Paraputo aracearum, Williams, 2005

Williams, D. J., 2005, An account of the mealybug genus Paraputo Laing (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) in the Pacific region, Journal of Natural History 39 (37), pp. 3343-3358 : 3344-3346

Paraputo aracearum sp. nov.

( Figure 1 )

Description

Appearance in life not recorded. Body of adult female on microscope slide, broadly oval, 2.00– 3.15 mm long, 1.50–2.90 mm wide. Anal lobes well developed, each ventral surface with an apical seta 165–170 Mm long, and a small sclerotized area. Antennae each 270– 350 Mm long, usually with six segments. Legs well developed; hind trochanter+femur 270– 300 Mm long, hind tibia+tarsus 200–260 Mm long; claw stout, 40–45 Mm long. Ratio of lengths of hind tibia+tarsus to hind trochanter+femur 0.76–0.83. Ratio of lengths of hind tibia to tarsus 1.10–1.50. Translucent pores present on anterior and posterior surfaces of hind coxa only. Labium 260–310 Mm long, longer than clypeolabral shield. Circulus about 80 Mm long, 90 Mm wide, weakly sclerotized, divided by intersegmental line. Ostioles present, well developed, with inner edges of lips sclerotized, each lip bearing a few setae and trilocular pores. Anal ring 110–115 Mm long, 100–105 Mm wide, with six setae, each about 70 Mm long. Cerarii numbering 18 pairs. Anal lobe cerarii each with about 10 slender conical setae, largest each about 30 Mm long, 5 Mm wide at base, one or two flagellate setae and a compact group of trilocular pores, all on a membranous area. Anterior cerarii on posterior abdominal segments similar to anal lobe pair, becoming smaller anteriorly; on thorax, each often reduced to a pair of conical setae and a few trilocular pores; on head conical setae accompanied by stiff flagellate setae.

Dorsal surface with numerous flagellate setae present, noticeably long, 40–75 Mm in length, longest setae flanking anal ring; all setae giving surface a shaggy appearance. Multilocular disc pores absent. Trilocular pores evenly distributed, numerous. Discoidal pores, each smaller than a trilocular pore, scattered.

Ventral surface with flagellate setae similar to those on dorsum. Multilocular disc pores, each about 7.5 Mm in diameter, present posterior to vulva and in more or less double rows at medial posterior edges of abdominal segments V–VII, a few also present medially on abdominal segment IV. Trilocular pores evenly distributed, numerous. Discoidal pores same as on dorsum, scattered. Oral collar tubular ducts all about same size, each narrower than a trilocular pore, distributed across abdominal segments IV–VI and present in marginal groups on abdominal segments III–VII and on inner edges of anal lobes.

Material examined

Holotype: adult ♀, Fiji, Taveuni , on corm of taro, 20 August 2004 (coll. J. Narayan) ( BMNH) . Paratypes: Fiji, same data as holotype, four adult ♀♀ , four third-instar ♀♀, one second-instar ♀ ( BMNH). Intercepted at USA, California, Long Beach , on Colocasia esculenta (Araceae), 15 August 1994 (coll. H. Canales), one adult ♀ , one third-instar ♀ ( USNM). Intercepted at USA, California, Los Angeles , on Colocasia sp. , 13 May 1996 (coll. G. Timmons), one adult ♀ , one third-instar ♀ ( USNM) .

Etymology

The name is based on the botanical family name Araceae and is used in the genitive plural.

Comments

This species is almost identical to P. leveri but all the dorsal setae of the adult females are noticeably longer, 40–75 Mm long, whereas in P. leveri the dorsal setae are 17.5–25.0 Mm long. Furthermore, the translucent pores in the adult females of P. aracearum are present only on the hind coxae, whereas there are also translucent pores on the hind femora and tibiae in P. leveri . The holotype is mounted on the same slide as three paratypes and is clearly marked and mapped on the left label.

Figures

Figure 1. Paraputo aracearum sp. nov., adult female.