Orthezia urticae

Orthezia urticae is a species of scale insect in the family Ortheziidae.

Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus under the original name. Taxon was then moved to the genus together with, , , , , , , and others.

Distribution
Palearctic realm: northern Eurasia and northern Africa (except deserts) from Western Europe to Algeria, Morocco, China and Turkmenistan. In Russia it is present in: Kamchatka Krai, Primorsky Krai, Sakhalin Oblast, Kuril Islands and Tyumen Oblast.

Description
Small lamellar insects. From above, the back of females is oval and covered with six white wax plates. The wax coating is rounded. The anatomy of males and larvae are not well known. The insects have 7-8 pairs of abdominal spiracles. Found on stems and leaves, they feed on the juices of various herbaceous plants, such as nettle, wormwood, bergenia, spirea and many others (wide polyphagy).