Genus Unaspis

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References

My Euonymus bushes get covered with these every summer. - Unaspis euonymi - male - female

Citrus Snow Scale - Unaspis citri - Unaspis citri - female

Scales on Euonymus Americana - Unaspis euonymi - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Sternorrhyncha (Plant-parasitic Hemipterans)

Superfamily Coccoidea (Scales and Mealybugs)

Family Diaspididae (Armored Scale Insects)

Genus Unaspis

Explanation of Names

Author of genus: MacGillivray, 1921

Numbers

2 species in North America listed at nearctica.com

Size

adult female 1.5-3 mm

adult male about 1 mm

Identification

Adult Female: covering brownish-gray, shaped like an oyster shell, broadly rounded posteriorly, tapering to a point anteriorly, with oval prosomal plate; body (only visible with covering removed) yellow, sac-like, pear-shaped, with 5 abdominal segments but no appendages or eyes

Adult Male: covering white, oblong or elongate, with middorsal and two lateral ridges; head yellowish-brown; body (only visible with covering removed) pale orange with wings

Nymph (Crawler): pale yellow to orange with no covering

Range

many areas of the world

in North America, mainly eastern United States and southeastern Canada, but liable to occur anywhere via shipments of cultivated and ornamental plants

Habitat

on leaves and stems of hostplant

Food

nymphs and adults feed on the sap of leaves - mainly Citrus species in U. citri, and Euonymus species in U. euonymi

Life Cycle

overwinters as a fertilized female; one generation per year in the north, to three or four in the south

Internet References

live adult image of male and female U. euonymi on host plant (U. of California at Davis)

drawings and overview of U. euonymi (North Carolina State U.)

drawings of adult female and male U. citri (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Australia)

diagnosis of genus; PDF doc with detailed description of microscopic anatomy (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization)

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 29 January, 2007 - 12:53am
Additional contributions by ceiseman
Last updated 22 February, 2010 - 8:07pm

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