Lepidosaphes beckii ( Newman, 1869 )

Lepidosaphes beckii ( Newman, 1869) View in CoL ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 )

Purple scale

Hosts in FSCA. Anacardiaceae : Mangifera indica L. (1); Aquifoliaceae : Ilex cornuta Lindl. & Paxton (31), Ilex crenata Thunb. (1)*, Ilex sp. (10); Cycadaceae : “sago palm” (1); Elaeagnaceae : Elaeagnus pungens Thunb. (9)*, Elaeagnus sp. (2); Lamiaceae : Callicarpa americana L. (1)*, Clerodendrum quadriloculare (Blanco) Merr. (1)*; Meliaceae : Swietenia sp. (1)*; Passifloraceae : Passiflora suberosa L. (1)*; Phyllanthaceae : Bischofia javanica Blume (1)*; Rutaceae : Citrus × aurantifolia (Christm.) Swingle (3), Citrus × aurantium L. (38), Citrus × limon (L.) Osbeck (7), Citrus medica L. (1), Citrus reticulata Blanco (7), Citrus sp. (61), Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack (7), Murraya sp. (1); Santalaceae : Phoradendron leucarpum (Raf.) Reveal & M.C.Johnst. (1)*; Solanaceae : Solanum nigrum L. (1)*; Theaceae : Camellia sasanqua Thunb. (1)*.

Notes. Lepidosaphes beckii is the most frequently encountered Lepidosaphes species in Florida. This species is highly polyphagous but most common on citrus. It may be confused with glover scale, Lepidosaphes gloverii , on citrus in the field. However, mature adult female L. gloverii are more elongate than L. beckii . Slide-mounted specimens differ (character states of L. gloverii are given in parentheses) by having: cicatrices (or bosses) on the dorsum (cicatrices absent) and the thorax unsclerotized in mature specimens (distinctly sclerotized thorax in mature specimens). On Ilex , L. beckii may be mistaken for L. camelliae . Again, the presence of dorsal cicatrices can differentiate L. beckii from L. camelliae , which does not have them. For a comparison of L. beckii with L. chinensis see the “Notes” section of the latter.