Heliococcus tinglei Hodgson, 2021

Hodgson, Chris J., 2021, New genera, new species and new combinations for some African Coccomorpha (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha), Zootaxa 5020 (1), pp. 57-80 : 76-78

Heliococcus tinglei Hodgson spec. nov.

( Fig. 12 ).

Material studied: Holotype ♀, ZIMBABWE: Left label: Heliococcus / tinglei Hodgson / ad ♀ / HOLOTYPE; right label: ZIMBABWE / Binga / in pitfall / trap in / mopane [( Colophospermum mopane ( Fabaceae ))] wood / 11.vi.1988 / C.C.D. Tingle. (1 specimen, in good condition, slightly twisted. Deposited in NHMUK).

Adult female: Appearance in life not recorded.

Slide-mounted adult female broadly oval, body membranous, 2.5 mm long, 0.95 mm at widest point. Anal lobes mildly sclerotised, fairly short but distinct, placed far apart, each ventral surface with a stout seta (broken) and a further large seta near apex (broken). Antennae each 9 segmented, about 561 µm long. Legs well developed, slender; hind leg segment lengths (in µm): trochanter + femur 284, tibia 363, tarsus of middle leg 112, claw 33, with strongly developed denticle; tarsal digitules absent, claw digitules present, capitate; presence of translucent pores uncertain. Labium 143 µm long, similar in length to clypeolabral shield. Circulus present, divided by an intersegmental line. Ostioles well developed, each lip with a few minute lanceolate setae and a few trilocular pores, these more crowded than elsewhere on body. Anal ring about 92 µm in diameter, with 3 pairs of setae, each 130‒147 µm long. With 12 moderately well-developed pairs of cerarii, each situated on a small protuberance and mildly sclerotised, each with 2 spinose lanceolate setae plus 3 or 4 trilocular pores, with 1 pair on each abdominal segment, 1 pair on each thoracic segment and 2 pairs on head; also with another pair of cerarii on abdominal segment I, not mildly sclerotised and not on a protuberance, each with 2 more widely spaced, lanceolate setae and more dispersed trilocular pores; anterior-most pair of cerarii, anterior to eyespots, each with 3 spinose setae, some minute setae and about 8 trilocular pores.

Dorsum with numerous minute lanceolate setae, each mostly 2.0‒2.5 µm long and set in a quite broad basal socket. Multilocular disc-pores and quinquelocular disc-pores absent from dorsum. Trilocular pores present throughout, evenly distributed. Discoidal pores not found. Crateriform ducts somewhat variable but perhaps of 2 sizes: a large type, each with inner ductule about 30 µm long and about 8 µm wide, exterior sclerotised cone about 12 µm long with 1‒3 spinose setae, present as a sparse band close to margin, with 1 or 2 on each side in each segment including each anal lobe; also with 2 pairs medially in abdominal segments IV and V, and single pairs in each thoracic segment; plus a smaller type, each with inner ductule about 25 µm long, 4 µm wide, exterior cone about 12 µm long with 1‒3 spinose setae, present submarginally/submedially in most posterior abdominal segments and on prothorax, and as single ducts medially on most segments .

Ventral surface with frequent normal flagellate setae. Multilocular disc pores, each 7‒8 µm wide with perhaps 16 loculi (see under comment below), present in bands along posterior margins of abdominal segments III‒ VIII, as follows: III 2; IV 18 , V 17 , VI 19 , VII 27 and VIII 23 ; absent elsewhere. Quinquelocular pores each set in a depression about 7 µm wide, present on abdomen mainly along anterior margins of each segment but also frequent in much of the rest of the venter but not extending marginally far past coxae. Trilocular pores present mainly close to margin, as abundant as on dorsum, but also with a very few medially in posterior abdominal segments. Discoidal pores not noted. Oral collar tubular ducts, each about 18 µm long, sparsely present in abdominal segments IV ‒ VII, as follows: IV 2 , V 6 , VI 8 , VII 4 ; also with single ducts associated with each coxa. Crateriform ducts of 3 types present, types I and II similar to those on dorsum, mainly restricted to 1 or 2 in each segment near margin, including anal lobes; type III, each with inner ductule about 21 µm long, 2‒3 µm wide, with exterior cone about 8 µm long with 0 or 1 spinose seta, present in a sparse group posterior to each spiracle and occasionally on submargin of each abdominal segment .

Specific name derivation. Named after the collector, Colin C.D. Tingle.

Comments: Heliococcus tinglei is a fairly typical Heliococcus species but is rather distinctive in having: (i) only 13 pairs of cerarii, of which that on abdominal segment I is less distinct, and (ii) multilocular disc-pores restricted to abdominal segments III‒VIII on the venter. Of the Heliococcus species currently known from Africa, H. brincki Matile-Ferrero, 1970 (from South Africa, Cape Province) has only 4 pairs of cerarii, one on the head and the others on abdominal segments VI, VII and the anal lobe, and multilocular disc-pores only ventrally in abdominal segments VII and VIII; H. phaseoli ( Laing 1929) , from Sierra Leone, also has thirteen pairs of cerarii but has multilocular disc-pores abundant over both the dorsum and venter; and H. osborni ( Sanders 1902) , a North American species recorded from Egypt by Ezzat (1960), which has 18 pairs of cerarii and multilocular disc-pores restricted to the venter on abdominal segments VI, VII and VIII. Three other species of Heliococcus have been recorded from mainland Africa, all in Morocco, namely H. bohemicus Šulc, 1912 and H. destructor Borchsenius, 1941 , both of which occur widely throughout the Palaearctic, and H. sulcii Goux, 1934 , recorded in Europe and the Middle East. However, H. tinglei can be easily distinguished from these by the distribution of the crateriform ducts on the dorsum and venter and the distribution of the quinquelocular pores on the venter. Heliococcus tinglei comes close to H. salviae Borchsenius, 1949 , known from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, but differs in having (character-states of H. salviae in brackets): (i) multilocular disc-pores present on most abdominal segments (only present immediately around vulva); (ii) smaller crateriform ducts on venter present submarginally on head, thorax and abdomen as well as some more medially (restricted to submargins of more posterior abdominal segments); (iii) quinquelocular pores present anterior to mouthparts (absent), and (iv) only 13 pairs of cerarii (18 pairs).

On the only available specimen of H. tinglei , the loculi in each multilocular disc-pore are not very distinct but there do appear to be about 16 in total—usually 4 can be seen in each quadrant. If there are 16 or more loculi, this is rather unusual for Pseudococcidae , as it is generally considered that there are normally only 10 per disc-pore. However, in the author’s experience, the loculi are almost always indistinct and it seems likely that more than 10 may not be so unusual. The number of disc-pore loculi in Coccidae is very variable, even within a genus, and it seems possible that there could be some variation within the Pseudococcidae also.

Figures

FIGURE 12. Heliococcus tinglei Hodgson, spec. nov. Adult female.