Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) on oriental spruce

Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Link) is an important forest trees and forms pure or mixed stands in the Black Sea region, Turkey. It is also utilized as an ornamental plant in gardens and parks. To determine coccoid species infesting oriental spruce in Giresun Province, forest, parks and gardens located in the city center of Giresun was surveyed. Results revealed four scale insects: namely, Coccus hesperidum L., Physokermes piceae Schrank (Coccidae), Dynaspiotus britannicus (Balachowsky) (Diaspididae), and Phenacoccus piceae Löw (Pseudococcidae) which is a new record for the Turkish fauna. Oriental spruce mealybug P. piceae was found to be associated with Nephus caneparii Fürsh & Uygun (Coleoptera; Coccinellidae), Cardiastethus nazarenus Reuter (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and Sympherobius pygmaeus (Rambur) (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) and Coccidiphila gerasimovi (Danilevsky) (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae). Important morphological characters of oriental spruce mealybug were presented, and additionally, information on biology, distribution and damage of scale insects feeding on oriental spruce has been given based on the literature.