Icerya minor Green

Unruh, Corinne M. & Gullan, Penny J., 2008, Identification guide to species in the scale insect tribe Iceryini (Coccoidea: Monophlebidae), Zootaxa 1803 (1), pp. 1-106 : 87

Icerya minor Green

Icerya minor Green, 1908: 17 .

Leachia festiva Kieffer, 1909: 163 . Synonymy by Morrison (1928: 223).

Unmounted material. Adult female covered with thick secretion of white wax arranged in groups on median, submarginal and marginal dorsum; tassels of wax present around margin (much shorter than tassels seen in I. aegyptiaca ); length of ovisac less than half length of body, projecting from posterior end (adapted from Rao, 1951a).

Slide-mounted material. Adult female oval, 3.4 mm long, 2.3–2.5 mm wide (lectotype 3.4 mm long, 2.5 mm wide). Antennae 10 segmented. Eyes, mouthparts and legs as for tribe. Thoracic spiracles as for genus. Hair-like setae distributed as for genus, longest in marginal clusters. Flagellate setae distributed as for genus. Simple multilocular pores, each with bilocular or trilocular centre and 6–8 outer loculi, covering dorsal surface, each pore 8–9 µm in diameter on head and thorax, each pore 7–8 µm in diameter on abdomen. Simple multilocular pores, each 8–10 µm in diameter, with hexalocular centre and 4–6 outer loculi, forming marginal clusters and associated with long, hair-like setae. Simple multilocular pores, each 8–9 µm in diameter with trilocular or quadrilocular centre and 8–10 outer loculi, scattered on ventromedial head and thorax. Ovisac band, 2–4 pores wide, made of simple multilocular pores, each 8–9 µm in diameter, with quadrilocular or quinquelocular centre and 7–8 outer loculi. Simple multilocular pores, each 6–7 µm in diameter, with trilocular centre and 3 outer loculi, closely abutting inner edge of ovisac band. Simple multilocular pores, each 6–7 µm in diameter, with trilocular centre (appearing reniform) and 4 outer loculi, scattered across ventromedial abdomen. Vulva as for genus. Cicatrices round to oval, numbering 3, central cicatrix largest. Abdominal spiracles in 3 pairs. Anal tube and anal opening as for genus.

Type data. Icerya minor : INDIA: Bengal, Pusa, ex mango (H.M. Lefroy). Leachia festiva : INDIA: Bengal, Manresa House near Ranchi, on underside of leaves of Mangifera indica .

Type material. Lectotype of I. minor here designated: ad ♀, “ Icerya / minor, Gree /(type)/on Mango/Bengal, India /coll. H.M. Lefroy /(Phen. mangiferae)” ( BMNH) . Paralectotypes of I. minor : ad ♀, ad ♂ (same slide as lectotype); ad ♀, “ Icerya / minor, Green /(cotype)./on Mango/Bengal, India /coll. H.M. Lefroy ” ( BMNH) .

Syntypes of Leachia festiva : ♂, type material lost ( Ben-Dov, 2005: 201).

Taxonomic notes. Refer to I. pulchra group for a discussion of similar species.

The lectotype is the adult female to the lower left of the adult male. The lectotype slide also has a mealybug mounted on it (subfamily Phenacoccinae, Det. N.B. Hardy , x.2006). Green (1908: 18) described the adult female, adult male, pupal male, “nymph” exuviae, and “larva” of I. minor . Only adult females and an adult male are present in the BMNH collection.