Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Aspidiotus destructor
Escama, coconut scale
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Hemiptera
Suborder
Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily
Coccoidea
Family
Diaspididae
Genus
Aspidiotus
Species
destructor
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: Parkinsonia aculeata (jerusalem thorn), Phoenix dactylifera (date palm), Vallesia glabra (pearl berry), Zanthoxylum fagara (cat's claw).
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 17 pp.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.
- 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.
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This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Aspidiotus destructor", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=11099. Accessed 30 October 2026.