Colvée, 1882
Diagnosis
Scale cover of adult female in life 1.4-2.2 mm long, pyriform, snow white, with only one terminal exuviae LEULOL.jpg . Scale cover of second instar female brown. Scale cover of male 1.2-1.8 mm long, brown with terminal exuviae LEULOL.jpg . Exposed body of adult female in life elongate oval, greyish-violet, enclosed within the exuviae of the second instar (Zahradník, 1990).
Body of slide-mounted adult female pupillarial, more than twice as long as wide, membranous, with three pairs of very small lobes; abdominal disc pores only present on pygidium LEULOS.jpg . Pygidium with 5 groups of perivulvar pores present; pygidial ducts narrow and submarginal; anterior spiracles each associated with 3-6 disc pores LEULOP.jpg . Second instar pygidium LEULO2I.jpg .
Host range
Leucaspis loewi has been recorded from hosts belonging to the plant genus Pinus (Zahradník, 1990).
Affected plant stages: vegetative growing, flowering and fruiting stages
Affected plant parts: on the needles
Biology and ecology
There are one or two generations per year, depending on climatic conditions; L. loewi overwinters as second instar and adult females, and occasionally as eggs (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988). Kozár et al., 1994, reported four generations per year in Switzerland. Each female lays about 25 eggs (Zahradník, 1990).
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
Infested needles turn yellow and may drop prematurely (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988; Zahradník, 1990).
Economic impact
Leucaspis loewi can form heavy infestations (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998); Zahradník, 1990, says it is noxious predominantly in parks and gardens. Yanin, 1975, listed it as one of the more injurious species in the Caucasus. In Poland, L. loewi has been recorded as a threat to natural plant communities (Lagowska, in press). Foldi, 2001, lists this species as an occasional pest in France. It is seldom a pest in Central Europe (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988).
Detection and inspection methods
Examine the foliage of pines for premature yellowing, and the presence of white elongate scale covers on the needles.
Natural enemies
The natural enemies listed below are givem by Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988, and CABI, 2000.
Parasitoids:
- Ablerus pinifoliae
- Anthemus funicularis
- Anthemus leucaspidis
- Anthemus pini
- Aphytis aonidiae
- Coccophagoides similis
- Encarsia aurantii
- Encarsia citrina
- Encarsia intermedia
- Encarsia leucaspidis
- Parasauleia trjapitzini
Predators:
- Chilocorus bipustulatus
- Chilocorus renipustulatus
- Exochomus flavipes
- Myrrha octodecimguttata
Distribution
See Leucaspis loewi distribution.
Microscopic examination of slide-mounted adult females is required for authoritative identification to species.
Leucaspis pusilla Löw (small pine scale, cochinilla de los pinos) LEUPUS.jpg could be misidentified in the picture key as L. loewi, but differs in having long, filamentous plates around the pygidial margin LEUPUP.jpg; these are absent from the pygidial margin of L. loewi LEULOP.jpg. Leucaspis pusilla is of Mediterranean origin, and is now known from Austria, Bulgaria, former Czechoslovakia, Cyprus, France (including Corsica), Greece, Hungary, Italy (Sardinia, Sicily), Malta, Portugal (including Madeira), Romania, Spain (mainland, Balearic Is and Canary Is), Switzerland, Turkey, former USSR (Central European territory, Transcaucasus, Middle Asia), former Yugoslavia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Pakistan and Argentina (Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Entre Rios, Santa Fe, Tucumán) on the bases of the needles of Cedrus and Pinus species (including Pinus elliotii and P. radiata, but not on P. pinea), sometimes in high densities. This can be a very noxious species, mainly in parks (Balachowsky, 1953; Gerson et al., 1976; Seghatoleslami, 1977; Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988; Zahradník, 1990; Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993; Kozár et al., 1994; Longo et al., 1995; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Soria et al., 2000; Claps et al., 2001a; Foldi, 2001). Foldi, 2001, lists this species as an economically important pest in France. It causes yellowing of the needles and drying of young twigs (Zahradník, 1990). Scale cover of adult female elongate mussel-shaped, 1.5-2.0 mm long, white. Reproduction is bisexual, with one or two generations annually, depending on climate (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988). Kozár et al., 1994, and Kozár and Hippe, 1996, reported three generations per year in Switzerland. The biology and natural enemies of L. pusilla in Italy are discussed by Viggiani and Iaccarino, 1971, and Raspi and Antonelli, 1989. Second instar pygidium LEUPU2I.jpg
Comments
Leucaspis loewi is native to the western Palaearctic region. It has not been recorded from the Western Hemisphere, Australia, or from the Pacific islands.
Europe
Austria: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Bulgaria: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Denmark: present, no further details (Gertsson, 2001)
Former Czechoslovakia: present, no further details (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Former USSR
Asia Minor: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Caucasus: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Crimea: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Central European Territory: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Southern European Territory: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Transcaucasus: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
West Siberia: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Former Yugoslavia: present, no further details (Kosztarab and Kozár, 1988)
France: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Foldi, 2001)
Germany: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Greece: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Hungary: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Italy: present, no further details (Longo et al., 1995; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Sicily: present, no further details (Longo et al., 1995)
Netherlands: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Norway: present, no further details (Gertsson, 2001)
Poland: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Lagowska, in press)
Portugal: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Madeira: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Romania: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Spain: quite widespread on the mainland (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993; Soria et al., 2000)
Sweden: quite widespread (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Gertsson, 2001)
Switzerland: present, no further details (Kozár et al., 1994; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Asia
Iran: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Israel: present, no further details (Gerson et al., 1976)
Turkey: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Africa
Morocco: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
North Africa: present, no further details (Zahradník, 1990)