Mollicoccus guadalcanalanus Williams, 1960

Gavrilov-Zimin, Ilya A., 2020, Chromosomal and reproductive features of some Oriental and Australasian scale insects (Homoptera, Coccinea), Comparative Cytogenetics 14 (3), pp. 339-352 : 339

Mollicoccus guadalcanalanus Williams, 1960 Figs 1d , 2

Material.

K 917, Indonesia, New Guinea, Manokwari, forest near the airport, on leaves of undetermined dicotyledonous herb, 8.XI. 2011, I.A. Gavrilov-Zimin.

New data.

2n = 10; bisexual reproduction with a Lecanoid heterochromatinization in male embryos; eggs are laid in loose ovisac at stage of anatrepsis suggesting incomplete ovoviviparity. Female reproductive system is similar in general details to that of Geococcus satellitum (Fig. 2 ).

Comments.

These are the first cytogenetic and reproductive data for monotypic Australasian genus Mollicoccus Williams, 1960. The diploid number 10 is considered a modal chromosome number for the family Pseudococcidae as a whole ( Nur 1980, Gavrilov 2007, Gavrilov-Zimin et al. 2015).

Figures

Figure 1. Embryonic cells and chromosomes of the studied species (Margarodidae, Pseudococcidae, Eriococcidae). a Steatococcus samaraius (2 n = 4) b Antonina parazonata (2 n = 30) c A. vietnamensis (2 n = 20) d Mollicoccus guadalcanalanus (2 n = 10) e Acanthococcus prope onukii (2 n = 16) f, g Gossypariella siamensis (2 n = 16). g Shows interphase cells of male embryos with a Lecanoid heterochromatinization of the paternal set of chromosomes (arrowed in each cell). Scale bars: 10 µm.

Figure 2. General anatomy of the female (or female-like hermaphrodite in Steatococcus samaraius) reproductive system in the studied species (Margarodidae, Pseudococcidae, Eriococcidae).