Abstract
This chapter discusses the intraspecific variation of taxonomic characters of Coccoidea. The variation in the soft scale species so far studied is favored by their wide geographic distribution, by their polyphagy and because they reproduce by parthenogenesis. This intraspecific variation is shown by both morphological and biological characters. Thus, the variability in the biological characters is shown mainly by the range in types of parthenogenesis, the sex ratio and in the seasonal development; the greatest variation in morphology is shown by the number of dorsal submarginal tubercles. Some of these characters depend on the nutritive condition of the host plant, but some inter-population variation is also occasionally caused by parasitoids. Because intraspecific variation has been extensively studied in Parthenolecanium corni (Bouchr) and Pulvinaria vitis (L.), these two species are discussed in detail in this chapter.
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