Hemiberlesia crescentiae (Ferris)

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 : 255

Hemiberlesia crescentiae (Ferris)

Diaspidiotus crescentiae Ferris 1938: 219 .

Hemiberlesia crescentiae (Ferris) ; Wei et al. 2021: 8.

Field diagnosis. Adult female scale cover white to grey, circular, convex, approximately 1.0 mm in diameter, with central exuviae. Body of live adult female yellowish white, pyriform, membranous, about 0.8 mm long. The slide-mounted adult female lacks perivulvar pores.

Discussion. Hemiberlesia crescentiae could be confused with Comstockaspis perniciosa ; however, these species are easy to differentiate in slide mounts by the number of well-developed pygidial lobes. Hemiberlesia crescentiae only has L1 developed, whereas Co. perniciosa has both L1 and L2 visible.

Habits on the hosts. The scale was collected on branches, where it occurred singly. The number of individuals present was lower than those of the other diaspidid species with which it was associated, such as H. diffinis and H. lataniae .

Hosts. Hemiberlesia crescentiae has been recorded on Crescentia alata (Bignonaciae) and Alibertia sp. (Rubiaceae) ( García Morales et al. 2016). We found it on the avocado varieties Fuerte, Kila and Mexicano 1 (New host records).

Distribution. The presence of H. crescentiae has been recorded in México and Panama. The type material was collected in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México ( Ferris 1942, García Morales et al. 2016). In the present study, it was found in Puebla: Acapulco orchard.

Natural enemies. In the literature no natural enemies are recorded for this species. In the present study we obtained the parasitoids Signiphora flavella (1M) ( Signiphoridae ) and Plagiomerus diaspidis (1M) ( Encyrtidae ) from this scale, new records for H. crescentiae .