Talk:Scale insect/GA1

GA Review

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: Dunkleosteus77 (talk · contribs) 00:15, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Dunkleosteus77

• I'm sure there're estimates of how much damage in dollars they do annually (or at least, you could give some examples of some infamous pests)   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  00:15, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Scale of damage, eh... yes, why not. Added an annual cost. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:23, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• You're kind of inconsistent with using common names, like you say Margarodidae instead of ground pearls, but you also say cottony cushion scale instead of Icerya purchasi. I'd say stick to common names where you can, because even though average people have never heard of ground pearls before, it's a lot more digestible than Margarodidae   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  00:15, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

I agree and have done this for the cottony cushion scale, but the mentions of Margarodidae are mostly linked with other family names and I think it would be inappropriate. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:14, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Instead of "are sometimes present in Margarodidae, Ortheziidae and Phenacoleachiidae," you could do "...ground pearls, ensign scales, and phenacoleachiids"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• I feel like hermaphroditism belongs in Description   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  00:15, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

I think it would be difficult to integrate it into the Description section. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:14, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

After you talk about the differences between females and males, you put the paragraph on hermaphroditic species   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Moved. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:10, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• Why do you say polyphagous instead of generalist feeder in Life cycle? Also, polyphagy doesn't seem very relevant to what you were discussing in that par   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  00:15, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:14, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• Thank you for taking on this review. I found it to be an interesting article to work on. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:14, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• "boreal ensign scale" is a duplink which links back to Ortheziidae. Exactly which species are you referring to?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:03, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• "The mould can reduce photosynthesis by the plant as well as being aesthetically unattractive" how would it reduce photosynthesis if it lives only on the bark and twigs? Why is being aesthetically unattractive a problem for the plant? Wouldn't that reduce risk of herbivory and help the plant?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Rephrased. Scale insects are not restricted to bark and twigs, but can attack all parts of the plant. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:03, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• "Ants protect tulip tree scales" they form a symbiotic relationship with just any scale that happens to land on a tulip tree? I would think the source just listed this as a specific example to elucidate a point, so it should probably be worded like "On a tulip tree in [wherever], ants have been observed..."   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:03, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• "mutualistic relationship with scale insects" contradicts "reducing the growth of the parasitised scales"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Rephrased. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:03, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• "predatory beetles in the families Anthribidae, Coccinellidae and Nitidulidae" you could also use "fungus weevils, ladybirds, and sap beetles," and you should say this sentence first before going into the specific example with that one ladybug species   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:03, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• "including Citrus" could also be "citrus fruits" (which is accurate because you're talking about crop destruction)   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done.

• "such as various species of Dactylopius, the cochineal genus" I think "the cochineal genus" makes for a confusing interruptor   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Reworded.

• "that attack invasive species of Opuntia" or you could say "prickly pear"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Done.

Where is prickly pear invasive?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  16:43, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

All over, and there's even an article on Prickly pears in Australia, now linked and cited.

• Who are Isabelle Vea and David Grimaldi?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Glossed both of them. Chiswick Chap (talk) 19:16, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• I feel like "A cladogram showing the major families using this methodology is shown below" is already implied   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Well we need to say in some way that it's the major ones. Chiswick Chap (talk) 19:16, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

• You could replaced ref 28 with the actual study   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Removed.

• "A number of families are known only from fossils, including" including makes it sound like there're more you haven't listed   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  17:40, 26 January 2020 (UTC)

Removed.

• This image or this of a male scale insect may be good to have, and one with ants like this or this. The picture in the taxobox is like 90% background, so maybe use something like this, this, this, or this   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  00:50, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Done.

The new taxobox image makes me think of the shelves of a medicine cabinet! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 11:10, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

• ref 8 is missing authors and year

Authors added, year was there.

• refs 6 and 8 are the same book just with different page numbers   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  16:50, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

The chapters are all by different authors... added authors for both.

• Is citing encyclopedia britannica a good practice? The Soft Scale Insects books talks about the wax of Ceroplastes on 318   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  16:50, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Replaced. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:40, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

• Is ref 23 citing something else which made the cladogram?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  16:50, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

There's a cladogram there as Figure 6.

• Looking at the bibliography for Soft Scale Insects, there seems to be a lot of academic sources on scale insects so you don't need to turn to web sources   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  16:50, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

The trouble with academic sources is that the research study is often about a single species, often under particular conditions, and you need a secondary source to extrapolate the information as applicable to wider groups of organisms. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:49, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

• I've never heard of the Neocomian before, do people widely use that?   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  18:01, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Ridiculous, good catch. Cretaceous.

I thought they appeared in the Triassic   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  19:45, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Yes for the Coccomorpha. I guess it makes good sense to use that.

• In the lead, maybe instead of "Adult males, if present..." you say in a separate sentence "Some species are hermaphrodites"   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  02:23, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Added.

• Is a creature which only eats sap considered an herbivore? I thought there was a specific word for it (but I might be wrong)   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  02:23, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

People just say sap-feeder, not sure that's any improvement. Of course that's 100% herb.

• You should link to carmine instead of cochineal when referring to the dye   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  02:23, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Done.

• gloss halteres (the importance of "to the point where they are referred to as halteres" is kinda lost)   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  02:25, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Done.

• "from the female" strange wording when referring to hermaphrodites   User:Dunkleosteus77 |push to talk  02:25, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Reworded.