Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
BugGuide Gathering
Pack Forest
Washington State
July 10-12, 2009
Details...

Photos from the 2009 gathering
 
Photos from the 2008 gathering in Tennessee
 
Photos from the 2007 gathering in Minnesota

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » Plant-parasitic Hemipterans (Sternorrhyncha) » Scales and Mealybugs (Coccoidea) » Giant Scale Insects (Margarodidae) » Icerya
Photo#265880
If this is a scale insect, it is enormous - Icerya
Copyright © 2009 margarethe brummermann

If this is a scale insect, it is enormous - Icerya
Saguaro National Park West, Pima County, Arizona, USA
April 13, 2009
Size: 9mm
On acacia. It has legs, but is attached to the branch with its underside.

Images of this individual: tag all
If this is a scale insect, it is enormous - Icerya If this is a scale insect, it is enormous - Icerya If this is a scale insect, it is enormous - Icerya
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by margarethe brummermann on 13 April, 2009 - 10:01pm
Last updated 14 April, 2009 - 7:58pm

Placement
These images are currently placed at genus level (Icerya). There appear to be only two North American species in this genus--the cottony cushion scale (I. purchasi), which I don't think it is, and I. rileyi, which is pictured here. Of course, there could well be other species in southern Arizona that aren't listed in Nomina Nearctica. It seems to me these would be better placed at family level, though, if the insect has not been conclusively identified as one of these two species.
… Charley Eiseman, 15 April, 2009 - 8:58pm login or register to post comments

 
Actually, the insect in the photo you link to
looks very much like mine - the white stuff is being produced and pushed out and the animal that does it is black and white. The hostplant Psorothamnus is a leguminose closely related to the acacia that I found mine on. So it could well be I. rileyi. I'll try to find out more, maybe at the UoA
… margarethe brummermann, 15 April, 2009 - 10:26pm login or register to post comments

Yes, female scale.
She is constructing an egg case, it would appear, behind her. Something on the order of the "cottony cushion scale," family Margarodidae. Neat find.
… Eric R. Eaton, 14 April, 2009 - 7:09pm login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2009 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by Iowa State University Entomology.

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Site Map
Contact