Biocontrol Science and Technology (2013) 23, 1373-1386

D.B.J. Taylor and K. Dhileepan (2013)
Life history of Anomalococcus indicus (Hemiptera: Lecanodiaspididae), a potential biological control agent for prickly acacia Vachellia nilotica ssp. indica in Australia
Biocontrol Science and Technology 23 (12), 1373-1386
Abstract: Babul scale Anomalococcus indicus Ramakrishna Ayyar, a major pest of Vachellia nilotica (L.f.) P.J.H. Hurter and Mabb. on the Indian subcontinent, has been identified as a potential biocontrol agent for prickly acacia V. nilotica subsp. indica (Benth.) Kyal. and Boatwr. in Australia and was imported from southern India for detailed assessment. The life history of A. indicus under controlled glasshouse conditions was determined as a part of this assessment. Consistent with other scale species, A. indicus has a distinct sexual dimorphism which becomes apparent during the second instar. Females have three instars, developing into sexually mature nymphs after 52 days. The generation time from egg to egg was 89 days. Females are ovoviviparous, ovipositing mature eggs into a cavity underneath their body. An average of 802 ± 114 offspring were produced per female. Reproductive output was closely associated with female size; larger females produced more than 1200 offspring. Crawlers emerged from beneath the female after an indeterminate period of inactivity. They have the only life stage at which A. indicus can disperse, though the majority settle close to their parent female forming aggregative distributions. In the absence of food, most crawlers died within three days. Males took 62 days to develop through five instars. Unlike females, males underwent complete metamorphosis. Adult males were small and winged, and lived for less than a day. Parthenogenesis was not observed in females excluded from males. The life history of A. indicus allows it to complement other biological control agents already established on prickly acacia in Australia.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Kunjithapatham Dhileepan

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Vachellia nilotica (weed)		Australia (NT+QLD)
Anomalococcus indicus (weed bioagent)	Vachellia nilotica (weed)		India