Palaealeurodicus machili (Takahashi) 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 : 51

Palaealeurodicus machili (Takahashi) comb. nov.

(Fig. 80)

Aleurodicus machili Takahashi, 1931: 208 . Syntypes, Taiwan [TARI, not examined].

Aleurodicus formosanus Takahashi, 1932: 7 . Syntypes, Taiwan [TARI, not examined]. Synonymised by Mound & Halsey, 1978: 234.

Aleurodicus philomenae David, 1987: 1247 . Holotype puparium, India (Maharashtra) [depository not stated, not examined]. Synonymised by David & Selvakumaran, 1990: 139.

DISTRIBUTION. Oriental Region – Hong Kong, India, Taiwan.

MATERIAL EXAMINED (all BMNH). Puparia , third-instar nymphs and adult females from several samples, Hong Kong, on Litsea and Machilus species, 1990 -2003 (Martin); 4 puparia, 3 adult males, 2 adult females, Taiwan, 1986 & 2006 (Ko) .

COMMENTS. This species is common on Machilus , Litsea and some other members of the Lauraceae in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the immature stages tend to develop against the lower midribs of leaves, and is also recorded from India. This species will probably prove to be more widely distributed in the more temperate parts of the Oriental Region.

The synonymy of formosanus with machili arose because Takahashi had described a third-instar nymph as formosanus , mistakenly regarding it as a puparium of a distinct species ( Mound & Halsey, 1978). The synonymy of A. philomenae with A. machili was drawn to the attention of David & Selvakumaran by Louise Russell (USNM), as they acknowledged in their short communication (1990).