Plant pests of the Australasian-Pacific region: Scale insects

Scale insects are parasites of plants, feeding on sap from the plant's vascular system. Many scale insects secrete a wax coating for defence; causing them to resemble fish or lizard scales, hence their common name. Some scale insect species are serious crop pests because of the damage they cause to plants. However, their waxy covering also protects them from contact insecticides, making them very difficult to control. For example, the cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi) is a scale insect that feeds on a wide range of woody plants, but most notably on citrus crops. Although originally described from specimens collected in New Zealand it actually originates from Australia, and is now found worldwide. We invite you to join our Icerya expedition and help us transcribe important information on these pests throughout the Ausralasian-Pacific region.This expedition of 191 tasks is fully transcribed and validated.

介壳虫（scale insects）是植物寄生性昆虫，以植物维管系统内的汁液为食。多数介壳虫会分泌蜡质保护层以抵御天敌，这使其外观酷似鱼鳞或蜥蜴鳞片，也因此得名“介壳虫”。部分介壳虫物种会对寄主植物造成严重损害，成为极具危害性的农作物害虫。然而，其体表的蜡质覆盖层也能有效阻挡接触性杀虫剂，使得这类害虫极难防控。例如吹绵蚧（Icerya purchasi）便是典型代表：它可取食多种木本植物，其中以柑橘类作物受害最为显著。尽管该物种最初是依据新西兰采集的标本被正式描述，但其实际起源地为澳大利亚，如今已在全球范围内广泛分布。我们诚邀您加入本次吹绵蚧调查项目，协助转录澳大拉西亚-太平洋区域内这类害虫的相关重要信息。本次包含191项任务的调查项目已完成全部转录与校验工作。