© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Papadopoulou
24
The overall body shape of female adults
of
C. hesperidum
is symmetrically oval,
dome-like, and 1/8 to 1/6 inch long. They
are pale yellowish brown to greenish and
flecked with irregular brown spots. Over-
all colour darkens as the insect ages (17).
Adult females are ovoviviparous, produc-
ing nymphs that hatch from eggs with-
in several hours after these are laid (1). Five
to 19 eggs are laid per day over a series of
30-65 days by the adult female and each
female lays 80-250 eggs in her life time (4).
The young nymphs, born within the adult
female, remain in her brood chamber for a
few hours before starting to disperse (dis-
persive crawlers). The crawlers search un-
til they find a suitable spot to feed from the
plant and then settle. There are three nym-
para o estudo do
Coccus hesperidum
L. II. Subsi-
dios para o estudo da sua biologia e ecologia.
Broteri,
50: 53-93; 51: 38-51; 51: 161-173; 52: 19-
35.
Chiang, L.C., Ng, L.T., Cheng, P.W., Chiang, W.
5.
and Lin, C.C. 2005. Antiviral activities of extracts
and selected pure constituents of
Ocimum ba-
silicum
.
Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology
and Physiology
, 32: 811–816.
Copland, M.J.W. and Ibrahim, A.G. 1985. Biolo-
6.
gy of Glasshouse Scale Insects and Their Para-
sitoids. pp 87-90. In:
Biological Pest Control The
Glasshouse Experience.
Eds. N. W. Hussey and N.
Scopes. Cornell University Press; Ithaca, New
York.
de Almeida, I., Alviano, D.S. and Vieira, D.P. 2007.
7.
Antigiardial activity of
Ocimum basilicum
essen-
tial oil.
Parasitology Research,
101: 443–452.
phal instars, before the scale reaches adult-
hood. The second and third nymphal instars
are distinguished by the size of the scale.
The development time is about two months
at cool temperatures (1).
Coccus hesperidum
, like other soft scales,
feeds from the phloem of the host plant
and on sweet basil it was found mainly on
the stems (Figure 1) and also the leaves (Fig-
ure 2) in 20% of the infested organic culture.
The population densit
y
of
C. hesperidum
on
O. basilicum
peaked in summer, particularly
from June to September.
In general, heavy infestations by the
brown soft scale cause development of
sooty mould on host-plant surfaces, some-
times resulting in defoliation.
Literature cited
Annecke, D.P. 1959. The Effect of Parathion and
1.
Ants on
Coccushesperidum
L. (Coccidae: Homop-
tera) and its Natural Enemies.
Journal of the En-
tomological Society of South Africa
, 22: 245-274.
Argyriou, L.C. 1983. Faunal analysis of some
2.
scale insects in Greece.
Proceedings of the 10th
International Symposium of Central European En-
tomofaunistics
, Budapest, 15-20 August 1983
364-367.
Bozin, B., Mimica-Dukic, N., Simin, N. and Anack-
3.
ov, G. 2006. Characterization of the volatile
composition of essential oils of some lamiace-
ae spices and the antimicrobial and antioxidant
activities of the entire oils.
Journal of Agricultur-
al and Food Chemistry
, 54: 1822–1828.
Cancela da Fonseca, J. 1954-1956. Contribuicao
4.
Figure 2.
Coccus hesperidum
feeding on leaf of
Ocimum ba-
silicum
.
Figure 1.
Coccus hesperidum
feeding on stem of
Ocimum ba-
silicum.
1...,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24 26,27,28,29,30,31