Paralecanium claviseta Hodgson

Chris J. Hodgson & Douglas J. Williams, 2018, Revision of the soft scale genus Paralecanium (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) with the introduction of three new genera and twenty new species, Zootaxa 4443 (1), pp. 1-162 : 86-88

Paralecanium claviseta Hodgson spec. n.

( Fig. 34 )

Material examined. Holotype and paratype ff: INDONESIA, Sulawesi Utara: left label: Paralecanium / claviseta / Hodgson / holotype & / paratype ff / gelatinous dorsal / coating; right label: ?? Malvaceae / Dumoga- Bone N. P. / SULAWESI UTARA: / approx. 1000m alt. / Gn. Mogogonipa / Summit / 21.v.1985 / J.H. Martin 4965 (BMNH): 1/3adff (fg, possibly fairly young specimens; holotype topmost specimen, clearly marked). Paratype f: Indonesia, Sulawesi Utara: left label: Paralecanium / claviseta / Hodgson / paratype f; right label: Dumoga-Bone N. P. / SULAWESI UTARA: / approx. 1008m alt. / Gunung Mogogonipa / Summit /? Malvaceae / 21.v.1985 / J.H. Martin 4965 (BMNH): 1/1adf (f, cloudy).

Note. The description is based on all 4 specimens.

Unmounted material. Body black (J. Martin, pers. comm.).

Slide-mounted adult female. Body oval, almost round. Length 2.2–2.5 mm, width 1.5–1.8 mm.

Dorsum. Derm fairly uniformly sclerotised, with a swirl-like pattern; areolations each 10–20 µm at their widest, present submarginally and submedially but absent medially; mature derm showing numerous minute pale spots. Marginal radial lines absent but indicated by pores and setae, with 11 lines anteriorly between anterior stigmatic clefts, possibly 1 from each stigmatic cleft, each side with 3 lines between clefts and 11 on abdomen. Abdominal clear areas absent. Dorsal setae very few but characteristic, each 11–12 µm long, narrow basally but quickly broadening, becoming narrowly bulbous; with a single seta in each marginal radial line, plus up to 7 in a line submedially between anal plates and a point dorsad to antennae; some of these setae occasionally missing. Large dorsal pores, each 5 µm wide with distinct micropores, present in loose submedial lines extending anterolaterally from anal plates to head, each band with 4–19 pores; smaller simple pores, each about 1.5 µm wide, frequent throughout, perhaps in a sparse polygonal pattern. Anal plates together a little longer than wide, each with perhaps 4 small setae near apex plus 0 or 1 small pore medially; plates 90–93 µm long, combined width 66–73 µm. Anogenital fold with 1 pair of small setae along anterior margin, each lateral margin with 1 seta anteriorly, 1 medially and 1 at posterior end. Anal ring setae each about 150 µm long.

Margin. Marginal ornamentation represented by a series of 3–5 elongate sclerotised blocks or thick radial lines between marginal setae. Marginal setae fan-shaped and mainly clearly oval; width of each fan 35–48 µm, length 23–25 µm; with 52–64 setae anteriorly between anterior stigmatic clefts, each side with 18–25 setae between stigmatic clefts, and 50–57 setae along abdominal margin. Stigmatic clefts rather shallow, each with a narrow opening and poorly sclerotised inner margin, usually with a single small stigmatic spine (12 clefts (75%) with 1 seta, 1 cleft without stigmatic spines and 3 clefts with 2 setae); each ‘median’ spine 15–17 µm long, more or less parallel-sided with a blunt apex; when 2 spines present, ‘lateral’ spine situated anterior to ‘median’ spine, 10–11 µm long. Eyespots extremely indistinct, each more or less round and about 17 µm wide.

Venter. With a broad dark marginal band, about 125–210 µm wide, with paler radial “riverlets”. Multilocular disc-pores present in bands on either side of genital opening and on preceding segment only, each side with 6–9 on abdominal segment VII and 13–20 on segment VI. Spiracular disc-pores present in a narrow band 1 pore wide between margin and each spiracle, with 17–26 in each band, of which 2 or 3 anterior to spiracle. Ventral microducts minute, sparse, probably present throughout but not concentrated near mouthparts. Ventral setae: with 2 pairs of interantennal setae; a pair of long setae in abdominal segment VII and pairs of slightly shorter setae medially in all other abdominal and thoracic segments; other setae small and sparse. Antennae well developed, each with 6 segments; total length 220–245 µm; apical segment 55–57 µm long; apical seta 20 µm long. Clypeolabral shield about 85–90 µm long. Spiracles small; width of each peritreme 16–18 µm. Legs well developed; dimensions of hind leg (µm): coxa 70–80, trochanter + femur 105–115, tibia 55–68 and tarsus 55–62; claw 12; tarsal digitules slightly longer than claw digitules, with capitate apices; claw digitules both broad but one broader than other; claw without a denticle; setal distribution: coxa 5; trochanter 1, moderately long; femur 1; tibia 2 and tarsus 3.

Comments. Adult female P. claviseta spec. n. are very similar to those of P. acinaces described as new above, differing mainly in the shape of the dorsal setae, those on P. claviseta being clearly bulbous whereas those of P. acinaces are scimitar-like. In addition, P. acinaces has more numerous and larger dorsal pores than P. claviseta .

Host-plant. Malvaceae ?

Name derivation. The specific name claviseta is composed of clavi - (from clava, Latin, f, referring to the club-shaped apex of the dorsal setae) and seta (from seta, Latin, f for bristle or hair) and is a noun in apposition.

Figures

FIGURE 34. Paralecanium claviseta Hodgson, spec. n., adult female.