Coccus koleos Anderson

Williams, D. J., 2002, Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) described by James Anderson M. D. of Madras, Journal of Natural History 36 (2), pp. 237-246 : 242

Coccus koleos Anderson

Coccus koleos Anderson, 1787g: 1 , 2; 1788a: 4; 1788b: 26; Signoret, 1877: 618; Fernald, 1903: 326.

Anderson (1787b: 1) discussed three further species mentioned in his former letters and described the third in his letter No. 6 as`A third Insect I have found on the Brinjaul, Cattri-Cay or Voidelungai of the Tamuls, which is a culinary plant here or Solanum Melongena of Linnaeus.

The third Insect, except the antennae and apex of the punctum subulatum which are of a chocolate colour, is of a diaphanous white throughout, ± It is viviparous, and the young, which are perfectly white, and not bigger than the mites in cheese, ramble about incessantly, till they have spun a cylindrical case of silk in which they remain without the possibility of removing, as the silky case in which they then lye, adheres ®rmly to the plant’.

Anderson placed these insects on his Opuntia plants on which they thrived but did not`acquire the required colour’. The insect was named by Anderson (1787g: 1) as`that of the Solanum Melongena being in a Cylindrical Case of Silk Koleos, in Roman Letters, for want of a Greek Type’. It was listed on the second page as Coccus koleos .

There is reason to believe that this insect is a mealybug of the family Pseudococcidae and that it could be Coccidohystrix insolita (Green) , commonly known as the Brinjal Mealybug in India, where infestations are often severe. The plant is known elsewhere as egg plant or aubergine. C. insolita is distributed throughout much of tropical Asia and is now common in Africa and parts of the Paci®c region. It is a polyphagous insect and Anderson may have had little di culty in establishing colonies on cactus.

Although the name Coccus koleos was validly established, it seems best to refrain from speculating on the correct identity of the species. It cannot be placed decisively on the basis of present evidence and the name Coccus koleos should continue to be used.