Africa, America, Asia, and Australia; according to García Morales et al. (2016); in México it has been reported in the states of Guerrero, San Luís Potosí, and Veracruz, although those reports did not specify the hosts. Our study recorded it in Nayarit: UAN, Crucero La Curva, and La Hierba orchards.

Natural enemies. In the literature there are no records of natural enemies of Cl. herculeana . No natural enemies of this armored scale were detected in this study.