Aleuroglandulus subtilis Bondar

Martin, Jon H., 2005, Whiteflies of Belize (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Part 2 - a review of the subfamily Aleyrodinae Westwood, Zootaxa 1098 (1), pp. 1-116 : 15

Aleuroglandulus subtilis Bondar

( Figs 35–37 , 89)

Aleuroglandulus subtilis Bondar, 1923: 121–122 . Syntypes, Brazil.

Aleuroglandulus emmae Russell, 1944: 5 . Holotype, Mexico. Syn. nov.

Aleuroglandulus malangae Russell, 1944: 5 . Holotype, Cuba. Syn. nov.

DISTRIBUTION. Neotropical Region: Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá; Nearctic Region: USA (Florida).

COMMENTS. Russell (1944) described three new species of Aleuroglandulus — A. emmae , A. magnus and A. malangae —each from very small numbers of specimens. A. emmae and A. magnus were described from seven and six specimens, respectively, taken from herbarium specimens or from quarantine interceptions, with even these small sample sizes representing two separate collections ( A. magnus ) and four collections ( A. emmae ). Although Russell said of the type sample of A. malangae “the insects [puparia] were abundant on the leaves submitted”, the description was prepared from only eight slidemounted individuals. Such small samples, especially where these represent several individual collections, do not allow an assessment of variability in such notoriously fluid characters as the sizes of glandular patches or the precise numbers of teeth in tracheal combs. Study of material in BMNH indicates that all specimens possessing the combination of leg­base spines, vasiform orifice inset from puparial margin by less than its own length, and well­defined prothoracic glands should be regarded as conspecific. Two large slide­mounted samples ( Costa Rica, on Colocasia cultivar, n=50+; Belize, on Schizolobium parahybum , n=35) clearly indicate that the thoracic tracheal combs are highly variable within colonies. In contrast, two very small samples ( Panamá, on Erythrina fusca , n=5 and unidentified host, n=2) demonstrate that the glands on abdominal segment III can vary from quite large to entirely absent within an individual colony, and the thoracic tracheal teeth from distinct­acute to hardly discernible. For these reasons, the decision has been taken to propose A. emmae and A. malangae as junior synonyms of A. subtilis .

Figures

FIGURES 35–40. 35–37, Aleuroglandulus subtilis Bondar, puparium (see Fig. 89 for photograph). 35–36, specimen from Colocasia ex­Costa Rica [A. malangae Russell sensu Russell, 1944]; 37, puparium (after Russell, 1944). 38, Aleurocerus sp., puparium, transverse­ovoid vasiform orifice located on vertically­directed bifid process (see Figs 83–85 for photographs). 39–40, Aleurocanthus woglumi Ashby, puparium (see Fig. 82 for photograph), 39 drawn from specimen, 40 stylised.