Armored scales as new pests in grapevine and mango crops in northeast Brazil

Armored scales are highly invasive insects, and their presence often necessitates quarantine measures, increasing the risk of product rejection. In Brazil, the S & atilde;o Francisco Valley in the Northeast region is the country's most important tropical fruit production zone. New diaspidid scales were observed, inflicting damage on table grapes and mango crops, particularly affecting the fruit quality and marketability. Armored scales infested the internodes, petioles, leaves, and trunks of grapevines. In areas with severe infestations, these pests caused plant death. The major problem with mangoes was the aesthetic damage to fruits discarded for exportation. Thus, in this study, we aimed to identify the Diaspididae species causing damage to grape and mango crops in Northeast Brazil. In grapevines, the specimens collected were identified as Melanaspis arnaldoi (Costa Lima) infesting trunks and Aonidiella orientalis (Newstead) occurring in internodes, petioles, leaves, and grape berries. The following species sampled in mango were identified: Chrysomphalus aonidum (L.), Mycetaspis personata (Comstock), Aonidiella comperei McKenzie, and Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret). The first three species were collected in leaves and fruits, while H. lataniae only in leaves. All six species are registered for the first time in the S & atilde;o Francisco Valley fruit-producing region. For the scale insect sampled in mango crops, A. comperei was the only one with no citations associated with Mangifera indica L. and no other Anacardiaceae species. Our results will aid the producers in monitoring the armored scales and guide control management strategies.