Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt, 2007

Moghaddam, Masumeh & Watson, Gillian W., 2024, The Scale Insects Of Iran (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) Part 3 The Soft Scales (Coccidae) And Other Families, Zootaxa 5542 (1), pp. 1-202 : 152-155

Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt

( Fig. 73 , distribution map Fig. 92C )

Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt in Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833: 356. Porphyrophora armeniaca Burmeister, 1835: 78 . Coccus radicis Meyer, 1854: 336 .

Field characteristics: Live adult female very hairy ( Jakubski 1965). Colour not noted.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female broadly oval; dorsum and venter of body densely covered by long hair-like setae and small setae. Antennae each with 10 segments, with apical segment much wider than long; sensillum placodeum on segment IV usually present, elongate oval, containing probably 4–6 sensilla plus a short fleshy seta; other intermediate segments naked; apical segment enlarged, bearing some flagellate setae, several fleshy setae and sensilla. Prothoracic legs each with tarsus fused with claw; enlarged claw at least 2.0x longer than basal width, without a denticle. Thoracic spiracles slightly larger than those on most other Porphyrophora species, each with an apodeme; each peritreme with about 5–12 spiracular disc-pores and a group of 2–12 perispiracular sensilla on lateral margin. Abdominal spiracles absent. Anterior multilocular disc-pores each with 1 ring of loculi, each ring mostly with 10–14 loculi; mainly present in transverse segmental bands 3–5 pores wide; some (but not all) posterior multilocular disc-pores tending to be slightly larger, these almost always with 2 rings of loculi. Anal opening with a thin, semicircular, poorly sclerotized rim on dorsal margin, surrounded by an area of derm without setae or pores.

Distribution: Porphyrophora hamelii is known from Armenia, Türkiye ( Turkey) and Iran ( Kaussari 1957; García Morales et al. 2016), where it has been recorded from Ardabil and Hamadan provinces ( Farahbakhsh 1961).

Host-plants: The species has been recorded on grasses belonging to the genera Aeluropus , Cynodon , Phragmites and Poa (family Poaceae ) ( García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, the host-plant was not recorded.

Economic importance: Porphyrophora hamelii is of no economic importance in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Comments: Porphyrophora hamelii is considered to have been one of the major sources of carmine dye used in colouring textiles and paintings in medieval and earlier times and was of great economic significance ( Cardon 2007).

Figures

FIGURE 73. Adult female of Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt, modified from Vahedi & Hodgson (2007), page 58, fig. 13.

FIGURE 92. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Porphyrophora chelodonta Vahedi; B, Porphyrophora cynodontis (Archangelskaya); C, Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt; D, Porphyrophora jachenkoi Vahedi; E, Porphyrophora medicaginis Jashenko: F, Porphyrophora tritici (Bodenheimer); G, Porphyrophora victoriae Jashenko; H, Pseudaspidoproctus hyphaeniacus (Hall); I, Pseudochermes fraxini (Kaltenbach); J, Pulvinaria aligarhensis Avasthi & Shafee; K, Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell; L, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood).