BIOGEOGRAPHY OF MATSUCOCCUS-JOSEPHI BODENHEIMER-ET-HARPAZ IN CRETE AND MAINLAND GREECE

Surveys have been conducted in natural and planted stands of brutia pi ne (Pinus brutia Ten subsp brutia) and Aleppo pine (P halepensis Mill) to ascertain the possible occurrence of Israeli pine bast scale Matsu coccus josephi Bodenheimer et Harpaz (Homoptera: Matsucoccidae) and it s typical associates in mainland Greece and on the islands of Thasos a nd Crete. Our findings show that in mainland Greece between 21-24 long itude E, M josephi is absent from both brutia pine and Aleppo pine. Th e absence of M josephi from brutia pine in Chalkidiki and the island o f Thasos raises the possibility that the tree has been introduced by m an without the scale insect; the introduction by seed from Asia Minor could have been made for the production of honeydew by Marchalina hell enica Gennadius (Homoptera: Margarodidae) whose excretions are the mai n source of honey in those areas. The occurrence of M josephi in Turke y and Crete and its absence from Aleppo pine in mainland Greece tend t o confirm that brutia pine is the principal host of the scale. Brutia pine and M josephi could have migrated together via the remnants of th e land bridge connecting southeast Anatolia to Crete some 4-5 million years ago.