Conchaspis angraeci Cockerell

Hodgson, Chris, 2020, A review of neococcid scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) based on the morphology of the adult males, Zootaxa 4765 (1), pp. 1-264 : 131-132

Conchaspis angraeci Cockerell ( Fig. 53 )

Conchaspis angraeci Cockerell 1893a, 9 . Type data: Jamaica, Hope Gardens, on Angraecum eburneum var. Syntypes, female. Type depository: BMNH, USNM.

Pseudinglisia rodrigueziae Newstead 1893, 153 . Type data: England, Eaton Hall, nr. Chester, on Rodriguezia secunda . Lectotype, female, by subsequent designation ( Williams & Watson 1990, 207). Type depository: BMNH. Junior synonym ( Cockerell 1895, 101).

Conchaspis angraeci hibisci Cockerell 1896b, 19 . Type data: Mexico, Tamaulipas, on Hibiscus sp. Syntypes, female. Type depository: USNM. Junior synonym ( Mamet 1954, 213).

Conchaspis baiensis Lepage 1939, 314 . Type data: Brazil, Bahia, on Encyclia sp. Syntypes, female. Type depository: Secao de Entomologia Agricola do Instituto do Biologia Vegetal, São Paulo, Brazil. Junior synonym ( Mamet 1954, 213).

Material examined. Jamaica, Kingston, on Hibiscus sp. ( Malvaceae ), 24.iv.1923, C.C. Gowdey ( BMNH): 1/1ad ♂ (well stained but with wings and antennae missing).

Mounted material: quite small, total body length about 1.11 mm; antennae missing; body setae very few, possibly all hs. Wings missing.

Head: oval in dorsal view, broadest posterior to dorsal eyes, attached to thorax by a rather broad neck; greatest width about 145 μm. Median crest (mc) broad, lightly ridged; postoccipital ridge (por) absent; with (on each side) 2 or 3 hs dorsal head setae (dhs). Mid-cranial ridge: dorsal ridge (dmcr) and ventral ridge (vmcr) absent but with distinct transverse lateral arms (lmcr); with 2 or 3 vmcrs on each side and with small reticulations. Genae (g) without either reticulations or genal setae. Simple eyes: two pairs, subequal in size, each 38–42 μm wide, ventral eyes (vse) situated anterior to dorsal simple eyes (dse) near scape. Ocelli (o) absent. Ocular sclerite (ocs) with small raised spots or irregular ridges. Preocular ridge (procr) rather short, extending dorsally from outer margin of each antenna to anterior margin of dorsal simple eyes. Postocular ridge (pocr) strongly developed, extending laterally from near mouth just onto dorsal surface, not nearly extending past dorsal eye. Dorsal ocular setae (docs): with 2 hs posterior to each dorsal simple eye. Ventral head setae (vhs): 4 hs on each side anterior to ventral eyes, otherwise absent. Preoral ridge (pror) and cranial apophysis (ca) possibly absent.

Antennae: only scape and pedicel present: scape (scp): about 28 μm long, 37 μm wide, possibly with 2 hs, 1 dorsal and 1 ventral. Pedicel (pdc): length about 20 μm, width 28 μm; with several irregular ridges; with 2 hs + a campaniform pore.

Thorax. Prothorax: pronotal ridge (prnr) well-developed but not fused dorsally; lateral pronotal sclerite (prn) possibly present; without lateral pronotal (lpns) setae. Medial pronotal setae, post-tergites and post-tergital setae probably absent. Sternum (stn 1) slightly sclerotised posteriorly; with a strongly sclerotised, long median ridge; transverse ridge narrow and less well developed; without prosternal setae (stn 1 s). Most of ventral part of prothorax with minute sclerotised dots. Anteprosternal (astn 1 s) and antemesospiracular setae (am 2 s) absent.

Mesothorax: prescutum (prsc) rectangular to almost oval, probably rather convex, about 87 μm long, 124 μm wide; with small longitudinal ridges throughout; prescutal ridges (pscr) broad; prescutal suture (pscs) narrow; without prescutal setae. Scutum (sct) without a median membranous area, this area sclerotised but not reticulated; median area not at all differentiated; with 2 minute setae laterally on each side; lateral margins with some punctate markings antero-laterally and with an area of darker sclerotisation laterad to scutellum, without setae. Prealare ridge (prar) quite well developed. Scutellum (scl) about 124 μm wide, 50 μm long; possibly tubular, probably without a large foramen; without scutellar setae (scls). Basisternum (stn 2) 215 μm wide, 78 μm long (rather spectacle-shaped); with a strong median ridge (mdr) and bounded anteriorly by a strong marginal ridge (mr) and posteriorly by strong precoxal ridges (pcr 2); without basisternal setae (stn 2 s); lateropleurite (lpl) quite broad anteriorly, without an extension from marginal ridge anteriorly; furca (f) well developed, unusual, without a waist, with short arms (each about 33 μm long), these parallel-sided but with tips diverging. Mesopostnotum (pn 2) well developed; postnotal apophysis (pna) apparently with an orifice but without an inner part. Area bounded anteriorly by scutellum and laterally and posteriorly by mesopostnotum sclerotised, with short irregular ridges. Mesepisternum (eps 2) narrow, not reticulated; subepisternal ridge (ser) short; mesopleural apophysis (pla 2) long, extending internally. Postalare (pa) possibly ridged anteriorly; without postalare setae (pas). Mesothoracic spiracle (sp 2) small but with a sclerotised plate: peritreme 22 μm wide, muscle plate broad and sclerotised. Postmesospiracular setae (pm 2 s) absent. Tegula (teg) possibly rather large; tegular setae (tegs) absent.

