Genomic diversity and functional potential of facultative bacterial symbionts across scale insects Microbial symbionts play pivotal roles in the physiology, ecology, and evolution of insects. While obligate symbionts have been extensively characterized in insects feeding on nutritionally poor diets...

Two great works by @filiphusnik.bsky.social group @oistedu.bsky.social on scale insect's #symbioses.

1) Genomic diversity and functional potential of facultative bacterial #symbionts across #scaleInsects

by Pradeep Palanichamy, Jinyeong Choi, Arno Hagenbeek

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

#SymbioSky

Paraputo liboensis, appearance in life, adult females in a crevice in the host.

#NewSpecies
New scale insect from #china just came in:

Paraputo liboensis

Treatment: treatment.plazi.org/id/9D1487ED-...
Publication: doi.org/10.11646/zoo...
#Zootaxa #ParaputoLiboensis

#FAIRdata
#taxonomy #ecology #nature #conservation #animals #entomology #insects #hemiptera #bugs #scaleinsects

Integrative method to detect invasive mealybug (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Pseudococcidae) species on highways in Hungary: evidence for northward spread of Comstock mealybug Climate change, coupled with the intensification of road transport and global trade, has contributed to a significant increase in the number of newly introduced scale insect species into new regions. ...

The northernmost documented outdoor occurrence of the Comstock mealybug (Pseudococcus comstocki) in Europe is registered in the first outdoor record of the species in Hungary.

#invasivespecies #insects #scaleinsects

doi.org/10.3897/BDJ....

Pesticide Spraying of Urban Trees Found to Disrupt Natural Biological Management of Landscapes - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog (Beyond Pesticides, November 16, 2022) Putting up with moderate pest levels can attract and maintain predators and parasitoids that provide important biological control services throughout the landscape, according to research recently published in Environmental Entomology. While scale insects can be a problem in urban areas, dropping sticky ‘honeydew’ on cars and structures, they also play a critical role in maintaining native populations of pest predators. Scientists at NC State University (NCSU) set out to understand just how important these pest populations are at maintaining their own natural enemies. To do so, researchers worked through a series of three hypotheses on the connection between urban trees, scale insects, and pest predators. Focus was first placed on investigating different oak species and comparing the number of predators between trees infested and not infested with scale. Twigs from willow oaks, sawtooth oaks, and overcup oaks were collected from scale infested and scale uninfested trees on the NCSU campus over the course of spring, and counted for their scale abundance. Then, through the summer, researchers used a sampling tool that effectively shook insects out of the tree and into a funnel collection. Unsurprisingly, scale infested oaks contain more scale insects. But these trees also […]

New research finds that moderate-scale insect levels play a critical role in maintaining native pest predator populations and biological controls in the ecosystem. #naturalpestmanagement #scaleinsects #pesticides #organic #ecosystems #sustainablefuture

beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/…