Antecerococcus indicus (Maskell)

Hodgson, Chris, 2020, A review of neococcid scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) based on the morphology of the adult males, Zootaxa 4765 (1), pp. 1-264 : 173-176

Antecerococcus indicus (Maskell) ( Fig. 68 )

Eriococcus paradoxus indica Maskell 1897, 318 . Type data: India, Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur, on Helicteres isora . Syntypes,

female, by subsequent designation. Type depository: NZAC, BMNH. Cerococcus hibisci Green 1908, 19 . Type data: India, Maharashtra, Bombay, on Hibiscus sp., Bengal, Pusa, on Gossypium , by

H.M. Lefroy. Syntypes, female. Type depository: BMNH. Junior synonym, Lambdin & Kosztarab 1977, 120. Cerococcus indicus (Maskell) ; Green 1910, 5. Change of combination and rank. Phenacobryum indicus (Maskell) ; Borchsenius 1960, 111. Change of combination. Antecerococcus indicus (Maskell) ; Hodgson & Williams 2016, 58 –62. Change of combination.

Material examined. India, Anakopalli, ex Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Malvaceae) , let. Dec. 9 1929, E.E. Green ( USNM, 31–505): 1/1ad ♂ (poor, just moulted into adult stage, wings still not expanded and with mesothorax badly damaged. Nonetheless, many important details visible.)

Mounted material: quite small, total body length about 1.15 mm; antennae rather short; body with very few setae, fleshy setae (fs) probably restricted to limbs, each short and thick and easily differentiated from hair-like setae (hs); length of fs on antennae about half width of antennal segments. Wings present but not yet fully expanded.

Head: appearing rather oval in dorsal view; width across genae about 250 μm. Median crest (mc) broadest posteriorly and reticulated throughout; with 0–2 fs + 6 or 7 hs dorsal head setae (dhs) but without simple pore-like structures; preoccipital ridge (por) small. Mid-cranial ridge: dorsal ridge (dmcr) rather long, almost joining ventral mid-cranial ridge anteriorly; ventral ridge (vmcr) extending from between antennae posteriorly more than half-way to ventral eyes; anteriorly with well-developed lateral arms (lmcr); with entire area laterad to vmcr and bounded by antennae and ocular sclerite polygonally reticulated; with a total of 3 fs ventral mid-cranial ridge setae (vmcrs) anterior to ocular sclerite. Genae (g) with distinct polygonal reticulations, each reticulation quite large and without inner microridges; genal setae (gs) absent. Eyes: two pairs of round, rather pronounced, simple eyes; dorsal eyes (dse) subequal in width to ventral eyes (vse), each 42 μm wide. Ocelli (o) absent. Ocular sclerite (ocs) sclerotised and polygonally reticulated throughout, each reticulation quite large, without inner microridges. Preocular ridge (procr) with ventral arm very short, but dorsal arm fusing with postocular ridge laterad to dorsal eyes. Postocular ridge (pocr) strongly developed, dividing just posterior to each dorsal eye; posterior ridge extending dorsomedially past posterior margin of each dorsal eye almost to preoccipital ridge, forming an interocular ridge (ior); anterior ridge extending anteriorly around simple eye and fusing with preocular ridge. Dorsal ocular setae (docs) absent. Without a strong sclerotised ridge extending posteriorly between ventral eyes. Ventral head setae (vhs): (total) 11–15 fs + 17–20 hs, found throughout ocular sclerite. Preoral ridge (pror): unknown. Cranial apophysis (ca) unclear but possibly rounded.

