Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Ferrisia virgata
Escama, striped mealybug
Herbivore. Found in the arid zone.
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Hemiptera
Suborder
Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily
Coccoidea
Family
Pseudococcidae
Genus
Ferrisia
Species
virgata
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1964
Mode of introduction: Accidental
Introduction Pathway: Contaminant
Subpathway: Contaminant on plants (inc. seeds and plant associated material)
Introduced status: Naturalized
Invasive status: No data
Substrate or host preferences: The Galapagos host plants: Tribulus cistoides (punture weed), Waltheria ovata, Bursera graveolens (incense tree), Tiquilia fusca, Hippomane mancinella (poison apple), Laguncularia racemosa (white mangrove), Hibiscus tiliaceus (Cuban bast), Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory).
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Baltra, Isabela, Santa Cruz, Santiago
- Lincango, M.P. Hodgson, C. & Causton, C. (2008) Lista anotada de los insectos escama (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) de las islas Galápagos, Ecuador. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 17 pp.
- Lincango, P. Hodgson, C., Causton, C. & Miller, D. (2010) An updated checklist of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Galapagos Research, 67: 3-7.
- Peck, S.B. Heraty, J., Landry, B. & Sinclair, B.J. (1998) Introduced insect fauna of an oceanic archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Am. Entomol. 44: 218-237.
- Peck, S.B. (2001) Smaller Orders of Insects of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 278 pp.
- Williams, M.L. (1977) Scale insects of the Galapagos islands In D.R Miller, J.A Davidson, M. Kosztarab (Eds.), Morphology and Systematics of scales insects (Ed.127, Vol. 9, pp. 85-98). Research Division Bulletin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and State University.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Ferrisia virgata", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=11081. Accessed 30 October 2026.