Settling Success of Ceroplastes grandis (Hemiptera: Coccidae) Crawlers on Duranta erecta var. lemon (Verbenaceae)

Ceroplastes grandis Hempel (Hemiptera: Coccidae) is a polyphagous wax scaleinsect. Females form unsightly clusters in heavy infestations, especially on ornamentalplants and urban trees (Granara de Willink & Claps 2003). Excessive removalof plant sap causes wilting of plants. Research on C. grandis has focusedon taxonomy (Granara de Willink 1999, Peronti et al. 2008, Rosa et al. 2016), andsome aspects of biology, damage and management (Vaccaro & Mousqués 1996,Granara de Willink & Claps 2003, Rosa et al. 2016, Correa Franco 2018).Duranta erecta var. lemon L. (Verbenaceae) is a shrub native from southernUnited States to Argentina (Sanders 1984), and widely used as an ornamentalplant in parks and gardens (Parodi & Dimitri 2004). Decuyper et al. (2020) reportedthe detection of C. grandis on D. erecta plants in Argentina, and the reductionin the plants? ornamental value. Since insecticide application is most effectiveagainst the crawlers and second instars, which are not protected by waxcover (Smith et al. 1971, Camacho et al. 2017), knowledge of the settling behaviorof crawlers on this shrub is important to developing effective management practicesthat reduce C. grandis populations and damage. The aim of this study was todetermine how successfully C. grandis crawlers could settle on D. erecta var. lemonplants. The settling behavior of this wax scale on D. erecta has not been addressed.