Paralecanium calophylli (Green)

Chris J. Hodgson & Douglas J. Williams, 2018, Revision of the soft scale genus Paralecanium (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) with the introduction of three new genera and twenty new species, Zootaxa 4443 (1), pp. 1-162 : 84-86

Paralecanium calophylli (Green)

( Fig. 33 )

Lecanium calophylli Green, 1904 , 240. Type data: SRI LANKA, Newara Eliya, on Calophyllum sp. Syntypes, female. Type depository: BMNH, London, England, U.K.

Paralecanium calophylli ; Sanders, 1906, 9. Change of combination.

Material examined. Lectotype f and paralectotype ff (here designated): SRI LANKA (as Ceylon): top label: TYPE in red on round label; lectotype in red on narrow label; bottom label: Lecanium / calophylli / Green / from Calophyllum sp. /Newera Eliya [now spelt Nawara Eliya] / Ceylon (BMNH): 1/3adff (f, but all with damaged venters; 1 unsclerotised, 2 well sclerotised; lectotype f bottom specimen. Envelope indicates E.E.G. as collector). Sri Lanka (as Ceylon): top label: CO-TYPE on an oval label; bottom label: Lecanium / calophylli / Green / near geometricum from “ Kina ” / (Calophyllum sp.) / Newera Eliya [now spelt Nawara Eliya] / Ceylon, (BMNH): 1/3adff (p – none with venters).

Other material. Sri Lanka (as Ceylon), Namunakule [probably Namunukula], on Calophyllum walkeri, Feb. 1910, no coll. ( BMNH (BM 1945, 121)): 2/2adff (f/p – one missing venter; unstained; det. E.E.G.). Sri Lanka (as Ceylon), Namunakali [probably Namunukula], (at 6600 ft), on Calophyllum walkeri, Feb. 1910, no coll. ( BMNH): 1/4adff (f-g). The envelope indicates E.E.G. as collector.

Note. The description is based on all three type specimens plus some data for ventral structures from other specimens.

Unmounted material. “Adult female deep reddish brown. Flat; broadly oval; margin slightly sinuous. Dorsum with a slight median ridge and several series of quadrangular depressed spaces, sometimes occupied by thin waxy laminae; surface coarsely punctate. Stigmatic clefts deep but inconspicuous, with three blunt stout spines not reaching the margin. Marginal hairs flabelliform, attached dorsally within the margin but in older examples almost concealed by an outward extension of the dorsum; margin beneath each flabella produced into a quadrate process.” “Length 3.50 mm. Breadth 2.75 to 3.0 mm.” (Green 1904, p. 240).

Slide-mounted adult female. Body broadly oval. Length 3.3–3.5 mm, width 2.7–2.9 mm.

Dorsum. Derm becoming rather uniformly sclerotised at maturity; with round to oval areolations submarginally and submedially, each areolation with darker borders, mostly fused into elongate groups of 2 or more areolations; these areolations particularly obvious on older, sclerotised specimens, when most of derm with minute small clear spots, about 1 µm wide; with a longitudinal darker sclerotised band anterior to anal plates extending to dorsad of mouthparts. Marginal radial lines distinct, appearing as unsclerotised cracks, with alternate lines longest and sometimes branching, present as follows: 11 lines anteriorly between anterior stigmatic clefts, a short line from each stigmatic cleft, each side with 3 lines between clefts and 11 on abdomen, with alternate rays significantly longer. With or without 4 unusually small, inconspicuous abdominal clear areas. Dorsal setae each more or less parallel-sided with a blunt apex but sometimes slightly clavate, 7–9 µm long; most frequent in a submarginal band, mostly associated with radial lines, not otherwise obviously forming a polygonal pattern; absent more medially. Dorsal pores of perhaps 2 sizes: (i) larger pores, each 3–5 µm wide, possibly with micropores, surrounded by an area of slightly more heavily sclerotised derm; frequent medially and submedially; and (ii) small simple pores represented by smaller clear spots in derm, each about 3 µm wide. Anal plates rather small, each with a rounded outer margin; each plate with 2 or 3 small pores medially and perhaps 3 small setae near apex; plates 160–175 µm long, combined width 125–165 µm. Anogenital fold with one pair of small setae along anterior margin, each lateral margin with 1 seta anteriorly and another posteriorly.

Margin. Margins without ornamentation. Marginal setae oval; width of each fan 20–35 µm, length 16–18 µm; with 93–111 setae anteriorly between anterior stigmatic clefts, each side with 27–42 between stigmatic clefts, and 82–111 along abdominal margin. Stigmatic clefts quite deep, each with a sclerotised inner margin and 3 slightly clavate stigmatic spines; median spines longest, each 40–45 µm, each lateral spine 25–35 µm long. Sides of anal cleft closely adpressed but not fused. Eyespots each more or less round, located away from margin on dorsum; diameter of lens about 25 µm.

Venter. Cuticle membranous. More mature specimens with a broad inconspicuous marginal band about 200– 250 µm wide, also another very close to margin. Multilocular disc-pores present around genital opening and on preceding segment only, each side with 8–11 on abdominal segment VII and 23–35 on segment VI. Spiracular discpores present in a narrow band between margin and each spiracle, with 15–25 pores in each band. Ventral microducts very small, present in a group posterior to labium; otherwise not detected. Ventral setae: with 2 pairs of interantennal setae; pairs of pregenital setae on abdominal segments VII, VI and V and 0 or 1 pair on more anterior abdominal segments; submarginal setae few and minute; other setae very sparse. Antennae each with 6 segments; setose setae present on segments IV and V; total antennal length 185–195 µm; apical segment about 40 µm long; apical setae each about 25 µm long. Clypeolabral shield 115–125 µm long. Spiracles small, width of each peritreme 28–31 µm. Legs reduced, with trochanteral segmentation obscure; dimensions of hind leg (µm): coxa 40–50, trochanter + femur 45–52, tibia 26–30; tarsus 25–28; claw 5; tarsal digitules subequal in length to claw digitules, with barely capitate apices; claw digitules dissimilar, both rather narrow and parallel sided but one narrower than other; claw without a denticle; setal distribution: coxa 5 or 6; trochanter 1, moderately long; femur 1 or 2; tibia 0 and tarsus 3 or 4.

Comments. In having reduced legs, P. calophylli resembles P. ovatum and P. neoguineense (the latter described as new below), but differs from both species in having: (i) multilocular disc-pores present only in abdominal segments VII and VI (present on VII–V on the other two species), (ii) no marginal ornamentation, and (iii) in the smaller size of the larger dorsal pores and their much greater abundance, covering the entire dorsum apart from a fairly narrow area submarginally. The distribution of the darker oval-to-round areolations on the dorsum is also different. Paralecanium neoguineense differs from P. calophylli also in having setose dorsal setae.

Host-plants. Calophyllum sp., Calophyllum walkeri ( Clusiaceae ).

Figures

FIGURE 33. Paralecanium calophylli (Green), adult female.