Abstract
During a series of field surveys on several coconut-planting provinces in the Philippines, scale insects, including mealybugs, were observed to attack the infructescence and fruits of coconuts, Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae). Three families of Coccomorpha, composed of six species of Diaspididae (armored scale insects), including the serious pest Aspidiotus rigidus Reyne, one species of Pseudococcidae [the mealybugs, Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell)]; and one species of Monophlebidae (giant or cottony cushion scales, Icerya sp.), were noted to attack on coconut infructescences. Two species, Aspidiotus destructor Signoret and Lepidosaphes sp. aff. tapleyi were observed to feed on the fruit directly. Pseudaulacaspis pentagona (Targioni Tozzetti) and P. sp. aff. cockerelli (Cooley) were observed to feed on the leaf petiole and infructescence peduncle. Nipaecoccus nipae (Maskell) and Icerya sp. were found on the calyx, while Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret) were found in pedicels and peduncles of the infructescences.
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