Antennae: 10-segmented and filiform; 476 μm long (ratio of total body length to antennal length 1:0.41). Scape (scp): 48 μm long, 33 μm wide, with 3 hs. Pedicel (pdc) rather large: length 58 μm, width 53 μm, with a few con- centric ridges; with 14 fs + 14 hs. Segments III–X all 23–27 μm wide: fs 13–17 μm long; lengths of segments (μm): III 65; IV 73; V 55; VI 50; VII 52; VIII 46 and IX 43; approximate number of setae per segment: III 13 fs + 5 hs + 1? sensilla basiconica; IV 20 fs + 2 hs; V 16 fs + 1 hs; VI 14 fs + 2 hs; VII 18 fs + 3 hs; VIII 9 fs + 3 hs + 1 antennal bristle (ab); IX: 12 fs + 4 hs + 1 ab. Segment X 46 μm long; not constricted apically; with 4 capitate setae (cap), 8 fs, 2 hs, 2 sensilla basiconica (sb) + 4 ab, fairly clearly differentiated.

Thorax. Prothorax: pronotal ridge (prnr) well-developed but not fused dorsally; possibly with a feint, striated, lateral pronotal sclerite (prn); without lateral pronotal (lpns) setae. Sternum (stn 1) and other details too damaged to identify.

Mesothorax: prescutum (prsc) probably about 153 μm long, 104 μm wide; sclerotised but not reticulated; prescutal ridges (pscr) and prescutal suture (pscs) well developed. Scutum (sct): median membranous area 132 μm wide, 45 μm long; probably with 1 pair hs scutal setae (scts); lateral margins sclerotised but not reticulated; prealar ridge (pra) quite well developed. Scutellum (scl) 145 μm wide, 70 μm long; with an inverted U-shaped scutellar ridge (sclr); probably not tubular but with a large foramen; scutellar setae (scls) absent. Basisternum (stn 2) 228 μm wide, about 132 μm long; without a median ridge (mdr), but bounded anteriorly by a strong marginal ridge (mr) and posteriorly by strong precoxal ridges (pcr 2); without basisternal setae (stn 2 s); lateropleurite (lpl) broad, with a fairly strong extension from marginal ridge anteriorly; furca (f) well developed, narrow-waisted, arms very divergent and extending about 2/3rds to marginal ridge. Mesopostnotum (pn 2) and postnotal apophysis (pna) well developed. Area bounded anteriorly by scutellum and laterally and posteriorly by mesopostnotum not sclerotised. Mesepisternum (eps 2) not reticulated; subepisternal ridge (ser) well developed. Postalare (pa) not reticulated anteriorly; without postalare setae (pas). Mesothoracic spiracle (sp 2): peritreme 23–25 μm wide. Postmesospiracular setae (pm 2 s) absent. Tegula (teg): well developed, with 6–8 hs tegular setae (tegs) on each side.

Metathorax: presence of metatergal setae (mts) uncertain. Dorsospiracular setae (dss) absent. Dorsal part of metapleural ridge (plr 3) absent and without a suspensorial sclerite (ss). Ventral part of metapleural ridge (plr 3) well developed; metepisternum (eps 3) unsclerotised, with 0 or 1 hs postmetaspiracular setae (eps 3 s) on each side. Metepimeron (epm 3) sclerotised but without setae. Antemetaspiracular setae (am 3 s) absent. Metathoracic spiracle (sp 3): width of peritreme 23 μm. Metasternum (stn 3) possibly membranous, possibly with a sclerotised ridge between anterior and posterior parts, without either anterior (amss) or posterior metasternal setae (pmss).

Wings: not fully expanded and therefore no details available. Hamulohalteres absent.

Legs: legs subequal in length. Coxae (cx): I 103–112; II 91–96; III 95–96 μm long; coxa III with 9–16 fs + 10 or 11 hs; long apical setae on each coxa 39–42 μm long. Trochanter (tr) + femur (fm): I 198–203; II 182–185; III 190–195 μm long; trochanter III with 1–3 fs + 6 or 7 hs; long trochanter seta apparently absent; femur III with 10–12 fs + 29–34 hs. Tibia (ti): I 161–170; II 166; III 178–182 μm; tibia III with a total of 60–68 setae, mainly fs and hs, a few becoming spur-like on distal third of leg; with one fairly thin apical spur (tibs), length 17–20 μm. Tarsi (ta): I, II and III each 120–124 μm long (ratio of length of tibia III to tarsus III 1:0.68); tarsus III with 63–72 setae, mainly spur-like; tarsal spurs barely differentiated, each 18–22 μm long; tarsal campani- form pore present; tarsal digitules (tdt) shorter than claw. Claws (c) quite long and thin, a little longer than width of tarsi, slightly curved, with a strong denticle; length: III 27μm; claw digitules (cdt) slightly longer than claw.

