The Soft Scale Insects Of Florida

This scholarly treatment of the soft scales of Florida by Hamon and Williams fulfills a need which has grown over a period of many years. It provides a reference useful both for field iden­tification of some species of soft scales and for the accurate identification in the laboratory of all species known to occur or which are likely to be found in Florida. This publication should be useful in the identification of soft scales over an area much  greater than Florida, as the dichotomous keys are not restricted to those species known to occur in Florida. This is the first definitive treatment of the soft scales of Florida and neighboring parts of the United States.

The extensive host list, containing more than 1,500 plant names, provides a place to begin for field identifications, and the diagnoses and photographs will facilitate greatly the making of field identifications. However, only properly prepared microscope slides of scale insects are definitive for accurate specific identifications. The highly detailed line drawings of all species of soft scales known to occur in Florida should facilitate identification. The distribution maps include all states of the United States except Alaska and Hawaii. Information included on parasites and predators will be pertinent to the increasing emphasis placed on biological control of scale insects and other insect pests as an alter­ native to excessive use of pesticides.

Dr. Avas B. Hamon was born in Ripley, West Virginia, on, 8 March 1940, son of O. M. and Lucy F. Hamon. One of 6 children, he has 4 sisters and a brother. In 1965 he married Donna F. Newhouse of Sissonville, West Virginia. Avas was educated in the public schools of Jackson County, West Virginia and graduated from Ripley High School. He received the Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Morris Harvey College, Charleston, West Virginia (now Univer­sity of Charleston) and the Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Marshall University,  Huntington, West  Virginia.  He served in the United States Air Force from 1962 to 1966 as a member of a missile launch crew for advanced ballistics and re-entry systems. From 1969 to 1973 he was employed by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Commerce as a Regulatory Inspector in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In 1973 he began working toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Entomology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute  and  State  University, Blacksburg, Virginia, where he studied under Dr.  Michael  Kosztarab, a recognized  world authority on the biosystematics of scale insects. The degree requirements were completed in Oc­tober 1976. Since then he has been employed as a Taxonomic Entomologist with the Division of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture  and Consumer Services, in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Hamon is an Associate Curator of the Florida State Collection of Arth­ropods, an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology of the  University  of  Florida, and  a  Courtesy Associate Professor in the Department  of En­tomology and Structural Pest Control of Florida A & M University. He is a member of the En­tomological Society of America, the Florida En­tomological Society, American Registry of Pro­fessional Entomologists, and has been listed in American Men and Women of Science and in Who’s Who in the South. He is a member of Sigma  Xi  honorary  society.  He is author  or coauthor of 29 scientific publications.

Dr. Michael L. Williams, or “Mike” as he is generally called, was born in Paragould, Arkan­sas, 11 September 1943. In 1962 he married Carolyn Grace Mack.  They have 2 children, Michael  Gregory  and  Kathryn  Grace,  and a granddaughter, Toni Michelle. Mike received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 from Arkan­sas State University with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry; Master of Science (1969) and Doctor of Philosophy degrees (1972) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univer­sity with majors in Entomology and minors in Botany.  Like  Avas, Mike studied  under  Dr. Michael Kosztarab. While at VPI, Mike held a National Science Foundation  traineeship,  Na­tional Defense Education Act fellowship, and both teaching and research assistantships in the Department  of  Entomology.  In 1969 he was awarded the Sigma Xi Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award from the VPI Chapter for his work on the “Morphology and Systematics of the First Instar Nymphs of Scale Insects in the Genus Lecanodiaspis”. Mike was hired by the Maryland Department of Agriculture as Assistant State Entomologist before completing his Ph.D. requirements, and he finished writing his disser­tation while on the job. He worked out of the University of Maryland from March 1971 to March 1973, when he took a position with the Department of Zoology-Entomology at Auburn University in Alabama. Since that time Mike has been teaching systematics and morphology of in­sects and conducting research on scale insects and other pests of ornamental plants at Auburn. He currently holds the position of Associate Pro­fessor and Entomology Section Chairman in the Department of Zoology-Entomology.

Dr.  Williams  is  a  member  of  the  En­tomological Society of America, Entomological Society of Washington, Florida Entomological Society,  Georgia  Entomological  Society,  and Alabama Academy of Science. He is a Research Associate of the Florida State Collection of Arth­ropods. He is a member of several national honor societies: Beta Beta Beta, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, Phi Sigma, and Sigma Xi and has been selected for inclusion in American Men and Women of Science, Personalities of the South, and Who’s Who in America. In 1980 Mike was a visiting professor at the University of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and in 1981 he was awarded the Southeastern  Branch  ESA  Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching.

Dr. Williams is author or coauthor of 68 scientific papers and popular articles. He has given numerous invitational papers and par­ticipated in symposia at national and interna­ tional  professional  society  meetings.  Mike’s specialty is the soft scale insect group, and he currently  provides  identification services  to various state and federal agencies as well as to other entomologists and the general public. He is interested  also in  the scale insects  of  the Galapagos Islands and other areas of South America and has collected and studied scale in­ sects on trips to these islands and the Amazon Basin in Ecuador during 1973, 1975, and 1980.

Howard V. Weems, Jr.
Editor

Bureau of Entomology
Division of Plant Industry
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
1 October 1984