Biological studies of the cottony camellia scale, Puvinaria floccifera (Hemip-tera:Coccidae) with updating lists of host palnts and natural enemies in Egypt

Abstract

The cottony camellia scale, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood) (Hemiptera : Coccidae) is considered one of the most important pest infesting different crops in Egypt. The aim of this work is to study the survey of host plants and natural enemies of the cottony camellia scale P. floccifera in Egypt as well as the biological studies of the cottony camellia scale P. floccifera on citrus, fig and guava. The obtained results indicated that the list of host plant including 12 species recorded infested the cottony camellia scale, P. floccifera. Seven species recorded here for the first time in Egypt. Also, the updating lists including 14 parasitoid and 17 predator species, four and five species of parasitoids and predators recorded here for the first time in Egypt associated with the cottony camellia scale, P. floccifera, respectively. Temperatures greatly influenced the development of P. floccifera. The lowering of the temperature increased the dimension of the cottony camellia scale and prolonged the developmental period. The results on citrus, fig and guava showed that the life cycle of P. floccifera at 30 o C were 71.5±5.75, 80.7 ±5.00 and 58.7±0.35 days, respectively. These results indicated that the cottony camellia scale, P. floccifera prefers guava, followed by citrus and fig.