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Giant Scale Insect

Monophlebulus sp

Description:

Red bug about 1cm long.When turned over it has six legs and had numerous nymphs under it.

Habitat:

Savanah woodland KImberley

Notes:

Life cycle Females moult into the adult stage and crawl up above ground and onto vertical structures such as trees and fence posts. Males mate with the females at this stage, then the females crawl to a protected place such as under bark, or in a crevice, where they become immobile and appear essentially dead. At this stage the four posterior segments of the abdomen are retracted into the abdomen to form a large cavity ("marsupium"), with a posterior slit-like opening. The first instar nymphs ("crawlers") develop inside this marsupium in the dead leathery body of the mother, then emerge, dropping onto vegetation and soil. Mortality of these crawlers must be very high as 1,000 to 2,000 are produced per female. (from Australian Museum)

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6 Comments

BarbaraSing
BarbaraSing 9 years ago

Fixed it. Thanks

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

Sorry about the typo. I should have said 'Monophlebulus sp.' https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Monop...

BarbaraSing
BarbaraSing 9 years ago

Hi Mark, I've never seen one before and took a look underneath to see if it had legs and it was full of instars. Incredibly interesting life cycle with the male so completely different.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

Hi Barbara. Great to see a red one of these and I never thought of turning mine over - good move!! I think genus Callipappus is unlikely (maybe Monophlebus) but It might be better to put scientific name at family Margarodidae. https://www.google.com.au/search?client=...

BarbaraSing
BarbaraSing 9 years ago

Thanks Martin for pointing me in the right direction.

MartinL
MartinL 9 years ago

This is a giant scale insect. You are correct it is in the bug order (Hemiptera)
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/173...
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/2010/03/16/g...

BarbaraSing
Spotted by
BarbaraSing

Western Australia, Australia

Spotted on Jul 15, 2014
Submitted on Jul 15, 2014

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