Morphology

Abstract

Mealybugs are characterised by their bodies being covered with mealy or wax secretions. They are elongate to oval in shape with distinct segmentation (head, thorax and abdomen). Mealybugs are often characterised as having a white, mealy or powdery secretion covering both dorsal and ventral surfaces of their body. Species that occur in concealed habitats such as leaf sheaths of grasses either lack this secretion or have only small amounts of it. Marginal areas of their body have a series of protruding lateral wax filaments. These filaments may be absent, confined to the posterior one or two abdominal segments, or occur around the entire body margin. A filamentous secretion often is produced that encloses the eggs and at least part of the body. General morphology of the mealybugs is based on common species, and morphological characters vary slightly from species to species in mealybugs.