Mass Rearing of the Israeli Pine Bast Scale, Matsucoccus josephi (Homoptera: Margarodidae), with Notes on its Biology and Mating Behavior

Abstract

Procedures for mass rearing Matsucoccus josephi were developed to enhance the study of control measures of this pernicious pest. In the course of this work significant information on the scale's biology was also obtained. M. josephi developed and produced viable eggs on different provenances of Aleppo pines ( Pinus halepensis ), brutia pines ( P. brutia ssp. brutia ), and eldar pines ( Pinus brutia ssp. eldarica ). Three-year-old Aleppo pines and eldar pines were considered the best media for routine production of M. josephi. More than 600 male pupae and adult females from 10 to 12 ovisacs were produced per sapling. Third-instar males tended to pupate near the plastic bags in which saplings were planted and were collected directly from the polythene sheet. Routine collection of adult females was best accomplished by striking the sapling over a white sheet of paper. Repeated two or three times, this procedure was adequate in removing 95% of the females. Careful and parallel collection of male pupae at intervals of 1–4 d eliminated adult males from the system and provided us with a pure culture of virgin females. In greenhouses, the earliest emergence of third-instar males and adult females started 18 and 34 d after infestation in early summer, and 34 and 45 d during winter, respectively. The effect of constant temperature, between 10 and 30;°C, on rate of development of feeding and nonfeeding stages of M. josephi was determined. The low temperature threshold of feeding larvae (2.4°C) allows continuous development during winter in Israel, whereas higher low temperature thresholds of nonfeeding life stages (8°C) probably delay emergence of adult males and egg hatching until temperatures are suitable for males to locate the females and crawlers to disperse. The minimal effect of increasing temperature above 20°C on developmental rates coincides with the effect of the temperatures on the scale's principal host, P. halepensis. A young male could fertilize an average of six females between 1 and 4 h old, whereas older males were less successful. Young males mated with a small number of females among the older age groups.