Icerya aegyptiaca

Icerya aegyptiaca (Douglas) (Fig. 81, Plate 5 A-1 and A-2, distribution map Fig. 90K) Crossotosoma aegyptiacum Douglas, 1890a: 79. Icerya aegyptiacum (Douglas); Riley & Howard 1890: 256. Icerya aegyptiaca (Douglas); Maskell 1893: 247. Field characteristics: Live adult female orange-red, antennae and legs black, covered in sculpted white wax; margin with a fringe of elongate wax processes, these processes broader and shorter on head and thorax, those on abdomen narrower and more elongate, covering ovisac, giving it a fluted appearance. Microscopic diagnosis (based on Unruh & Gullan 2008b): Slide-mounted adult female oval, covered in hair-like and flagellate setae that take up red stain. Antennae each with 10 or 11 segments. Derm near atrial opening of thoracic spiracles with simple multilocular disc-pores, each with bilocular center and 6–8 outer loculi (not shown in Fig. 80). Abdominal spiracles numbering 3 pairs. Cicatrice single, conspicuous, situated posterior to vulva. Anal opening surrounded by a group of long setae and oval pores, each with a bilocular center and 8–12 outer loculi. Vulva surrounded by multilocular disc-pores, each with 13–24 outer loculi; these pores forming medial to submedial band across 1 or 2 abdominal segments anterior to vulvar opening (abdominal segment VI and sometimes V). Ovisac band of simple multilocular disc-pores, 2–4 pores wide, each pore with bilocular / trilocular (sometimes quadrilocular) center and 6–8 outer loculi. Simple multilocular disc-pores, similar to pores in ovisac band, each with a bilocular or trilocular center and 6–8 outer loculi, forming marginal clusters and covering derm on dorsal surface around other dorsal pores. Open center pores absent. Distribution: Icerya aegyptiaca is quite cosmopolitan, being known from 29 countries in the Afrotropical, Oriental and Palaearctic regions (García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it has been recorded from Sistan & Balouchestan province (Moghaddam et al. 2015). Host-plants: The species is highly polyphagous, having been recorded on host-plants belonging to 65 families (García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been found on Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) (Moghaddam et al. 2015). Economic importance: Currently, the damage caused by I. aegyptiaca in Iran is limited and no other infested localities have been reported so far. Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.