What's that bug?

While I immediately recognize a few of the arthropods in my photographs, I have to file away many of my pictures for later identification.  Most of these can initially be filed to family or at least order, but a few remain complete mysteries.  The strange, butterfly shaped scale insects pictured below lingered anonymously in my "Hemiptera" folder until I serendipitously came across a similar picture when looking for images of invasive species.

Lobate lac scales (Paratachardina pseudolobata) in South Florida last December.

Further research on the internet confirmed that these scales do belong to an introduced species, the lobate lac scale (Paratachardina pseudolobata).  However, learning more about this insect just raised more mysteries.  Although the lobate lac scale is not thought to be native to Florida (or the Bahamas or Christmas Island, where it is also found), it is not clear where this species came from.  A related species (P. lobata) is known from India and Sri Lanka, so this species is likely to be Asian as well.  The spread of this species -- from wherever its native range is -- is somewhat surprising, given its lack of wings and the fact that adults remain relatively sessile.  Also unusual is the absence of males; unlike its relative P. lobata, this scale reproduces parthenogenetically (asexually), developing from unfertilized eggs.

Explore some more: Featured Creature: lobate lac scale