Tanyscelis grallator Hardy & Gullan

Hardy, Nate B. & Gullan, Penny J., 2010, Australian gall-inducing scale insects on Eucalyptus: revision of Opisthoscelis Schrader (Coccoidea, Eriococcidae) and descriptions of a new genus and nine new species, ZooKeys 58, pp. 1-74 : 24-25

Tanyscelis grallator Hardy & Gullan sp. n. Fig. 2e13

Gall

(Fig. 2e). Female. On leaf. Thorn-like, height 2.2-3.0 mm, width 3.0-4.8 mm, length of basal attachment 5.0-6.0 mm. Gall opening slit-like, 0.5-0.8 mm long; on adaxial leaf surface for several galls examined. Base broad and globose with circular scar; apex tapering to blunt point. Live adult females of Tanyscelis grallator have white powdery wax in a band across dorsum of each body segment, with intersegmental areas bare of wax. The female is small in relation to the size of the gall cavity and eggs are laid into the cavity, which can become filled.

Male. Not known.

Adult female

(Fig. 13) (n = 10). Body turbinate, head, thorax, and anterior abdominal segments with intersegmental boundaries indistinct along margin, intersegmental boundaries incised along posterior abdominal margin; body length 2.4-2.7 mm, greatest width 1.7-2.0 mm; abdomen tapered, about as long as head + thorax, not extending beyond outstretched femur. Large (115-215 mm long), papilliform fleshy protuberance on each side of head in place of eyes; apex of each protuberance with differentiated area, sometimes surrounded by invagination. Antennae each 1-segmented, 55-88 mm long. Frontal lobes difficult to see, each 125-255 µm long, 145-245 µm wide. Tentorial box 310-410 mm long. Labium 88-113 mm long, 68-93 mm wide. Pump chamber 30-38 µm long, 30-38 µm wide. Spiracles 83-128 mm long, 53-73 mm wide across atrium. Fore leg 43-88 µm long; mid leg 68-163 µm long. Hind leg slender and elongate; coxa cylindrical, 520-630 µm long, trochanter + femur 770-960 µm long, tibia 1200-1900 µm long, tarsus 255-420 µm long; translucent pores dense on both surfaces of tibia, few on tarsus; trochanter with 2 campaniform sensilla on each side; femur-tibia articulation functional; claw and digitules present but reduced. Anal opening 10-20 µm wide, without distinct sclerotic anal ring.

Dorsum. Derm weakly sclerotised, densely beset with small papillae; a conical to papilliform protuberance medially on each thoracic segment and on abdominal segment I, and a similar protuberance on each submargin of thoracic segments I and II, smaller protuberances may be present on each submargin of anterior abdominal segments. Dorsal setae flagellate, 25-212 mm long; arranged in a transverse row across each abdominal segment, scattered over surface of head and thorax; setae increasing in length caudad. Macrotubular ducts 6-12 mm long, dermal orifice with rim 4-5 mm wide; in transverse row across each abdominal segment, scattered over head and thorax. Microtubular ducts absent. Quinquelocular pores absent.

Venter. Derm with microtrichia on abdomen. Oral lobes membranous. Setae 68-200 mm long, in a transverse row across each abdominal segment, along margin of head and thorax. Macrotubular ducts absent. Quinquelocular pores large, 8-10 µm in diameter, similar in distribution to ventral setae.

Material examined.

Holotype (here designated): AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 1 adult female (2.4 mm long, 2.0 mm wide): ex conical gall on leaf, Eucalyptus sp., 29 km N of Normanton, -17.47°; 141.18°, 1 Oct., 2006, LGC, LGC00666 (ANIC).

Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 2 adult females: ex leaf gall, Eucalyptus sp. (ironbark), 13 km N of Injune, 7 Dec., 1993, LGC (ANIC); 1 adult female: ex Eucalyptus sp., Charters Towers, Oct., 1955, ARB, INSECOLL 0-067153 (QDPI); 1 adult female: ex Eucalyptus crebra , Clermont, Nov., 1938,INSECOLL 0-067159 (QDPI); 3 adult females: ex leaf galls, Eucalyptus sp. (ironbark), Dunmore State Forest, 2 May, 1995, G. Harper (ANIC); 4 adult females: ex leaves, Eucalyptus crebra , Emu Vale, 15 Mar., 1939, INSECOLL 0-067161, 0-067162 (QDPI); 1 adult female: ex gall, Eucalyptus crebra , Mt Walsh Nat. Park, picnic ground, 267 m, -25.57°; 152.05°, 11 Oct., 2003, LGC and M. D. Crisp, LGC00029 (ANIC); 1 adult female: no data, INSECOLL 0-067168 (QDPI).

Comments.

Adult females of Tanyscelis grallator are most similar to those of Tanyscelis mollicornuta . Most distinctively, adult females of both species have flesh y protuberances in place of eyes. These protuberances are much longer on Tanyscelis mollicornuta (≥ length of hind tarsus) than on Tanyscelis grallator (<< length of hind tarsus), which has additional protuberances along the dorsal midline plus the submargin of the thorax. Each protuberance on the head of Tanyscelis grallator has the apex much more differentiated than the similar protuberances of Tanyscelis mollicornuta , and it seems possible that this area is light sensitive. Adult females of Tanyscelis grallator can be distinguished further from those of Tanyscelis mollicornuta by having much longer hind legs, each with a cylindrical coxa (more conical in Tanyscelis mollicornuta ), and the ratio of the hind trochanter + femur to tibia + tarsus << 1 (ca 1 in Tanyscelis mollicornuta ). Tanyscelis mollicornuta is known from only one location, in Queensland, east of Western Creek State Forest, near Milmerran. Samples of Tanyscelis grallator have been collected from five locations in Queensland, including a collection from the eastern edge of Kumbarilla State Forest, <50 km to the north of Milmerran. Tanyscelis mollicornuta and Tanyscelis grallator have only been found on eucalypts in the subgenus Adnataria .

Etymology.

The species name is derived from the Latin word grallator, meaning 'stilt walker’, in reference to the extremely long, slender legs of the adult female. The name is a noun in apposition.