Antonina, Signoret, 1875

Wu, San-An, Lu, Yuan & Nan, Nan, 2012, A review of the genus Antonina Signoret in China (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae), with description of a new species, Zootaxa 3514, pp. 27-42 : 28

ANTONINA Signoret, 1875

Antonina Signoret, 1875: 24 .

Type species: Antonia purpurea Signoret , by monotypy.

Generic diagnosis. Adult females of this genus can be distinguished by: body often globular, rounded posteriorly and sclerotized at maturity; anal ring with numerous pores and 6 setae, and usually situated at base of an anal tube; antennae reduced, 1–3 segmented; legs absent or greatly reduced, represented by pleural vestiges; vulva simple, directed ventrally; tubular ducts long and slender, with flange near inner end; multilocular, trilocular and discoidal pores usually present; disc-like pores usually present on submargin of abdominal venter, each disc-like pore often with a reticulate or granular surface, and with either a well-defined or obscure rim ( Hendricks & Kosztarab, 1999; Williams, 2001, 2004).

Antonina currently includes 28 species and has a worldwide distribution, but is particularly rich in the Oriental and Palaearctic Regions ( Ben-Dov, 2012). Almost all species infest Poaceae (including bamboos), principally occurring either between the leaf sheaths at the base of the culm near ground level, or under the bracts or leaf sheaths on the stems and branches.

This genus has a wide distribution in China, recorded from most provinces except Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning in northeast, and Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang in northwest. The northernmost collection locality is Xin Barag Zuoqi [48.13°N] in Inner Mongolia ( A. tesquorum ). Of these six provinces, only Xinjiang has been investigated in detail previously.

Of 12 species here recorded from China, only four are considered of economic importance. A. graminis causes much damage to introduced varieties of Cynodon dactylon such as Tifdoarf used for lawns in Fuzhou city, Fujian Province ( Song & Huang, 1997), and A. milleri , A. pretiosa and A. socialis are sometimes pests of ornamental bamboo in central China where heavy infestations can cause their decline and death ( Xu et al., 1983; unpublished material).