Lindingaspis rossi

(Maskell, 1891)

Diagnosis
In life, scale cover of adult female 2.0-2.5 mm diameter, circular, flat, usually dark brown to black LINROL3.jpg ; old specimens may fade to grey; subcentral or central exuviae dark brown to black, sometimes with paler concentric rings; a central nipple of white wax sometimes present LINROL2.jpg . A thick ventral scale is formed. Male scale cover elongate oval, similar in colour to female scale cover but with subterminal exuviae LINROL.jpg . Body of adult female colourless to pinkish (Gill, 1997).

Body of slide-mounted adult female pyriform, membranous, with front of head not protruberant LINROS.jpg . Pygidium broad, subtended by an angle greater than 90°, with very long macroducts and four pairs of lobes, the fourth lobes being small and pointed; perivulvar pores and fringed plates present; paraphyses present, extending in a comb-like row along margin lateral to fourth lobe on each side LINROP.jpg .

Host range
Lindingaspis rossi is a highly polyphagous species that has been recorded from hosts belonging to 62 plant families (Borchsenius, 1966) but its host range may well be wider. It is common on conifers (Zahradník, 1990). Hosts include species of: Abelia, Abies, Abutilon, Acacia, Acer, Acronychia, Alstonia, Anacardium, Araucaria, Artemisia, Asparagus, Asystasia, Aucuba, Avicennia, Banksia, Barringtonia, Bauhinia, Berberis, Bignonia, Buckinghamia, Buxus, Callistemon, Calophyllum, Camellia, Capparis, Carissa, Castanea, Castanospermum, Catalpa, Cedrus, Celastrus, Ceratonia, Chaetachme, Choisya, Citrus, Cleistanthus, Coccoloba, Cocos, Cordyline, Cotoneaster, Crataegus, Croton, Cryptomeria, Cupaniopsis, Cupressus, Dendrobium, Dianthus, Diervilla, Diospyros, Diploglottis, Dodonaea, Dovyalis, Duranta, Ekebergia, Elaeagnus, Elaeodendron, Encephalartos, Eremocitrus, Eucalyptus, Eugenia, Euonymus, Euphorbia, Ficus, Forsythia, Fraxinus, Fuchsia, Gardenia, Genista, Grevillea, Hakea, Hedera, Hibiscus, Howea, Hydrangea, Hyssopus, Ilex, Ionopsis, Iris, Ixia, Jasminum, Kalanchoe, Kandelia, Khaya, Laurus, Lawsonia, Leptospermum, Libocedrus, Ligustrum, Lomandra, Lonicera, Loranthus, Macadamia tetraphylla, Mallotus, Mangifera indica, Melaleuca, Musa, Myrtus, Nerium, Olea europaea, Oncidium, Osyris, Owenia, Paeonia, Pandanus, Pavetta, Persea, Phalaenopsis, Phormium, Pinus, Podocarpus, Populus, Protea, Punica, Pyracantha, Pyrus, Quercus, Rhododendron, Rhus, Ricinocarpos, Rosa, Salix, Schefflera, Schinus, Schotia, Scolopia, Sequoia sempervirens, Stenocarpus, Sterculia, Strelitzia, Strychnos, Styphelia, Syringa, Thevetia, Thuja, Trachycarpus, Tristania, Vanda, Veronica, Viburnum, Vitis vinifera, Wisteria, Xanthorrhoea, Yucca and Ziziphus.

Affected plant stages: vegetative growing, flowering and fruiting stages

Affected plant parts: on leaves LINROL4.jpg and sometimes on twigs LINROL1.jpg

Biology and ecology
In New Zealand there is one generation per year on Monterey pine, but there are up to three per year in Egypt (Gill, 1997). 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
In California, L. rossi causes serious chlorosis and general debilitation of species of Araucaria and redwoods (Gill, 1997).

Economic impact
In California, L. rossi is a serious pest of Araucaria species and redwoods (Gill, 1997). Charles and Henderson, submitted, record it as a pest on economically important plants in New Zealand, and that it occurs on native plants there also. Zahradník, 1990, described L. rossi as a noxious species.

Detection and inspection methods
Examine leaves of Araucaria, redwood and the other hosts listed above, for circular, flat, usually dark brown to black scale covers (although old specimens may fade to grey), each cover with subcentral or central exuviae dark brown to black, sometimes with paler concentric rings.

Phytosanitary protection
Lindingaspis rossi is mentioned on quarantine lists (Burger and Ulenberg, 1990).

