What is "aspidiotus"

Aspidiotus is a genus of armoured scale insects. It includes several agricultural and horticultural pests.

A. destructor was originally blamed for a massive die-off of coconut trees in the Philippines which began about 2009. It has been involved previously in die-offs in Indonesia. In July 2014, following a detailed morphological review, scientists announced that instead A. rigidus, was to blame. A. rigidus has few natural predators in the Philippines which leads to the surging infestation.