Page 8 - Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2010
Basic HTML Version
© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Scale insects infesting fir (
Abies
spp.) and
spruce (
Picea
spp.) trees have previously
been reported in Greece and have been stud-
ied mainly due to their excreting honeydews
on which bees feed (5,6). These species are
Physokermes hemicryphus
(Dalman),
P. piceae
(Schrank) and
Eulecanium sericeum
(Linding-
er), found on
Abies cephalonica
Loud. and
A.
borisii-regis
Mattf. (Pinaceae). Moreover, the
coccid
Nemolecaniumgraniformis
(Wünn) was
recorded on
A. cephalonica
in Athens (7) and
the diaspidid
Dynaspidiotus abietis
(Schrank)
on the same host plant
on Taygetos moun-
tain (Peloponnese, Southern Greece) (8).
The scale insect
P. inopinatus
Danzig &
Kozár (Hemiptera: Coccidae) (Hungarian
spruce scale) was found by the first author
to infest
A. cephalonica
growing
in a forest
area of Taygetos mountain, north-east of the
Dyrachi County (37º12΄18΄΄ Ν, 22º13΄31΄΄Ε) in
an altitude of 1080 m a.s.l., during the peri-
od June 2004-July 2008. Identification of the
scale species was made by the second au-
1
Highest Technological Educational Institute of Kala-
mata, School of Agricultural Technology, Department
of Crop Production, Laboratory of Agricultural Ento-
mology and Zoology, Antikalamos Messinias, GR-24
100 Kalamata, Greece
2
Plant Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sci-
ences, Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 102, Buda-
pest. J-1525 Hungary
Corresponding author:
Hellenic Plant Protection Journal
3:
7-8, 2010
SHORT COMMUNICATION
First record of
Physokermes inopinatus
Danzig & Kozár 1973
(Hemiptera: Coccidae) in Greece
G.J. Stathas
1
and F. Kozár
2
Summary
The scale insect
Physokermes inopinatus
Danzig & Kozár (Hemiptera: Coccidae) (Hungarian
spruce scale), collected from
Abies cephalonica
(a new host plant for this species) on Taygetos moun-
tain (Peloponnese, Southern Greece), is reported for the first time in Greece. Some data on its phenol-
ogy are also provided.
Additional keywords
:
Abies cephalonica,
Hungarian spruce scale, soft scales
thor. Female adults and crawlers of the scale
were deposited in the collection of the Plant
Protection Institute, Hungarian Academy of
Sciences, Budapest.
P. inopinatus
has so far been recorded
only in Hungary, Austria and Ukraine, where
it infests
Picea abies
(L.) Karst.,
P. glauca
(Mo-
ench) Voss and
P. pungens
(Engelm) (1, 2, 4).
On the above host plants, the scale is often
present in high populations causing exten-
sive damage.
P. inopinatus
completes one
generation per year (2). Post-reproductive
female is kidney-shaped with a dorsal cari-
na, shiny-brown in color and 5-8 mm in di-
ameter. Detailed description of the female
is presented by Kosztarab and Kozár (2). In
Hungary, the parasitoids
Aphycoides clavel-
latus
(Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae),
Microterys
sp. (Thomson) (Hymenoptera:
Encyrtidae),
Coccophagus lycimnia
(Walk-
er) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae),
C. scutel-
laris
(Dalman) (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae)
and the predators
Anthribus nebulosus
(For-
ster) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae),
Chilocorus
bipustulatus
L. (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae),
Scymnus
sp. (Kugelann.) (Coleoptera: Coc-
cinellidae) and
Forficula auricularia
L. (Der-
maptera: Forficulidae) are reported as natu-
ral enemies of
P. inopinatus
(3).
Observations of
P. inopinatus
phenology
on the infested trees (on Taygetos mountain)
