A morphological phylogenetic analysis of the Ortheziidae scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) including 125 million years of fossils in amber

The ensign scale insects (Ortheziidae) are considered to be one of the most basal families of scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea). About 200 recent species have been described, with some species known only from the fossil record. They are recognizable by their extravagant white wax secretion, giving them an ornate, elegant appearance. Although they occur on a broad diversity of hosts ranging from mosses and fungi to grasses and woody schrubs, most of the ensign scale insects are not economically harmful. A very few are of economic significance, such as the greenhouse ensign scale insects (Orthezia insignis=Insignorthezia insignis). Ortheziids preserved in amber from Cretaceous and Tertiary deposits housed in the American Museum of Natural History have been studied and incorporated in a morphological matrix of types species in the 18 genera currently known. This phylogeny enables study of the phylogenetic position of the fossil taxa and the chronology of ortheziid lineages.