Sooty-mold-vector
Guides
Crypticerya
fluted scales, channeled mealybugs
Crypticerya is a genus of giant scale insects in the family Monophlebidae, comprising 28 described species as of 2024. All species are native to the Americas. The genus was established by Cockerell in 1895 as a subgenus of Icerya, elevated to genus rank in 1899, synonymized in 1926, and revived in 2008. Species in this genus are commonly known as "fluted scales" or "channeled mealybugs" due to the longitudinal grooves or channels present on the ovisacs of species that produce them. Many species are significant agricultural and urban pests.
Icerya purchasi
cottony cushion scale, fluted scale, cochinilla australiana
Icerya purchasi is a scale insect native to Australia that has become a globally distributed pest of citrus and ornamental plants. The species is notable for its distinctive reproductive system: most individuals are hermaphrodites capable of self-fertilization, with rare males enabling occasional outbreeding. Adult females are sessile and produce large white fluted egg sacs that can exceed twice the body length. The species achieved historical significance as the target of one of the first successful biological control programs, using the vedalia beetle (Novius cardinalis) in California in 1888–1889.