Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Coccus hesperidum
Escama, brown soft scale
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Hemiptera
Suborder
Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily
Coccoidea
Family
Coccidae
Genus
Coccus
Species
hesperidum
Taxon category: Accepted
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1902
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: Psychotria rufipes (white wild coffee), Gossypium barbadense (The Galapagos cotton), Musa paradisiaca sapientum (banana), Cocos nucifera (coconut palm),Erigeron bonariensis (Flaxleaf fleabane),Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Chinese hibiscus), Ludwigia leptocarpa (false loosestrife), Matisia cordata,Piscidia carthagenensis (matazarno), Psychotria rufipes (white wild coffee), Roystonea regia (Royal palm).
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Baltra, Isabela, Pinta, Seymour Norte, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz
- 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 17 pp.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.
- Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
- 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.
- Peck, S.B. (1996) Origin and development of an insect fauna on a remote archipelago: The Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. In: Keast A., Miller S.E. (eds.): The origin and evolution of Pacific Island biotas, New Guinea to eastern Polynesia: patterns and processes. SPB Academic Publishing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p. 91-122.
- 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.
- 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, Coccus hesperidum", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=11091. Accessed 31 October 2026.