Aleurodicus dugesii Cockerell

John H. Martin, 2004, Whiteflies of Belize (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Part 1 — introduction and account of the subfamily Aleurodicinae Quaintance & Baker, Zootaxa 681, pp. 1-86 : 22

Aleurodicus dugesii Cockerell

( Figs 4, 70)

Aleurodicus dugesii Cockerell, 1896: 302 . Syntypes, Mexico [examined].

Aleurodicus poriferus Sampson & Drews, 1941: 149 . Syntypes, Mexico [examined]. Syn. nov.

DISTRIBUTION. Neotropical Region — Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela; Nearctic Region — Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, Texas; Pacific Region — Hawaii.

COMMENTS. A. dugesii has recently gained similar notoriety to A. dispersus although not yet increasing its range as extensively. It causes direct feeding damage to crops, and also cosmetic problems on ornamental plants through the unsightly appearance of its own woolly­waxy secretions, its excreted honeydew and the sooty mould that grows on the honeydew. Although described from Mexico, and almost certainly a native of Central America, it is the recent movement of this species into the southern states of the U.S.A. and Hawaii that has raised its profile, provided it with a vernacular name, “giant whitefly”, and gained it much coverage in contempory Internet reports.

Sampson & Drews (1941) stated that their new species, A. poriferus , differed from A. dugesii in two characters. Firstly, the puparia of A. poriferus were stated to have “simple pores scattered over the dorsum”. Examination of two syntypes of A. poriferus (UCD), marked “ holotype ” and “ paratype ” (but such status not mentioned in the description), revealed septate pores scattered over the dorsal disc, with a band of crowded wide­rimmed pores occupying the submargin, the submarginal band’s mesal boundary lined by poorlydefined double­rimmed pores (Fig. 70), exactly as also seen in Cockerell’s type­locality (probably syntypic) material of A. dugesii in BMNH. Secondly, the large compound pores of A. poriferus were stated each to have an axial “long process” (Fig. 70) which is, in fact, a character also clearly seen in many specimens of the Cockerell material. It is clear that A. poriferus should be regarded as a junior synonym of A. dugesii syn. nov.