Formicococcus robustus (Ezzat & McConnell)

Joshi, Sunil, Jose, Bindu K., Gullan, Penny, Sajeev, T. V. & Anoop, E. V., 2020, A new species of mealybug (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) from Tectona grandis L. f. (Lamiaceae) in southern India, Zootaxa 4718 (3), pp. 391-400 : 393

Formicococcus robustus (Ezzat & McConnell) revived combination

Planococcoides robustus Ezzat & McConnell, 1956: 59 .

Indococcus pipalae Ali, 1967: 35 .

Dysmicoccus cucurbitae Avasthi & Shafee, 1986: 437 .

Planococcoides bengalensis Ghosh & Ghose, 1988: 604 .

Ferrisicoccus cucurbitae, Tang, 1992: 286 . Change of combination.

Ferrisicoccus psidii Mukhopadhyay & Ghose, 1994: 71 .

Formicococcus robustus Williams, 2004: 307 . Change of combination.

Paraputo robustus, Danzig & Gavrilov-Zimin 2015: 18 . Change of combination.

The species was described and illustrated by Ezzat & McConnell (1956) based on a single adult female found on mango, Mangifera indica L. ( Anacardiaceae ) imported into the U.S.A. from India and intercepted in New York. The four junior synonyms of this species are all based on specimens collected in India; for a full synonymy with collection data and depositories for type specimens, refer to ScaleNet ( García Morales et al. 2016). When Williams (2004) revised the genus Formicococcus , he examined many specimens of F. robustus from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and provided a revised description, two illustrations of the adult females from different collections, and discussed the morphology. Danzig & Gavrilov-Zimin (2015) transferred the species to Paraputo Laing because it has 6 anal ring setae; they restricted the definition of Formicococcus to species with more than 6 anal ring setae, although they transferred only two species of Formicococcus , viz., F. robustus and F. lingnani (known from India) to Paraputo . However, as discussed by Williams (2004) and Zhang & Wu (2017), the number of anal ring setae is not a robust genus-level character, especially as the number of setae can vary between the two sides of the anal ring. Furthermore, in both genera there are 6 basic anal ring setae and, if more are present, the extra setae are usually short and slender and variable in position. Adult females of Formicococcus and Paraputo are morphologically similar and these genera clearly are related, but have been distinguished by the presence ( Formicococcus ) or absence ( Paraputo ) of the anal lobe bar ( Williams 2004; Zhang & Wu 2017). Formicococcus robustus and the other seven species of this genus known from India each have anal lobe bars. The type species of Formicococcus , F. cinnamomi Takahashi , is from Taiwan ( Takahashi 1928; Ezzat & McConnell 1956; Tu et al. 1988), whereas the type species of Paraputo , now called P. anomalus (Newstead) , is from Africa (and was redescribed by Williams 1958).