Saissetia miranda (Cockerell & Parrott in Cockerell, 1899)

(Figs 49, 50)

Lecanium oleae mirandum Cockerell & Parrott in Cockerell, 1899: 12 .

Diagnosis. Marginal setae mostly with bifid or fimbriate apices (Fig. 50F); with 17–23 setae present between anterior and posterior stigmatic clefts on each side (Fig. 49E). Venter with multilocular disc-pores abundant around vulvar area, plus a few pores present laterad of metacoxa (Fig. 50I); tubular ducts each with a narrow inner ductule, present in submarginal areas (Figs 49C, 50L) (partially adopted from Williams & Watson 1990; Choi & Lee 2017b).

Material examined. 5 ♀♀, LAOS, Wattay International Airport, Sikhottabong Dist., Vientiane Capital, 30.iv.2015, coll. J.Y. Choi, on Dieffenbachia seguine (Jacq.) Schott (Araceae) .

Hosts. Polyphagous. According to García Morales et al. (2016), S. miranda has been recorded from plants belonging to 58 genera in 26 families.

Distribution. All zoogeographical regions; Oriental Region (India, Indonesia and Taiwan) (García Morales et al. 2016); Laos (new country record).

Economic importance. Dean & Hart (1972) considered S. miranda to be a potential pest of citrus in Texas, and it was described as a common pest of ornamental plants in Florida (Hamon & Williams 1984).

Remarks. Saissetia miranda was synonymized with S. oleae (Olivier) but was subsequently reinstated as a valid species based on the different numbers of marginal setae (De Lotto 1969). It has 17–23 marginal setae between anterior and posterior stigmatic clefts on each side, whereas S. oleae has only 5–13 setae in this position.