New scale insect (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) records from Fiji: three new species, records of several new invasive species and an updated checklist of Coccoidea
Author
Hodgson, Chris J.
Author
Łagowska, Bozena
text
Zootaxa
2011
2766
1
29
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.205749
79982722-90be-4519-a2d7-dbf53cf10cfb
1175-5326
205749
Nipaecoccus nipae
(Maskell)
This species was not included in Williams and Watson’s (1988b) review of the Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific. However, it is a polyphagous species and has become established in many countries. On
Viti
Levu, at least, it is now extremely abundant and was collected frequently on a range of crops but appeared to be a particularly serious problem on palms in Suva. It was also collected off
Annona muricata
,
Artocarpus altilis
,
Epipremnum pinnatum
,
Musa
sp. and
Psidium guajava
.
This species appeared to have the potential to be a serious pest.
As
Fiji
is a hotspot for palms, with 24 native palm species (
Doyle & Fuller, 1998
), of which at least 8 are considered to be either endangered or critically endangered, it is clear that
N. nipae
is potentially very important.