Kermicus Newstead, 1897

Wu, San-An, Huang, Shaobin & Liang, Chuanguan, 2020, Description of a new species of Kermicus Newstead (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha Pseudococcidae) from bamboo in southeast China, Zootaxa 4859 (3), pp. 440-450 : 441-442

Genus Kermicus Newstead, 1897

Kermicus Newstead, 1897:170 .

Type species. Kermicus wroughtoni Newstead, 1897 .

Generic diagnosis modified from Williams (2004). Body of adult female rotund, hemispherical, becoming heavily sclerotized with maturity. Anal lobes absent. Antennae plate-like. Eyes absent. Clypeolabral shield of mouthparts with long internal anterior extension. Legs absent; positions of hind legs each indicated by sac-like area containing numerous duct-like pores. Spiracles well developed. Circulus and ostioles absent. Anal ring complete, circular, bearing pores and more than 15 setae, situated on dorsum well anterior to apex of abdomen. Vulva slit-like, opening directed posteriorly. Dorsum with dense long slender setae, especially on medial area. Trilocular and discoidal pores abundant on both surfaces. Multilocular disc pores numerous on venter and a few present on dorsum. Oral rim tubular ducts and oral collar ducts absent.

Body of first-instar nymph broadly oval. Anal lobes not developed. Antennae each 6-segmented. Eyes present. Legs well developed, tarsal and claw digitules present, knobbed. Circulus present. Single pore-like structure present lateral to each hind coxa. Ostioles present or absent. Anal ring complete, bearing more than 15 setae, situated on dorsum anterior to apex of abdomen. Setae flagellate, abundant on both surfaces but particularly so in medial area of dorsum. Trilocular and discoidal pores scattered amongst body setae. Multilocular disc pores, oral rim tubular ducts and oral collar ducts absent.

Relationships. Williams (2004) considered the genus Kermicus to be closely related to genus Chaetococcus Maskell, 1898 . In the tribe Serrolecaniiini , adult females were described by Hendricks and Kosztarab (1999) for Chaetococcus bambusae (Maskell) , Idiococcus bambusae Takahashi & Kanda , Serrolecanium tobai (Kuwana) , Porisaccus jiuhuaensis (Wu) and Tangicoccus elongatus (Tang) , the type species respectively of the genera Chaetococcus Maskell , Idiococcus Takahashi & Kanda, 1939 , Porisaccus Hendricks & Kosztarab, 1999 , Serrolecanium Shinji, 1935 and Tangicoccus Kozár & Walter respectively, and Kermicus wroughtoni by Williams (2004), the type species of genus Kermicu s. The first-instar nymphs were described by Yang & Kosztarab (1967) for Chaetococcus bambusae ; by Tang (1984) for Idiococcus maanshanensis Tang & Wu ; by Williams (2004) for K. wroughtoni ; and by Wu (2005) for Porisaccus jiuhuaensis . Based on the morphologies of the adult female and first-instar nymph described in the literature, here we suggest that the genera Idiococcus Takahashi & Kanda and Porisaccus Hendricks & Kosztarab are more closely related to Kermicus than is Chaetococcus , since I. maanshanensis , P. jiuhuaensis and K. wroughtoni share with the following features: (1) adult female lacking tubular ducts and possessing a bag-like or sac structure densely covered with duct-like pores in the position of each hind leg; (2) first-instar nymphs all having the same trilocular pore structure ( Tang, 1984; Hendricks and Kosztarab, 1999; Wu, 2005). In contrast, the adult female of Ch. bambusae has a plate-like structure in the position of each hind leg instead of a bag-like structure, and the first-instar nymph has a different trilocular pore structure from that found in K. wroughtoni (Yang & Kosztarab, 1967) . In the future, DNA analysis data will help to clarify these relationships. Currently very few specimens of these taxa have been sequenced, but see the last paragraph of the Dsicussion following the descriptions.