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Kalasiris perforata (Maskell)

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Fringed scale
[Kalasiris perforata]. L: young adult female. R: adult female secreting new wax on the pattern lines of her test.

[Kalasiris perforata]. L: young adult female. R: adult female secreting new wax on the pattern lines of her test.

William Maskell named this species perforata in 1879, because the glassy test has rows of tiny air cells. We have named its new genus Kalasiris which means "beautiful fringe".

Biology: one generation per year. Overwinters as 2nd-instar males and females. Females mature and produce their young in spring, and males develop on the same leaves. The tiny winged adult males live for only a few days, long enough to mate with females.

Found on the undersides of leaves of:

Coprosma lucida karamū
Coprosma repens taupata 
Coprosma spathulata   
Coprosma sp.  
Discaria toumatou matagouri / wild irishman
Griselinia littoralis kapuka / broadleaf
Melicope simplex  
Parsonsia sp. native jasmine
Pittosporum eugenioides tarata / lemonwood
Pittosporum kirkii  
Pittosporum tenuifolium kohuhu
Pittosporum turneri  
Pittosporum umbellatum  
Pseudowintera sp horopito
Rubus sp.