Scale insects (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha: Diaspididae, and Pseudococcidae) found on Myrciaria dubia in Pará State, Brazil Aloyséia

. The present study aimed to report the occurrence of scale insects, namely Chrysomphalus aonidum (Linnaeus, 1758), Ischnaspis longirostris (Signoret, 1882), Pinnaspis aspidistrae (Signoret, 1869) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae), and Nipaecoccus filicis Williams & Granara de Willink, 1992 (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on plants of Myrciaria dubia (Kunth) McVaugh (Myrtaceae) in the experimental fields of Embrapa Amazônia Oriental in the municipalities of Belém and Tomé-Açu, Pará State, Brazil. This is the first report of these species on M. dubia , as well as of N. filicis in Brazil.

The camu-camu fruit is rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, glucose, fructose, starch, pectin, fiber, and minerals, such as K, Ca, Mg, Na, Zn, Fe, Cu, and Al. Moreover, it is high in antioxidants, such as polyphenols and anthocyanins, and has gained the interest of the pharmaceutical industry (Yuyama et al. 2002;2003;Villanueva-Tiburcio et al. 2010;Freitas et al. 2019).
Under natural conditions, camu-camu trees are rarely attacked by insects. However, with the loss of ecological balance, phytophagous insects capable of causing phytosanitary problems can occur in commercial plantations in dryland areas (Couturier et al. 1999). Among these pests, scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) stand out, as 18 species, distributed in four families, have already been previously observed on camu-camu trees (Tab. 1).
From April 2016 to July 2018, camu-camu clones that were introduce into the experimental fields of Embrapa Amazônia Oriental in Belém (01°26'S, 48°26'W) and Tomé-Açu (02°30'S, 48°23'W), Pará were evaluated for the presence of scale insects. The clones were aged five and four years, respectively. The experimental areas were formed by 10 clones, with three plants/clone and four repetitions.
Ceroplastes jamaicensis White, 1846, Coccus viridis (Green, 1889), Parasaissetia nigra (Nietner, 1861) and Pseudokermes vitreus (Cockerell, 1894) (Hemiptera: Coccidae), and Pseudaonidia trilobitiformis (Green, 1896) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) were observed on different camu-camu clones by Wolff et al. (2016). In the present study, most of these species were found in a small number of plants. However, P. nigra was found in 54% of the plants evaluated in Belém in the 2016/2017 biennium and was present in all clones evaluated in May and June 2018, without causing plant death. Moreover, ants were observed in all plants infected with P. nigra, thus hindering the collection of plant materials (Fig. 2). In plants with a higher incidence of this scale insect, the occurrence of sooty mold (Capnodium sp.) was also noted. Parasaissetia nigra is a polyphagous species that has been recorded on 292 genera and 101 families of plants worldwide. Among these are ornamentals and plants of agricultural importance, such as cotton, coffee, citrus, and mango (García Morales et al. 2016;Kondo & Lin 2022). With regard to the Coccidae species found on M. dubia in the Loreto region of Peru, P. nigra was the only harmful species for causing intense proliferation of sooty mold (Couturier et al. 1992).
The present study represents the first record of the scale insect species C. aonidum, I. longirostris, P. aspidistrae, and N. filicis on M. dubia, as well as the first report of N. filicis in Brazil.