Dysmicoccus brevipes ( Cockerell, 1893 )

Caballero, Alejandro, Ramos-Portilla, Andrea Amalia & Kondo, Takumasa, 2017, Scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) on sugarcane in Colombia, with description of a new species of Tillancoccus Ben-Dov (Coccidae), Zootaxa 4258 (5), pp. 490-500 : 497

Dysmicoccus brevipes ( Cockerell, 1893)

Hosts. Polyphagous, known to feed on 191 species belonging to 63 plant families ( García Morales et al. 2016).

Diagnosis. Adult female without tubular ducts on dorsum; translucent pores present on hind femur and tibia; dorsal setae on segments VII and VIII conspicuously longer than remaining dorsal setae (Williams & Granara de Willink 1992, Granara de Willink 2009).

Distribution. Cosmopolitan ( García Morales et al. 2016). The distribution of this species in Colombia is unknown but it is probably widespread throughout the country.

Economic importance and control. In Hawaii, it occurs infrequently on sugarcane and is of minor economic importance ( Beardsley 1960). In Colombia, it is not considered a pest of sugarcane ( Lastra & Gómez 2000, Bustillo 2013).

Remarks. Since the record of Williams & Granara de Willink (1992), D. brevipes has not been recorded on sugarcane in Colombia . Although the species is common in Colombia, on many hosts including pineapple ( Kondo 2001), orange, plantain, cacao, coffee, Cecropia sp. ( Kondo et al. 2008), there are no specimens collected from sugarcane in any of the Colombian Museums studied. Many specimens studied by Williams & Granara de Willink (1992) are deposited at the US National Museum of Natural History Coccoidea Collection in Beltsville, Maryland , USA ( USNM), but no specimens of D. brevipes on sugarcane from Colombia were found in that museum (Dr. Greg Evans ( USNM), personal communication 2016).