Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Insignorthezia insignis
Escama blanca del croto, escama algodonosa acanalada, Kew bug, Maui blight, croton bug, greenhouse mealybug, greenhouse orthezia, jacaranda bug
This is a herbivorous insect, distributed from littoral to arid zones. The Galapagos host plants: Adenostemma platyphyllum, Ageratum conyzoides (tropical whiteweed), Bidens riparia, Blechnum sp., Spermacoce laevis, Browallia Americana (jamaican forget-me-not), Dioclea sp., Diodella radula, Darwiniothamnus tenuifolius (thin-leafed Darwin's shrub), Mesosphaerum pectinatum (Comb bushmint), Hypericum sp., Jaegeria gracilis (Galapagos jaegeria), Justicia galapagana (Galapagos justicia), Ludwigia leptocarpa (false loosestrife), Mecardonia procumbens (waterhyssop), Pseudelephantopus spicatus (Dog's tongue), Phyllanthus sp., Scalesia cordata (heart-leafed scalesia), Scalesia pedunculata, Scoparia dulcis (sweet - broom), Stachytarpheta cayennensis (false vervain), Tetramerium nervosum (hairy fournwort), Verbena litoralis (vervain).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Hemiptera
Suborder
Sternorrhyncha
Superfamily
Coccoidea
Family
Ortheziidae
Genus
Insignorthezia
Species
insignis
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Orthezia insignis Browne, 1887; Syn.: Orthezia insignis Browne, 1887 fide Roskov et al. (2013)
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1974
Mode of introduction: Accidental
Introduction Pathway: Contaminant
Subpathway: Contaminant on plants (inc. seeds and plant associated material)
Introduced status: Naturalized
Invasive status: No data
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Isabela, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz
- 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.
- 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 Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished, 17 pp.
- 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.
- 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. (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.
- Roskov Y. Kunze T., Paglinawan L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Culham A., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Hernandez F., De Wever A., (eds.) (2013) Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life, 2013 Annual Checklist Digital resource at www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2013/. Species 2000: Reading, UK
- 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, Insignorthezia insignis", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=12009. Accessed 15 May 2025.