Neumann, G., O'Dowd, D.J, Gullan, P.J., & Green, P.T. 2016 Diversity, endemism and origins of scale insects on a tropical oceanic island: Implications for management of an invasive ant. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology 19: 159-166
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Notes: Mutualism between scale insects and the invasive ant Anoplolepis gracilipes on Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, threatens the conservation of the island's endemic land crab fauna, alters rainforest structure and composition, and disrupts ecosystem processes. Twenty-eight scale insect species in seven families are identified for the island. Four honeydew-producing species, the lac scale Tachardina aurantiaca (Kerriidae) and three soft scale species (Coccidae), are abundant in rainforest and tended by ants. Three lines of evidence indicate that the entire scale insect assemblage on Christmas Island is likely to be synthetic and introduced since human settlement as a by-product of the unregulated movement of plant materials to the island