Metathorax: metatergal setae (mts): 0 or 1. Dorsospiracular setae (dss) absent. Dorsal part of metapleural ridge (plr 3) present; suspensorial sclerite (ss) probably absent. Ventral part of metapleural ridge well developed; metepisternum (eps 3) with a small area showing some sclerotisation; without postmetaspiracular setae (eps 3 s). Metepimeron (epm 3) well developed but without setae. Antemetaspiracular setae (am 3 s) absent. Metathoracic spiracle (sp 3) with a sclerotised plate: peritreme 20 μm wide. Metasternum (stn 3) possibly slightly sclerotised; metasternal setae (amss + pmss) absent.

Wings: missing but wing sclerites present. Hamulohalteres present: 41–45 μm long, 18 μm wide; hamulus 58 μm long.

Legs: legs subequal in length. Coxae (cx): I 57–62; II 61–70; III 64–69 μm long; coxa III with about 5 hs; long apical setae on each coxa absent. Trochanter (tr) + femur (fm): I 157; II 136–138; III 145 μm long; trochanter III with 2 hs; long trochanter seta up to 18–20 μm; femur III with about 6 hs. Tibia (ti) and tarsus (ta) fused: combined lengths: I 174; II 165–168; III 161–166 μm; tibia + tibia III with a total of about 27 setae, mainly hs and spur-like setae, those on ventral surface distinctly bifurcated; surface distinctly ridged at an oblique angle; without tibial spurs (tibs); tarsal campaniform pore absent; tarsal digitules (tdt) shorter than claw, each with a small apical knob. Claws (c) rather small, narrowing fairly gradually, with a well-developed denticle; length: III 18–20 μm, subequal to width of tarsus; claw digitules (cdt) slightly longer than claw, with small apical knobs.

Abdomen: segments I–V: tergites (at) and sternites (as) probably unsclerotised; tergites and sternites VI with small sclerotisations, VII with a large median sclerotisation. Caudal extension (ce) of segment VII absent. Dorsal setae (ads) (on each side): segments I–VII each with 2 small hs. Pleural setae: dorsopleural + ventropleural setae (on each side): I–VII each with 2 setae. Ventral setae (avs) (on each side): II–VII each with 1 small hs.

Segment VIII: tergite (at) + sternite (as) forming a sclerotised ring; tergite with 2 or 3 small hs dorsal abdominal setae on each side; sternite (as) without ventral abdominal setae (avs); caudal extension (ce) absent but with 2 small hs pleural setae. Glandular pouches (gp) absent.

Genital segments Segment IX fused to style; distinctly sclerotised; rather narrow, but broader than style (length 37 μm, width 68 μm); anal opening on dorsum reasonably distinct; setae absent. Style heavily sclerotised; broad anteriorly (width 45 μm), abruptly narrowing into a long needle-like posterior part; total length of style 289 μm; anteriorly with 1 pair fairly long hs dorsally and with 1 pair of longer setae laterally where style abruptly narrows. Aedeagus very long, of approximately equal width throughout, although structure hard to discern; length uncertain, perhaps 215 μm; basal rod 10–17 μm long, just anterior to aedeagus. Style with a few small sensoria laterally near apex.

Comment. Conchaspis angraeci is very similar to the other three species described here and also to C. lata . It differs from C. vayssieri and C. socialis in the presence of some distinct sclerotisation on the prosternum (possibly shared with C. lata ); it appears to differ from C. lata in the absence of postmetaspiracular setae (not mentioned in text but apparently present in figure; absent from the three species described here), and in the presence of several small dorsal abdominal setae on segment VIII (a character-state shared with all three species here but C. lata apparently has only 1 pair).

Figures

FIGURE 53. Conchaspis angraeci Cockerell. Macropterous male. (Conchaspididae). Where F=bifurcated seta, J=proepisternum + cervical sclerite and R=dermal reticulations on ocular sclerite.