Fig. 7. Ant tent over a soft scale, DPI Photo 702822-6.


ant consumes. Soft scale colonies which are
tended by ants have the problem of sooty mold
contamination eliminated in this fashion. In
fact, ant-tended soft scale colonies are often
larger than colonies of the same soft scale species
on the same host that are not ant-tended.



 NATURAL ENEMIES

 Since the classical success in California of the
vedalia beetle, Rodolia cardinalis (Mulsant),
against the cottony cushion scale, Icerya pur-
chasi Maskell, entomologists have looked
favorably upon biological control as a valid pest
control method (DeBach, 1964). No attempt will
be made here to discuss biological control, but
rather a list of natural enemies is given for each
soft scale where possible. The primary sources for
such information have been Peck 1963, DeBach
1964, Clausen 1940, Bartett in Clausen ed.
1978, and Krombein et al. 1979, but many other
sources are also available. The greatest number
of scale insect natural enemies occurs in the Hy-
menoptera with lesser numbers in the Lepidop-
tera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Neuroptera. In
general, only natural enemies occurring in Flor-
ida or the southeast United States are listed.




 CLASSIFICATION

 The family Coccidae is a difficult group to


classify, because of the lack of literature and ade-
quate species keys. Many species are polyphagous
and often exhibit a wide range of morphological
differences from host to host. Such variability led
many early workers to describe the same entity
from different hosts as separate species. For ex-
ample, the European fruit lecanium alone has
over 130 synonyms.
 Borchsenius (1957) divided the family Coc-
cidae into three subfamilies and two tribes based
on studies of the adult females. His classification
is as follows:
 1. Subfamily Filippinae-mature females
 completely enclosed in an egg sac.
 2. Subfamily Ceroplastinae-body of the fe-
 male covered with a thick layer of dense,
 opaque, colored wax.
 3. Subfamily Coccinae -female not enclosed
 in an egg sac; if an egg sac is present, it is
 found behind or under the body of the fe-
 male. Borchsenius subdivided the Coc-
 cinae into the tribes Pulvinariini (eggs
 deposited in an ovisac behind or beneath
 the body) and Coccini (eggs deposited
 under the abdomen which retracts as the
 eggs are laid, or give birth to living young
 ovoviviparously.
 Giliomee (1967) studied the adult males of 23
species in 19 genera. His work indicated the need
for reevaluation of Borchsenius' classification.
He identified four natural groups:
 1. The Eriopeltis Group including the genera
 Eriopeltis and Luzulaspis.
 2. The Coccus Group containing Coccus,
 Ceroplastes, Parthenolecanium, and Pul-
 vinaria.
 3. The Eulecanium Group containing
 Sphaerolecanium, Ctenochiton, Filippia,
 Physokermes, and Eulecanium.
 4. The Inglisia Group of the single genus
 Inglisia.
 Ray and Williams (1983) added a fifth
natural group, the Toumeyella Group, which in,
eludes the genera Toumeyella, Pseudophilippia,
and Neolecanium.
 It appears that information from the study of
 all developmental stages needs to be consolidated
 to form a classification that will be workable for
 the entire family.
 Very few comprehensive studies have been
published on the Coccidae in North America.
Thro (1903), in his "Distinctive characteristics of
the Species of the Genus Lecanium", included 12
species of soft scales which are now placed in 6
different genera. Steinweden (1946) revised the
genus Pulvinaria (13 spp.) in the United States.
Richards (1958) published on the Lecanium (5