Seeing the unseen : species recognition through wing interference patterns in some species of male armored scale insects (Hemiptera:Sternorrhyncha:Diaspididae)
2014
Rubico, E.C. | Yap, S.A. | Adorada, J.A. | Barbecho, M.
Morphological characters are used as one of the basis in species identification. These characters evolved as a result of adaptation of organisms to the environment. For winged insects, the wings provide the differentiating characters for taxa particularly venation and coloration. Membranous wings, specifically on Diptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera, possess structural color patterns or wing interference patterns (WIP). Shevtsova, et. al (2010) and Buffington and Sandler (2011) were able to differentiate different types of WIPs that were occurring in transparent wings. These WIPs were suggested to be useful for species level identification. In the case of scale insects, morphological characters of both adult males and females were taken into account. Females are wingless while males are winged. Simon (2012) studied the WIPs in coccids, and concluded that semi-transparent scale insect's forewings possess WIPs and are taxonomically specific. In this preliminary study, six possible species of male diaspidids were diagnosed. Specimens were mounted on slides and photographed using black background to enhance visibility of color patterns. This was conducted to provide additional taxonomic information in the identification of scale insects present in the country.
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