Aleurodicus spectabilis, Martin, 2008

Martin, Jon H., 2008, A revision of Aleurodicus Douglas (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae), with two new genera proposed for palaeotropical natives and an identification guide to world genera of Aleurodicinae, Zootaxa 1835 (1), pp. 1-100 : 42-43

Aleurodicus spectabilis sp. nov.

(Figs 50, 51)

PUPARIUM. Habitus. Not known. Margin. Outline oval, 1.42–1.45 mm long, 1.07–1.14 mm wide, generally widest at abdominal segment II (n=3). Margin smooth but immediately within margin lies a single row of almost contiguous crescent-shaped glands (Fig. 50). Dorsum. Longitudinal moulting suture reaching puparial margin; transverse moulting sutures terminating in subdorsum anterior to abdominal segment III compound pores. Abdominal segment VII extremely reduced medially such that only 7 abdominal segments readily apparent anterior to vasiform orifice. Vasiform orifice cordate, wider than long; operculum rounded-trapezoidal, its posterior margin very slightly convex, bearing a pair of fine setae which are not obscured by sides of lingula; lingula head tongue-shaped, densely covered by seta-like spinules, bearing the normal 4 stout setae; lingula (Fig. 51) extending about two-thirds of distance from posterior edge of vasiform orifice towards puparial margin. Chaetotaxy. A pair of posterior marginal setae and pair of eighth abdominal setae present, similar to 12 pairs of submarginal setae (including the nominal caudal pair), all long and fine, caudal pair up to 130 µ long; single submedian pairs of pro-, meso- and metathoracic setae present, minute, no more than 12 µ in length, but cephalic submedian pair absent. Pores. Cephalic compound pores similar to anteriormost 4 pairs of abdominal compound pores which are maximally 40–50 µ in outer diameter, each with a dagger-shaped axial process extending beyond pore mouth; posteriormost 2 pairs of abdominal compound pores, on segments VII and VIII (Fig. 51), extremely small, 12–18 µ in maximum diameter. Mesal to marginal crescentshaped glands, submargin is punctuated by a broad band of very large double-rimmed 8-shaped septate pores (20–25 µ in longest dimension), these pores mostly in 3 distinct ranks (Fig. 50); remainder of dorsal disc (except area immediately surrounding vasiform orifice, the median part of posterior abdominal segments, and areas surrounding cicatrices) crowded with large notched pores (Fig. 50), with the notched nature of the pores most evident in more median areas; a few minute bright simple pores present adjacent to small compound pores on abdominal segments VII and VIII. Venter. Ventral abdominal setae similar to dorsal submarginals. Legs typically robust and two-segmented, smooth, each with a pronounced apical claw. Antennal apices extending to, their bases anterolateral to fore legs, pointed apically. Tracheal folds absent.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Holotype puparium, BRAZIL, Minas Gerais, Vicosa, on satsuma citrus (Rutaceae) , 10.v.1932 (E. J. Hambleton #858) ( USNM). Paratypes: 2 puparia, same data as holotype, on same slide.

ETYMOLOGY. The specific epithet is the Latin word spectabilis , the dictionary meaning given as “worth looking at”.

COMMENTS. The puparia of A. spectabilis are large for a species of Aleurodicus and the submarginal ranks of large double-rimmed 8-shaped septate pores, combined with very crowded notched pores on the dorsal disc, render the species readily recognisable. Despite the large size, and despite the presence of a pair of submedian prothoracic setae, this species may belong to the dispersus- group, with many large notched pores on the dorsal disc, extremely small compound pores on abdominal segments VII and VIII (reminiscent of the single tiny pair on segment VII of flavus ), and with the cephalothoracic submedian setae very much smaller than remainder of dorsal setae.