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Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the morphology of the adult female of soft scale insects family Coccidea. The characters discussed in the chapter are based on properly stained specimens, using light microscopy with a magnification up to 2000X. The Coccidae seem to be a homogeneous group, except for some atypical adult females. Unlike adult females in other coccoid families, those of the Coccidae are often difficult to study, mainly because of the strong distention and thickness of the body at full maturity, which may become swollen, strongly convex, heavily sclerotized, hard and brittle. Young and old females, however, can be most often recognized as Coccidae by the presence of a pair of anal plates. Unlike males, which have prepupal and pupal instars, adult females emerge directly from the 2nd-or 3rd-instar nymphs (according to species) and continue to grow slightly or considerably, changing significantly in shape and color. |
