Life history of Aulacaspis marina Takagi and Williams(Hom., Coccoidea), a new pest of mangrove plantations in Indonesia, and its damage to mangrove seedlings

Scale insects of a newly described species, Aulacaspis marina Takagi and Williams, have killed a large number of mangrove ( Rhizophora mucronata Lamk.) saplings planted in abandoned shrimp ponds on Bali island, Indonesia. The mean fecundity of A. marina was 141 eggs. The generation time of this species was between 34 and 42 days, based on four generations, suggesting that the species has nine to 10 generations a year on Bali island where the temperatures are seasonally constant. When crawlers of A. marina were transferred to potted seedlings of R. mucronata , they settled on all leaves of the seedlings. Newly expanded leaves were not infested by the first generation crawlers but were attacked by the following generations. The insect attack induced browning of the leaves and finally caused leaf fall; the leaves fell 25–159 days after the crawler transfer. Consequently, the seedlings died on average 128 (range 82–159) days after infestation. This suggests that once a large number of crawlers attack R. mucronata seedlings, A. marina can kill them within several months. When crawlers were transferred to potted seedlings of three mangrove species ( R. mucronata , Rhizophora apiculata Bl. and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza L.), which were the main species planted at the study site, the numbers that developed into adult females did not differ significantly among these species. This suggests that these mangrove species are almost equally susceptible to A. marina.