Abdomen: segments I–VII: tergites (at) and sternites (as) probably lightly sclerotised. Caudal extension (ce) of segment VII absent. Dorsal setae (ads) (totals): segments I 2 fs; II–VI setae absent; VII 0 or 1 fs. Pleural setae: dorsopleural setae (dps) (on each side): II & III each with 1 hs; IV–VII each with 2 hs; ventropleural setae (vps): absent. Ventral setae (avs) (totals): II 2 fs; III–VII each with 4 fs.

Segment VIII: tergite (at) slightly sclerotised, with 0 or 1 fs on each side (ante-anal setae (aas)?); sternite (as) more heavily sclerotised; with 4 or 5 fs ventral abdominal setae (avs); caudal extension (ce) rounded but with 1 fs dorsopleural seta and 2 ventropleural setae, one 91 μm long. Glandular pouches (gp) present, each with many discpores and two glandular pouch setae, one nearly twice length of other: long seta 224 μm, short seta 124–133 μm.

Genital segments: penial sheath (segment IX + style fused) forming a single triangular structure; total length from base of sternite VIII 124 μm; width near sternite VIII 95 μm (ratio of total body length to penial sheath length 1:0.11). Anteriorly, penial sheath broad; ventrally with sclerotised anterior and lateral borders and with a small basal membranous area (bma), divided by a basal rod (bra) into two lateral areas, each lateral area with 1 moderately long setose seta; posteriorly to basal membranous area with a line of 3 or 4 setae similar to that on bma and with 2 moderately long hs laterally on margin; dorsal surface with 3 long setose setae and 3 short setose setae on each side. Posteriorly, style rapidly tapering to a fine apex, sclerotised, particularly posteriorly. Basal rod (bra) very short, extending to margin of sternite VIII anteriorly: 22 μm long anterior to aedeagus and with no posterior extension. Aedeagus (aed) probably sword-shaped (but broken and deformed), lying in a groove in ventral surface of penial sheath, and extending almost to tip of style; length 88 μm (ratio of aedeagus length to anterior part of basal rod length 1:0.25). Style without short setae on each margin but with 5 small sensilla on either side near apex.

Comment. Although this specimen is rather badly damaged, it is clear that the male of A. indicus is basically similar to that of C. artemisiae described above, but differs in: head: (i) lacking small pores on median crest; (ii) ventral mid-cranial ridge present; (iii) presence of a preoccipital ridge; (iv) in having many more ventral head setae, particularly laterad to each ventral eye; (v) absence of a ridge between ventral eyes; (vi) fleshy setae on antennae much shorter than width of antennal segments, and (vii) bristles on antennae reasonably clear. Thorax: (i) legs with many more setae, but trochanter without a long trochanter seta; (ii) with many more tegular setae, and (iii) presence of a pair of hs on membranous area of scutum (the elongate shape of the prescutum might also be another difference, but the damage to the thorax might have modified its shape and that on C. artemisiae was folded and could be much longer than the measurements suggest). Abdomen: (i) presence of glandular pouches and glandular pouch setae, (ii) presence of caudal extensions on segment VIII; (iii) presence of a long ventropleural seta on each caudal extension of abdominal segment VIII; (iv) a greater number of ventral abdominal setae on segment VII; (v) penial sheath rather shorter; (vi) a different distribution of setae on penial sheath, including (vii) absence of short setae laterally on style. A. indicus is more similar to Antecerococcus ornatus , described below, except on the metathorax.

Figures

FIGURE 68. Antecerococcus indicus (Maskell). Macropterous male. (Cerococcidae). Where A=cranial apophysis and R=dermal reticulations on ocular sclerite.