Protopulvinaria pyriformis (Cockerell) (Fig. 1F) Material studied. Colombia. Valle del Cauca: Alcalá: Finca El Edén, 04°39 ′ 38.4 ″ N, 75°44 ′ 33.1 ″ W, 1421 m, 31.x.2008, coll. T. Kondo, 2 (UVCO), 3 (MECP); Finca La Polonia, 04°40 ′ 09.8 ″ N, 75°45 ′ 14.1 ″ W, 1369 m, 31.x.2008, coll. J. Muñoz, ex avocado cv. ‘ Papelillo’ (‘ Lorena’), 1 (MECP); Finca La Porra, 04°40 ′ 13.1 ″ N, 75°44 ′ 34.3 ″ W, 1395 m, 10.xii.2008, coll. A. Arias., J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 2 (MECP); Finca Los Alpes, 04°42 ′ 24.8 ″ N, 75°49 ′ 01.0 ″ W, 1194 m, 02.xii.2008, coll. A. Arias, J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 3 (MECP); Finca Villa del Sol, 04°42 ′ 06.1 ″ N, 75°50 ′ 00.5 ″ W, 1215 m, 02.xii.2008, coll. J. Muñoz, ex avocado cv. ‘ Papelillo’ (‘ Lorena’), 1 (MECP). Caicedonia: Finca El Palmar, 04°17 ′ 55.9 ″ N, 75°53 ′ 00.2 ″ W, 1376 m, 28.x.2008, coll. A. Arias, T. Kondo, J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 3 (MECP); Finca La Cabaña, 04°17 ′ 43.8 ″ N, 75°50 ′ 39.4 ″ W, 1705 m, 09.ii.2009, coll. J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 4 (MECP); Finca El Jardín, 04°18 ′ 18.4 ″ N, 75°51 ′ 00.0 ″ W, 1622 m, 16.ii.2009, coll. A. Arias, T. Kondo, J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 2 (MECP); Finca La Giralda, 04°17 ′ 44.2 ″ N, 75°50 ′ 32.8 ″ W, 1717 m, 09.ii.2009, coll. A. Arias, J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 3 (MECP); Finca Corinto, 04°17 ′ 04.2 ″ N, 75°51 ′ 53.9 ″ W, 1650 m, 20.iv.2009, coll. A. Arias, T. Kondo, J. Muñoz, 2 (UVCO), 4 (MECP); Finca Las Margaritas, 04°17 ′ 37.1 ″ N, 75°53 ′ 18.0 ″ W, 1352 m, 26.v.2009, coll. A. Arias, T. Kondo, J. Muñoz, 3 (UVCO), 4 (MECP); Palmira: Rozo, Finca Brasil, 03°36 ′ 36.0 ″ N, 76°25 ′ 08.5 ″ W, 967 m, 10.xii.2008, coll. A. Arias, 1 (UVCO), 3 (MECP). Ulloa: Finca La Catalina, 04°41 ′ 38.8 ″ N, 75°45 ′ 10.4 ″ W, 1301 m, 04.v.2009, coll. J. Muñoz, H. Rodríguez, ex avocado cv. ‘ Santana’, 2 (UVCO), 1 (MECP). Distribution. Afrotropical: Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, South Africa, Zimbabwe. Nearctic: USA. Neotropical: Argentina, Bermuda, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Trinidad, U.S. Virgin Islands. Oriental: Taiwan, Vietnam. Palaearctic: Azores, Canary Islands, Crete, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Madeira Islands, Malta, Portugal, Spain (Ben-Dov et al. 2015). Remarks. The species was found on the underside of leaves of ‘Booth 8’, ‘Lorena’, ‘Santana’ and ‘Trinidad’ cultivars. Protopulvinaria pyriformis was one of the most common soft scales on avocado in the studied area. It was found associated with sootymolds in trees with high populations of the insect. In the field, larvae of a species of Syrphidae were observed feeding on the soft scales.

Published as part of Kondo, Takumasa & Muñoz, Jazmín Adriana, 2016, Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) associated with avocado crop, Persea americana Mill. (Lauraceae) in Valle del Cauca and neighboring departments of Colombia, pp. 1-24 in Insecta Mundi 2016 (465) on page 10, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4645809