© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
8:
63-65, 2015
DOI 10.1515/hppj-2015-0009
Technological Educational Institute of Peloponnese,
Department of Agricultural Technology, Antikalamos,
GR-241 00 Kalamata, Messinia, Greece
e-mail:
Balachowsky, 1948).
In February 2013, a population of
D. abi-
eticola
was observed in fir trees,
Abies ce-
phalonica,
on the Taygetus mountain (Pelo-
ponnese, Southern Greece), specifically in
a forest area of North Taygetus (37º18΄Ν,
22º20΄Ε) at an altitude of 760m. The species
(adult females) was identified by Dr Ferenc
Kozár (Plant Protection Institute, Hungari-
an Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hunga-
ry). The slides of these specimens are depos-
ited in the scale collection of the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences.
To obtain data on the scale insect life
cycle, samples of fir tree branches infested
by the scale insect were regularly collect-
ed from February 2013 to January 2014 and
the branches were examined under a ste-
reoscope. According to the observations,
D. abieticola
is an oviparous, bisexual scale
insect, which develops one generation per
year. The scale insect settles on the adaxial
needle surface (Figure 1). It overwinters as
mated adult female from the beginning of
October to the end of April. Egg-laying and
hatching of crawlers occur from early May to
the end of June. Settled first instar nymphs
are present from early June until early Sep-
tember. Second instar nymphs occur from
the first days of August until late September,
the male nymphs in September and the first
adult females at the beginning of October.
SHORT COMMUNICATION
The scale insect
Dynaspidiotus abieticola
(Koroneos)
(Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on the Taygetus mountain in Greece
G.J. Stathas
Summary
In this study, the presence of the scale insect
Dynaspidiotus abieticola
(Koroneos) (Hemiptera:
Diaspididae) has been recorded in fir trees,
Abies cephalonica
Loudon (Pinaceae)
,
on the Taygetusmoun-
tain (Peloponnese, South Greece). The biology of the scale insect was observed during a twelve month
period, from February 2013 to January 2014. It was determined that the insect completed one gen-
eration. It overwintered as a reproductive adult female. The first ovipositions and hatching of crawl-
ers were observed in early May, 2
nd
instar nymphs appeared at the beginning of August, male nymphs
were seen in September and finally the first adult females at the beginning of October.
The species of the genus
Dynaspidiotus
Thi-
em & Gerneck (Hemiptera: Diaspididae),
which have been recorded in Greece to-
date, are namely
D. abieticola
(Koroneos)
(Koroneos, 1934),
D. abietis
(Schrank) (Ko-
roneos, 1934; Stathas, 2007),
D. britannicus
(Newstead) (Koroneos, 1934; Pellizzari
et al.,
2011)
, D. ephedrarum
(Lindinger) (Koroneos,
1934)
and
D. greeni
(Balachowsky) (Kozár
et
al.,
1991)
.
The presence of
D. abieticola
was first
recorded as
Aspidiotus abieticola
in Greece
by Koroneos (1934) on
Abies cephalonica,
in
the Ano Lekhonia area and in the surround-
ing region of mount Pelion (Thessaly). Since
then, no further records concerning the
presence of
D. abieticola
in Greece, data on
its biology or ecology, have been reported.
According to ScaleNet (Ben-Dov
et al.
,
2015),
D. abieticola
is a Paleartctic species. It
has been recorded in Greece, Iran, Lebanon
and Turkey on
Abies cephalonica
and
Cedrus
libanotica
subsp.
libani
(A. Rich.) Holmboe
(Ben-Dov
et al.
, 2015).
Information concern-
ing
D. abieticola
is very scarce and mainly re-
fers to the morphological characters of the
adult female scale insect (Koroneos, 1934;
