Trialeurodes floridensis (Quaintance), 1915

Martin, Jon H., 2005, Whiteflies of Belize (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Part 2 - a review of the subfamily Aleyrodinae Westwood, Zootaxa 1098 (1), pp. 1-116 : 57

Trialeurodes floridensis (Quaintance)

(Figs 65, 73–74, 127–128)

Aleurodes floridensis, Quaintance, 1900: 26–27 . Syntypes, USA (Florida).

Trialeurodes floridensis (Quaintance) Quaintance & Baker, 1915 : xi.

DISTRIBUTION. Neotropical Region: Venezuela, and widely distributed across the Caribbean and Central America; Nearctic Region: southern USA.

COMMENTS. Russell (1948) divided the North American species of Trialeurodes into six discrete groups. The T. floridensis ­group still comprises the eight species, four of them newly described, treated by Russell. The group is recognised by the presence of a single, even, outer submarginal ring of close­set papillae, each with a pore at its base, a tough gelatinous puparial covering (Fig. 128) that is resistant to all preparation chemicals (see comments on Tegmaleurodes , p. 48), and leg­bases with only minute setae (Fig. 74).

In Belize, it is considered that the group is represented by T. floridensis and T. vitrinellus (Cockerell) (q.v.), as well as several forms that are probably undescribed species within this group. Species of Trialeurodes are known to exhibit environmentallyinduced puparial variation, and precise species definition within the Belizean T. floridensis ­group will require further studies. Provisionally, there appear to be at least four unidentified species in this group, Trialeurodes spp 1 , 4, 5 and 6 on the check list (Appendix 1). Several samples, all them slightly differing from each other, most closely resemble T. intermedia Russell (being devoid of dorsal disc tubercles), and are grouped under Trialeurodes sp. 1 in Appendix 1. Belize Trialeurodes species 4 , 5 & 6 are more distinctive, typical of the T. floridensis ­group, but do not appear to belong to described species.