An overview of a fortuitous and efficient biological control of the Colombian fluted scale, Crypticerya multicicatrices Kondo, Unruh (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae: Iceryini), on San Andres island, Colombia

The Colombian fluted scale, Crypticerya multicicatrices Kondo and Unruh, is a polyphagous iceryine scale insect native to mainland (continental) Colombia and not known from other Central and South American countries. It has become a serious invasive pest on the islands of San Andres and Old Providence in the southwestern Caribbean State of Colombia, where probably it was introduced unintentionally with plants from mainland Colombia. Here we document the efforts that have been made to implement a classical biological control program on San Andres in the period 2010-2013 and explain how control has been achieved by the coccinellid Anovia sp., without any deliberate introduction. This predator of the eggs of C. multicicatrices is native to mainland Colombia and probably was fortuitously introduced to San Andres in the same manner as C. multicicatrices.