© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
10:
80-83, 2017
DOI 10.1515/hppj-2017-0009
Laboratory of Biological Control, Benaki Phytopatho-
logical Institute, 8 St. Delta Str., GR-145 61, Kifisia, Atti-
ca, Greece.
* Corresponding author:
SHORT COMMUNICATION
The pink hibiscus mealybug
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
(Green)
(Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Greece
P.G. Milonas* and G.K. Partsinevelos
Summary
The invasive pink hibiscus mealybug,
Maconellicoccus hirsutus
(Green) (Hemiptera: Pseudo-
coccidae), is reported for first time in Greece. Individuals of the mealybug were found infesting
Hibiscus
rosa-sinensis
(Linnaeus) (Malvaceae) in private and public gardens in the urban environment in Rhodes,
Dodecanese islands, East Greece. This is the first report of genus
Maconellicoccus
in Greece.
Additional Keywords
: hibiscus, invasive species, mealybug
Introduction
The genus
Maconellicoccus
Ezzat (Hemipte-
ra: Pseudococcidae) includes eight species
that are distributed in Australian, Oriental
and Ethiopian regions but only
Maconellicoc-
cus hirsutus
has been reported in Palaearctic
region (García Morales
et al
., 2016).
Maconel-
licoccus hirsutus
Green, known as pink hi-
biscus mealybug, is a highly polyphagous
species native to southern Asia, that feeds
on 212 genera in 75 host plant families, in-
cluding important crops such as bean (
Pha-
seolus vulgaris
), chrysanthemum (
Chrysan-
themum
spp.), hibiscus (
Hibiscus
spp.), rose
(
Rosa
spp.), pumpkin (
Cucurbita pepo
), avo-
cado (
Persea americana
), citrus (
Citrus
spp.),
coconut (
Cocos nucifera
), coffee (
Coffea
spp.),
cotton (
Gossypium
spp.), corn (
Zea mays
),
vegetables, grape (
Vitis vinifera
) and pea-
nuts (
Arachis hypogaea
) (Chong
et al
., 2015;
García Morales
et al
., 2016). For a complete
list of
M. hirsutus
host plants see Chong
et
al
. (2015).
Pink hibiscus mealybug is considered a
highly invasive species. Although it is be-
lieved to originate from India, it has been
accidentally introduced into other parts of
the world, i.e. North America, the Caribbean
and Africa. Overall
M. hirsutus
distribution
includes 75 countries in all over the world
(EPPO, 2005). In Europe, it was reported
for first time in Cyprus in 2011 (EPPO, 2011).
Upon its introduction into several countries,
it has caused substantial economic damag-
es through the cost of control operations
and impact on trade. In the US, it has been
estimated that without control, it may cause
a damage of 163 million dollars only in Flori-
da (Chong
et al
., 2015).
Adult females are 2.5-4 mm long, wing-
less, soft-bodied, elongate oval and flat-
tened. Females can lay more than 500 eggs.
Eggs are orange initially but turn into pink
before hatching. Crawlers are 0.3 mm long,
pink, oval in shape with well-defined legs
and antennae, and lack the waxy body
coating; young adult females turn greyish-
pink, dusted with mealy white wax that cov-
ers their bodies; adult males are gnat-like 1
mm long, pink to orange, with a single pair
of wings and two pairs of filaments. They
are weak flyers, lack mouthparts and live
only one day or two. Entire colony is cov-
ered by white, waxy ovisac material (Chong
et al
., 2015; García Morales
et al
., 2016). One
generation is completed in approximate-
ly five weeks in warm conditions. In Jordan,
nymphs have three peaks and adult females
two peaks, in early February and mid-Ju-
ly, respectively (Al-Fwaeer
et al
., 2014). Here
