Fiorinia phantasma

Fiorinia phantasma, the phantasma scale, is an invasive and polyphagous scale insect, apparently native to parts of south-eastern Asia and some Pacific islands. It has invaded other parts of the Pacific, Asia, the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Americas, spreading with the trade of ornamental plants. It has caused serious outbreaks on palm trees, but also infests various other woody plants, including a number of ornamentals and fruit trees like mango or lychee.

Distribution

Fiorinia phantasma was described from the Philippines in 1915, where it had been collected from Neolitsea. The first documented occurrence outside the Philippines and the first case of invasion was reported from the Hawaii Islands, where heavy infestations were reported from Oahu Island on Ligustrum japonicum in 2004, and on Pittosporum tobira in 2008. Subsequently, it was collected from 15 other plants, including a serious infestation on areca palms in 2011 on Maui Island.

F. phantasma was again described as Fiorinia coronata from the Solomon Islands in 1988, where it infested coconut palms. It has been subsequently reported as an introduced pest from different parts of the world and seems to spread easily through the international trade with ornamental plants. It is now recorded as widespread in south-eastern Asia (southern China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), on various Pacific islands from Papua New Guinea in the west to French Polynesia in the east, on several islands in the Indian Ocean (Maldives, Reunion), and on indoor or glasshouse plants from parts of Europe (France, Netherlands, U.K.).

In the Americas it has been reported from several Caribbean islands (Saint Martin, Grenada) and has also invaded Florida on the U.S. mainland.