Maculolachnus submacula (Walker, 1848)

Morphological characters

2.7-3.8 mm.
Apterous: dark brown to black, with antennae and legs dark, abdomen with numerous hairs, cornicles reduced to a dark raised pore, cauda rounded
Alate: dark brown, forewings with dark spot, antennae short with processus terminalis very short, cornicles and cauda short as in apterous.

See identification file

Life cycles

Monoecious holocyclic.

The oviparous females appear in autumn. The males are apterous. After mating, the eggs are laid on stems close to the ground. Hatching takes place in spring. Colonies, visited by ants, develop on surface roots and at the base of stems. The alates propagate the species on other rose trees.

Host plants

Rosa spp,rose trees

Particular characteristics

Ants protect the colonies under earth shelters they construct on the ground at the base of stems.

Agronomic impact

Infested plants show arrested growth.