Dear Chris,

I have just received this e-mail (09/12/2013) from Dr Chris Malumphy - looks like the synonymising of Pulvinaria regalis and pulvinaria vitis which I requested a couple of years ago  based upon the paper quoted was an incorrect thing to do.  My apologies !

"Hi Steve,

Scale insects are one of the most commonly transported groups of insects in international trade and hundreds of exotic species have been intercepted on imported plant material in the UK. This makes compiling an accurate checklist for the UK complicated as many exotic species only occur as transient populations. Consequently there is no up-to-date checklist of the scale insects of Britain but I have recently co-authored a checklist of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) and I’m working on the other families.

PLEAE NOTE that  Pulvinaria regalis Canard, 1968 should NOT be synonymised under Pulvinaria vitis (Linnaeus, 1758)

The paper by I.A. Gavrilov, I.V. Trapeznikova (2008) Cytogenetic studies of European Pulvinariini (Homoptera: Coccidae). Comparative Cytogenetics. Vol. 2, No. 2, P. 131-138. ISSN 1993-0771 (Print), ISSN 1993-078X (Online) has almost no scientific value. The biology, host range, and morphology of Pulvinaria vitis is clearly distinct from Pulvinaria regalis and no other scale insect researcher has accepted this synonymy. Please excuse my ranting but this publication infuriates me as it is such appalling science.

Kindest regards,

Chris

Dr Chris Malumphy
Senior Entomologist and Collections Manager
The Food and Environment Research Agency
Sand Hutton, York, YO41 1LZ, UK

Email:    chris.malumphy@fera.gsi.gov.uk".

It looks as though Pulvinaria regalis needs to be resurrected.

Steve