Natural enemies

Parasitoids:
- Aphytis chrysomphali
- Encarsia citrina

Distribution
See Lindingaspis rossi distribution.



Microscopic examination of slide-mounted adult females is required for authoritative identification to species. Keys to species of Lindingaspis are given by McKenzie, 1950, and Williams, 1963.

Lindingaspis ferrisi McKenzie could be misidentified as L. rossi, but differs in having a row of dorsal macroducts extending forward from the marginal seta marking the IVth abdominal segment on each side. In contrast, L. rossi lacks this row of macroducts on each side of the pygidium LINROP.jpg. Lindingaspis ferrisi is known from China (Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan), Taiwan, Egypt, India (Assam) and Pakistan on the upper surfaces of leaves and on stems of species of Calophyllum, Camellia, Ceratonia, Citrus, Dimocarpus, Dovyalis, Eucalyptus, Eugenia, Ficus, Hyphaene, Laurus, Litchi, Mangifera, Nerium, Olea, Sterculia and Tristania (Tao, 1999; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Takagi, 1969; McKenzie, 1950; The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK). Heavy infestations can kill young tea plants (Das, 1960).

Lindingaspis musae (Laing) could be misidentified as L. rossi, but differs in having fewer than 3 plates in the space between the second and third lobes on each side of the pygidium; L. rossi has 3 plates in this position LINROP.jpg. Lindingaspis musae is known from Tanzania and Sierra Leone on species of Musa and Elaeis (McKenzie, 1950; The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK). This species is a pest of bananas in Tanzania (Chua and Wood, 1990).

Lindingaspis piceus (Malenotti) could be misidentified as L. rossi, but differs in having fewer than 3 plates in the space between the second and third lobes on each side of the pygidium; L. rossi has 3 plates in this position LINROP.jpg. Lindingaspis piceus is known from Somalia, Kenya and Uganda on hosts in four plant families including species of Cassine, Citrus, Camellia sinensis and Hydnocarpus (Borchsenius, 1966; McKenzie, 1950; The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK).

Lindingaspis musae differs from L. piceus in having a median paraphysis present in the space between the second and third lobes; this paraphysis is absent from the pygidium of L. piceus (McKenzie, 1950).



Comments
Lindingaspis rossi is native to Australia (CSIRO, 2001) but has been reported from many tropical countries and some temperate areas (Williams and Watson, 1988). In spite of the record published by Nakahara, 1982, there are no recent records of L. rossi in the United Kingdom, and it is not regarded as established there (C.P. Malumphy, Central Science Laboratory, UK, pers. comm.).

Europe
France: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998; Foldi, 2001)
Italy
Sicily: present, no further details (Longo et al., 1995)
Monaco: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Portugal: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Madeira: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Spain: restricted distribution (Málaga) (Amparo Blay Golcoechea, 1993)
United Kingdom
England: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Nakahara, 1982)

Asia
China: present, no further details (Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Fujian: present, no further details (Tao, 1999)
India: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Karnataka: The Natural History Museum collection, London, UK
Tamil Nadu: present, no further details (Govindarajan et al., 1977)
Japan: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Danzig and Pellizzari, 1998)
Maldive Is: present, no further details (Watson et al., 1995)
Philippines: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Sri Lanka: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Taiwan: present, no further details (Wong et al., 1999)

Africa
Egypt: present, no further details (Swailem et al., 1980)
Guinea: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Mauritius: present, no further details (Williams and Williams, 1988)
Mozambique: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Réunion: present, no further details (Williams and Williams, 1988)
South Africa: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Tanzania: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Togo: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Zimbabwe: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)

Western Hemisphere
Argentina: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Buenos Aires: present, no further details (Claps et al., 2001a)
Tucumán: present, no further details (Claps et al., 2001a)
Brazil: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Sao Paulo: present, no further details (Silva et al., 1968; Claps et al., 2001a)
Chile: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
Santiago: present, no further details (Claps et al., 2001a)
Mexico: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Miller, 1996)
Peru: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982)
USA
California: the southern coast (Gill, 1997)
Hawaii: present on Oahu, Hawaii, Maui and Kauai (Heu, 2002)
New York: under glass (Nakahara, 1982)

Oceania
Australia
New South Wales: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
Queensland: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
South Australia: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
Tasmania: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
Victoria: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
Western Australia: present, no further details (CSIRO, 2001)
New Caledonia: present(Williams and Watson, 1988)
New Zealand: present, no further details (Nakahara, 1982; Charles and Henderson, submitted)
Norfolk I.: present, no further details (Williams and Watson, 1988)

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