Vrydahga Vayssière

Watson, Gillian W., 2022, Towards identification of the scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) of continental Africa: 2. Checklists and keys to six archaeococcoid families, Zootaxa 5105 (3), pp. 301-356 : 337

Genus Vrydahga Vayssière

Vrydagha is an African genus containing a single species, V. lepesmei ( Fig. 20 ) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( García Morales et al. 2016). In the southern savannas of the country its primary host is Imperata cylindrica (Poaceae) but if crops (e.g. Zea mays , Arachis hypogaea and Gossypium sp. ) are grown in contaminated soil or in proximity to I. cylindrica their roots can become infested, in association with ants of the genus Camponotus ( Hymenoptera : Formicidae ), and possibly the fungus Corticium vagum Berk. & M.A. Curtis (Fungi: Corticiaceae ). The scale can cause considerable damage to cotton, weakening and even killing plants ( Vayssière 1957). Adult female characteristics include 10-segmented antennae; abdominal spiracles quite small, numbering 5 pairs; with 3 elongate oval cicatrices; anal tube with internal ring of pores strongly sclerotized; body setae all flagellate, shorter on dorsum than on venter; with a few longer setae present along margin; and multilocular pores all of one type, each with a single central loculus ( Vayssière 1957).

Figures

FIGURE 20. Vrydagha lepesmei Vayssière), adult female, developed from Vayssière (1957: 2, Figs 1 and 3).