Cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi)
Original title: Iceria (Icerya Purchasi)
The cottony cushion scale, a hemipteran insect pest found in Madeira for about forty years, and its biological control by the ladybird Vedalia cardinalis.
An insect of the order Hemiptera, first recorded in Funchal about 40 years ago and since found also in São Vicente and other places on the island. It lives on many species of forest and fruit trees, as well as on various garden plants.
Vedalia cardinalis, very similar to the small insect known in Madeira as the rã-rã, is the worst enemy of the cottony cushion scale, so it is advisable to release it on trees attacked by this hemipteran. Vedalia lays its eggs inside the egg sac of the scale insect, and the scale’s larvae serve as food for those of Vedalia as they emerge.
Each female scale insect can lay 1000 eggs or even more. These remain inside a sac of waxy matter that she secretes and deposits in filaments laid side by side.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Funchal
Where the insect was first recorded.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- São Vicente
Another locality where the insect was found.
São Vicente is described as the largest and most populous parish of northern Madeira and the seat of the only town on the north coast. The Elucidário covers its settlement, church history, localities and landscape, and the deadly landslide of 1929.