Current status of the cactus scale Diaspis echinocacti Bouché (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on Opuntia ficus‐indica and its first morphological and microscopic description in Morocco

Abstract

AbstractA total of 460 sites in 28 provinces located in the northern part of Morocco, where the prickly pear cactus Opuntia ficus‐indica is a natural crop, were surveyed from autumn 2020 to winter 2022. In 2020 and the first half of 2021 the cochineal scale Dactylopius opuntiae (Cockerell, 1896) (Hemiptera: Dactylopiidae) was the only scale recorded on pads of O. ficus‐indicata. However, high infestation of pads and fruits of O. ficus‐indica with Diaspis echinocacti Bouché (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) was subsequently recorded in three sites. D. echinocacti is described based on the morphology of the male and female adults, and microscopic examination of 60 slide‐mounted adult females. The presence of D. echinocacti on prickly pear cactus in these three sites in Morocco represents a serious potential threat for cactus in the country. Two predators, Rhyzobius lophanthae Blaisdell (1892) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) and Cybocephalus sp. (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), and two hymenopteran parasitoids, the ectoparasitoid Aphytis sp. (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and an endoparasitoid Encyrtidae, were recorded to be associated with cactus scale. Further work is needed to identify all these predators/parasitoids to species level and to evaluate their potential for biological control.