Aleurodicus cocois Curtis, 1846

Martin, Jon H., 2008, A revision of Aleurodicus Douglas (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae), with two new genera proposed for palaeotropical natives and an identification guide to world genera of Aleurodicinae, Zootaxa 1835 (1), pp. 1-100 : 26

Aleurodicus cocois Curtis

(Figs 65, 66)

Aleyrodes cocois Curtis, 1846: 284 . Lectotype puparium, Barbados [designated by Martin, 1997: 125, MOV, examined].

Aleurodicus cocois (Curtis) Morgan, 1892: 32 .

Aleurodicus anonae Morgan, 1892: 32 . Lectotype, Guyana [designated by Mound & Halsey, 1978: 229, BMNH, examined]. Synonymised by Mound & Halsey, 1978: 229.

DISTRIBUTION. Neotropical Region – Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela and widely across the Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Type material of Aleyrodes cocois and Aleurodicus anonae as detailed and discussed by Martin (1997); numerous samples from the Caribbean and the countries listed above ( BMNH, USNM).

COMMENTS. A question had arisen about the status of material of Aleyrodes cocois Curtis [the type for the entire subfamily Aleurodicinae , through its seniority over A. anonae Morgan ] in BMNH, marked as having “ type ” status. Investigations revealed that the true type sample of A. cocois resided in the MOV collection in Melbourne, not in BMNH as indicated by Mound & Halsey (1978: 229). However, the synonymy of A. anonae with A. cocois was found to be correct (Martin, 1997).

A. cocois is very similar to A. pulvinatus and A. juleikae (q.v.) and is here treated as a member of the pulvinatus- group of species in the key to species. However, the species limits of the cocois / pulvinatus / juleikae assemblage are not clear and may change with future work. At present, the key (couplets 27-28, p. 19) may be used to distinguish the species as here understood.