(Kuwana, 1902)
Diagnosis
Scale cover of adult female elongate, slender mussel-shaped, slightly convex, more or less pale brown, sometimes with a paler margin; with brown terminal exuviae LETOKL1.jpg . Scale cover of male similar to that of female but smaller and narrower, with terminal exuviae LETOKL.jpg .
Body of slide-mounted adult female elongate, more than 1.8x as long as wide; head with lateral tubercles, becoming lightly sclerotized with maturity; eye not developed into a spur; marginal spurs not obviously present on the prepygidial segments; sclerotized dorsal bosses absent LETOKS.jpg . Pygidium with median lobes with a pair of gland spines between them, not yoked, and without club-shaped basal scleroses; perivulvar pores present; with six marginal macroducts on each side LETOKP.jpg .
Host range
Lepidosaphes tokionis has been recorded from hosts belonging to three plant families: Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae and Rutaceae (Borchsenius, 1966; Williams and Watson, 1988). Codiaeum and Anthurium are favoured hosts. Hosts include species of: Anthurium, Capsicum, Citrus spp., Codiaeum, Croton and Gossypium.
Affected plant stages: vegetative growing, flowering and fruiting stages
Affected plant parts: on leaves LETOKL1.jpg
Biology and ecology
The biology and ecology of L. tokionis have not been studied. Crawlers are the primary dispersal stage and move to new areas of the plant or are dispersed by wind or animal contact. Mortality due to abiotic factors is high in this stage. Dispersal of sessile adults and eggs occurs through human transport of infested plant material.
Symptoms
Heavy infestations can cause drying of plant tissues.
Economic impact
In Fiji, Swaine, 1971, stated that occasional heavy infestations of L. tokionis damaged Codiaeum by drying the tissues.
Detection and inspection methods
Examine leaves of Codiaeum and the other hosts listed above, for elongate, slender mussel-shaped, slightly convex, more or less pale brown scale covers, sometimes with a paler margin; each with brown terminal exuviae LETOKL1.jpg .
Natural enemies:
The natural enemies of L. tokionis have not been studied.
Distribution
See Lepidosaphes tokionis distribution.
Microscopic examination of slide-mounted adult females is required for authoritative identification to species.
Comments
Lepidosaphes tokionis is a tropical species, probably of Old World origin. It is found now throughout the tropics and in some temperate areas (Williams and Watson, 1988). In northern countries it occurs under glass (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998). Gill, 1997, said it used to occur in California but has been eradicated. The species has not been recorded from Europe.
Asia
China
Hong Kong: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
India: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Karnataka: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Kerala: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Madras: present, no further details (Rao and Kumar, 1952)
West Bengal: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Indonesia: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Java: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Sulawesi: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Japan: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970; Kawai, 1980)
Honshu: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Malaysia
West Malaysia: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Myanmar: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Pakistan: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Philippines: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Singapore: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Sri Lanka: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Taiwan: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970; Tao, 1999)
Thailand: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Africa
Madagascar: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970; Nakahara, 1982)
Mauritius: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Nigeria: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Réunion: present, no further details (Williams and Williams, 1988)
Seychelles: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Tanzania
Zanzibar: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Western Hemisphere
Antigua: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Bahamas: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Barbados: present, no further details (Bennett and Alam, 1985)
?Bermuda: no recent records (Nakahara, 1982; Hodgson and Hilburn, 1991)
Brazil: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Colombia: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Costa Rica: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Cuba: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Dominica: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Dominican Republic: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Ecuador: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Guatemala: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Guyana: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Jamaica: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Mexico: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Miller, 1996)
Panama: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Puerto Rico: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
St Lucia: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Trinidad: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
USA
Hawaii: present on Oahu, Hawaii, Maui and Molokai (Heu, 2002)
Massachusetts: under glass (Nakahara, 1982)
Mississippi: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Hawaii: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1981)
Venezuela: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Virgin Is: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Oceania
Australia: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Northern Territory: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Bonin Is: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Fiji: present (Williams and Watson, 1988)
Mariana Is: present on Guam (Nakahara, 1982)
Marquesas Is: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Beardsley, 1966)
Micronesia: present, no further details (Takagi, 1970)
Papua New Guinea: present (Williams and Watson, 1988)
Palau Is: present (Nakahara, 1982; Beardsley, 1966)
Saipan: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Tahiti: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Tonga: present (Williams and Watson, 1988)
Truk Is: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Western Samoa: present (Williams and Watson, 1988)
Yap Is: present (Beardsley, 1966)