Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh), 1962

Hernández-Suárez, Estrella, Martin, Jon H., Gill, Raymond J., Bedford, Ian D., Malumphy, Christopher P., Betancort, J. Alfredo Reyes & Carnero, Aurelio, 2012, 3212, