Buchnericoccus

Wu, Bo-Wen & Wu, San-An, 2018, Are the monophlebid genera Drosichoides Morrison and Buchnericoccus Reyne synonyms? (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Monophlebidae), Zootaxa 4497 (2), pp. 285-294 : 291-293

Buchnericoccus sp.

Adult female ( Figs 2, 3 and 5 )

Material examined. One adult female, MALAYSIA: Borneo , Sabah, Keningau district , Mount Trus Madi , Jungle Girl Camp. N5.4430, E116.4512; 1182m; Shi H.L. & Liu Y., 2016. IV.28 night, on trunk of unknown broadleaved tree.

Unmounted material. Body broadly elliptical, slightly convex on dorsum, flattened on venter, orangeyellowish but color on thoracic venter lighter. Antennae, legs and mouthparts reddish brown. Ventral cicatrices dark, numbering 3. Dorsum covered by 6 longitudinal rows of white wax processes, marginal rows with 12 pairs and submarginal rows with 11 pairs of large, flat wax processes; submedian row with 10 transverse wax bands. Venter covered by a layer of wax powder, thicker on head and thorax than on abdomen.

Slide-mounted material. Body ovoid, 17.9 mm long, 9.3 mm wide, posterior end rounded. Derm membranous but some sclerotized spots or strips present on submarginal area and thoracic venter. Entire body surface with dense setae and loculate pores. Antennae 10-segmented, 2576 µm long; each antennal segment with many short setae, each 75–130 µm long; apical segment nearly parallel-sided, longest, 632 µm long, 140 µm wide; scape broadest, 363 µm long, 415 µm wide; pedicel 247 µm long, 250 µm wide, with a campaniform sensillum near apex; third segment approximately cylindrical, 249 µm long, 245 µm wide; fourth to ninth segments each drum-like, segment lengths (µm): IV 163, V 165, VI 175, VII 176, VIII 213 and IX 225; segment widths (µm): IV 243, V 230, VI 207, VII 191, VIII 189 and IX 163. Eyes circular, 213 µm wide, with lens 98 µm wide, situated laterad of scape. Mouthparts developed, labium two-segmented, with setae at apex. Thoracic spiracles large, each 598 µm wide, with a small group of loculate pores within atrium; abdominal spiracles numbering 7 pairs, small, each 51 µm wide, without loculate pores within atrium. Legs developed, subequal in length: prothoracic leg I 4850 µm; mesothoracic leg II 5520 µm; metathoracic leg III 6070 µm long. Coxa lengths: I 542 µm; II 625 µm; III 675 µm; trochanter + femur lengths: I 1990 µm; II 2155 µm; III 2320 µm; tibia lengths: I 1570 µm; II 1825 µm; III 1987 µm; widest part of tibia 270–280 µm wide; tarsus lengths I 750 µm; II 875 µm; III 975 µm; each about 170 µm wide; claw lengths I 198 µm; II 220 µm; III 238 µm. Each coxa with about 32 short setae, each 701–853 µm long, plus 1–3 long setae, each about 165 µm long; each trochanter with 3 campaniform sensilla on each surface, and with 20–30 short setae, each 60–80 µm long, and distally with 1 trochanteral seta about 765 µm long. Femur, tibia and tarsus each with many setae, each 40–90 µm long, with setae on inner side spine-like. Tarsus slightly curved, with a campaniform sensilla at outer side near tibia. Claw without denticle, each with a pair of setose digitules, shorter than the claw. Vulva with a transverse opening, about 1095 µm wide. Anal tube sclerotized, 242 µm long, 237 µm wide. Neither anal ring nor any pores are seen, perhaps it was lost in slide-mounting. Ventral cicatrices numbering 3, present behind vulva, with a dense cover of long setae and multilocular pores surrounding them; middle cicatrix largest (812 µm long), usually elongate and constricted at middle; outer cicatrices smaller (526 µm long) and reniform.

Dorsum. densely covered with 4 types of setae: (i) enlarged spiniform setae ( Fig. 5K ), each short (45–52 µm long), bottle-shaped, forming 24 marginal, 22 submarginal and 10 median dense clusters; (ii) short-flagellate setae ( Fig. 5B ), each 65–85 µm long, present between spiniform setae-clusters; (iii) hair-like setae ( Fig. 5I ) each 249– 271 µm long with a narrow basal socket, few, sparsely scattered on same area as (ii); and (iv) stout hair-like setae ( Fig. 5O ), each 721–806 µm long, present densely in anal area. Loculate pores of 4 types present: (i) pore with a circular center, and 6 outer loculi ( Fig. 5 N ), each pore 10 µm in diameter, numerous, distributed throughout dorsum except in anal area, abundant among setae between spine groups but scarce within spine groups; (ii) pore with a circular center and 12 outer loculi ( Fig. 5P ), each about 12 µm in diameter, abundant in anal area; (iii) pore with an oval center and 2 outer loculi ( Fig. 5Q ), each 12 µm wide, with not more than 10 pores in 2 small groups on submarginal area posterior to anus; and (iv) small-convex pore ( Fig. 5L ), each 7 µm in diameter, 15 µm long, distributed among each spine cluster.

Venter. Setae of 4 types present, as follows: (i) short-flagellate setae ( Fig. 5B ), each mainly 62–68 µm long, densely distributed on head, thorax and abdominal segments II–III; (ii) flagellate setae ( Fig. 5J ), each 92–106 µm long, abundant in marginal and submarginal areas of abdominal segments IV–VIII; (iii) hairs ( Fig. 5H ), each 155– 165 µm long, distributed on median area of abdominal segments IV–VIII, longest around vulva; and (iv) hair-like setae ( Fig. 5I ) each 233–245 µm long with a narrow basal socket, with a total of 2 pairs, 1 pair on margins of each of the posterior 2 segments. Loculate pores of 3 types: (i) pore with a circular center and 5 outer loculi (fig. 5F), each 15–17 µm in diameter, densely distributed on abdominal segments II and III and along margin of abdomen, forming a wide circular band on abdomen; (ii) pore with a circular center and 4 outer loculi ( Fig. 5G ), each 14–16 µm wide, present in median area of abdomen; and (iii) multilocular pore ( Fig. 5D ), each 9 µm in diameter, with a circular center and 6–9 outer loculi, densely distributed on head and thorax.

Remarks. We have had much difficulty in identifying this adult female. Here we consider it to be a species of the genus Buchnericoccus due to the presence of ten-segmented antennae, thoracic spiracles with pores in the atrium, abdominal spiracles without pores, absence of large marginal tubular pores and, especially, bottle-shaped setae arranged in groups on the dorsum. Within the genus Buchnericoccus , the current specimens are close to B. reynei Gavrilov-Zimin (Gavrilov-Zimin, 2018) , but differ from B. reynei in that the loculate pores on abdominal venter each have 4 or 5 outer loculi, whereas the loculate pores on B. reynei each have 6 outer loculi. Also, the dorsal and ventral pores of B. reynei are much more densely distributed than those of the specimen described here.

Discussion. As indicated in the Introduction, D. haematoptera is only known from the original description of the adult male, whilst the male of Buchnericoccus has never been described. The two adult males and the single female described above were collected from the same locality (namely MALAYSIA: Borneo, Sabah, Keningau district, Mount Trus Madi, Jungle Girl Camp) and on consecutive days (the females on 28 April 2016 and the males on 29 April 2016), in an area of not more than 100 m 2. Dr. Wei-Wei Zhang, an amateur entomologist who has collected insect specimens in this camp during the summer season for 4 years, told SAW that he has seen only one kind of adult male and one kind of adult female in that locality, and that these were superficially similar to Drosicha corpulenta , with which he is familiar. Here we consider that it is very likely that the adult males are referable to Drosichoides haematoptera and that the adult female is closely related to Buchnericoccus reynei . However, we also consider that they are the male and female of the same species, particularly as both are exceptionally large. If these two species are indeed conspecific, then the genus Buchericoccus Reyne would be a junior synonym of genus Drosichoides Morrison , and therefore Morrison’s classification of the Monophlebidae would need to be revised since, in Morrison’s system, genus Drosichoides is in the tribe Drosichini and genus Buchnericoccus is in the tribe Monophlebini. Nevertheless, field observations on copulation or molecular work are needed to test this suggestion.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Morphology of the adult female of Buchnericoccus sp. Details: A: antenna; B: short-flagellate seta; C: thoracic spiracle; D: multilocular pores; E: metathoracic tarsus and claw; F: 5-locular pore; G: 4-locular pore; H: hair; I: hair-like seta; J: flagellate seta; K: enlarged spiniform seta; L: small-convex pore; M: abdominal spiracle; N: 6-locular pore; O: stout hair-like seta; P: 12-locular pore; Q: 2-locular pore.

FIGURES 1–3. Habitus photographs of adult male of Drosichoides?haematoptera (Cockerell) (1) and adult female of Buchnericoccus sp., dorsal (2) and ventral (3) views. Photos by Wei-Wei Zhang.