Aonidia montikoghis, Hardy, Nate B. & Williams, Douglas J., 2018

Hardy, Nate B. & Williams, Douglas J., 2018, Doubling the known endemic species diversity of New Caledonian armored scale insects (Hemiptera, Diaspididae), ZooKeys 782, pp. 11-47 : 11

Aonidia montikoghis sp. n. Figure 2a, b

Material examined.

Holotype: New Caledonia: 1 adult female (0.49 mm long, 0.28 mm wide): ex? Metrosideros sp., Mt. Koghia [sic], 5.x.1978, leg JS Dugdale, BM 19 13 (NHMUK). Paratypes: New Caledonia: 3 adult females and exuviae of 3 second-instars (i.e., puparia) on five slides: same data as holotype, BM 19 13 (NHMUK, USNM, MNHN).

Description.

Adult female, n = 4. Pupillarial. Body 0.48-0.51 mm long, broadest at anterior abdominal segments (0.28-0.31 mm); outline roughly fusiform, posterior margin truncate.

Pygidium without differentiated lobes. Dorsum of pygidium becoming more sclerotic from anterior to posterior end, membranous patches of cuticle in anterior half, narrow linear furrows of membranous cuticle near and perpendicular to posterior margin. Anus circular (~ 11 μm in diameter), near anterior edge of the pygidium. No ducts detected. Venter of pygidium with vulva in anterior half. No perivulvar pores. A few setae scatted along dorsal and ventral submargin and medial areas.

Prepygidial segments Dorsum with fine, hair-like setae, scattered along margin, few also present on medial areas of abdomen. Ducts absent. On venter, small setae in loose longitudinal submedial and submarginal lines across abdominal segments. No ducts or pores present. Antennae each with two fleshy setae. No pores present near spiracles.

Puparium (cuticle of second-instar female) (Figure 2c). Pygidium with only medial lobes, each with lateral notch on apex. Anus circular in anterior half of pygidium. Two-barred macroducts on margin, four on each side, posterior three ducts stemming from distinct pore prominence. A basal sclerosis extending from inner edge of each L1 on each side of body, converging medially to form a triangular carina. One simple gland spine just mesal of second pore prominence, and another just mesal of the third. Few microducts present in submarginal area.

Comments.

The adult female of A. montikoghis shows little that can be used to make a generic assignment. The second-instar female / puparium is of more use. The pygidium of the second-instar female is most similar to that of the Australian species Alioides tuberculatus (Laing). That also has (1) a triangular carina diverging from the inner edges of the medial lobes, (2) only the medial pygidial lobes present, (3) two-barred marginal macroducts, each stemming from a distinct pore process, and (4) no other dorsal macroducts on the pygidium ( Brimblecombe 1958). The adult female of A. tuberculatus is not pupillarial, but unpublished DNA-sequenced based phlogeny estimates recover Alioides nested within the pupillarial genus Aonidia (B. Normark pers. comm.). Thus, Aonidia seems to be the best fit for this species.

Etymology.

The species epithet is taken from the specimens’ provenance, Mount Koghis. It is also meant to reflect that this species, like the type species, is known from a mountain on an island. The name is a noun in apposition.