Saissetia coffeae (Walker, 1852) Borg (1898; 1919) recorded this species as Lecanium hemisphaericum Targ. and Borg (1932) as Saissetia hemisphaerica (Targioni Tozzetti). The latter report stated that it is “frequent, and often common, on Schinus molle, Antigonon leptopus, species of Begonia and Aralia, Ferns, Cestrum fastigiatum, Cycas revoluta, etc. Rare on Citrus trees.” Saliba (1963) recorded it as fairly common on citrus. Ferns are a favoured host of this insect. Material examined: MALTA, Bir id-Deheb, 27.iii.1994, 1 ♀ on Dieffenbachia sp., DM; Żejtun, 13.xi. 2004, 2 ♀♀ on Phalenopsis sp., DM; Qawra, 12.ii.2012, 4 ♀♀ on Olea europaea, CM; Qawra, 13.ii.2012, 2 ♀♀ on Adiantum capillus-veneris, CM. GOZO, Kercem, Dawara Valley, 16.iii.1994, 5 ♀♀ on A. capillus-veneris, DM.

Published as part of Mifsud, David, Mazzeo, Gaetana, Russo, Agatino & Watson, Gillian W., 2014, The scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) of the Maltese Archipelago, pp. 499-525 in Zootaxa 3866 (4) on page 505, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3866.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/4930613