Howard, J.*1, Steyn, C.1, Jacobs, A.1,2, Millar, I., Venter, E.1
1 Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park
2 Agricultural Research Council – Plant Health Protection, Queenswood, Pretoria
Melville Koppies Nature Reserve is a Johannesburg City Heritage site, boasting endemic flora, rocky outcrops with deposits of iron ore as well as stone and iron age archaeological sites. The area conserves indigenous flowers, highveld grasses, trees and birds, and depicts the ridges as they were before 1886 when gold was found in Johannesburg. The conservation of South Africa's indigenous plant species and landscapes is paramount and pests causing diseases on indigenous plants need to be investigated further and controlled. Thus, when dieback on Protea caffra bushes occurred on Melville Koppies Central, observations revealed a green scale insect feeding on the leaves of the native Protea and producing soot-like honeydew. Insects and leaf material from five sites of P. caffra clusters on the Koppies were collected for further study using morphology and DNA analyses to identify the scale insects. Morphology and phylogeny, using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), 28S ribosomal RNA and Scale-EF genetic markers, showed the scale insect species belong to the family Coccidae and genus Proteacoccus, which has been observed before on Protea spp. The infestation has spread to almost all P. caffra bushes present on the Koppies, increasing the death toll and the potential for infestations outside of the Nature Reserve’s boundaries.