Uhleria araucariae

Uhleria araucariae (Maskell) (Fig. 65) Eriococcus araucariae araucariae Maskell, 1879: 218. Rhizococcus araucariae araucariae (Maskell); Comstock 1881: 339‒ 340. Nidularia araucariae araucariae (Maskell); Lindinger 1933: 108. Acanthococcus araucariae araucariae (Maskell); Tereznikova 1981: 19‒20. Uhleria araucariae araucariae (Maskell); Kozár et al. 2013: 580‒583. Field characteristics: Newly matured, live adult female brownish yellow with 1 pair of sublateral purple stripes on dorsum; mature female purple. Eggs yellow. Ovisac felted, oval, white, covering entire body. Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female oval. Antennae each with 7 (rarely 6) segments. Frontal lobes present. Legs well developed; hind coxa dorsally and ventrally with translucent pores but no spinulae, hind femur with 0‒8 dorsal pores only; hind- and mid-leg tibiae each with 4 setae (median setae absent). Anal lobes large and prominent, heavily sclerotized, dorsum with 3 subequal enlarged setae and 6–10 microtubular ducts, venter with 4 slender body setae and 0‒9 sessile pores. Anal ring bearing 1 or 2 rows of pores and 8 setae. Cauda present, smooth and sclerotized. Dorsum with blunt enlarged setae of 2 sizes; (i) larger size present along entire body margin, each abdominal segment with 2 or 3 enlarged setae on each side; and (ii) much smaller setae restricted to medial and sublateral areas. Macrotubular ducts of 1 size scattered throughout. Microtubular ducts forked, each appearing to have 3 inline loculi, numerous throughout. Venter with abnormally elongate slender hair-like setae; enlarged setae absent. Disc-pores of 2 types: (i) quinquelocular pores present on abdomen except medial areas of segments III and IV, sparsely present on anterior abdominal segments and thorax laterad to coxae, and rare or absent on head; and (ii) trilocular pores exceptionally abundant, almost completely replacing quinquelocular pores on anterior abdominal segments, thorax and head. Cruciform pores small, scattered along body margin. Macrotubular ducts of 2 sizes: (i) larger ducts same as on dorsum, restricted to body margins; and (ii) smaller ducts, each with flattened “cup”, present in medial or sublateral areas of abdominal segments III ‒VII, most numerous on posterior segments. Distribution: Uhleria araucariae originated in Australia, but is now cosmopolitan. The Iranian record in Kozár et al. (1996) gave no locality data, and there are no specimens in the Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum collection. Host-plants: The scale has been recorded on seven host-plant genera belonging to six families: Araucariaceae, Cupressaceae, Cycadaceae, Myrtaceae, Pinaceae and Poaceae (García Morales et al. 2016), although some of these records may be based on misidentifications; its usual hosts are Araucaria spp. (Araucariaceae). In Iran, it was found on Araucaria sp. (Farahbakhsh 1961). Economic importance: Not known as a pest in Iran. Natural enemies: None recorded. Comments: Uhleria araucariae is quite widespread and is almost always found on Araucaria spp.; it has never been recorded on Myrtaceae. In contrast, the other two species of Uhleria are far less widespread and feed on Leptospermum spp. (Myrtaceae).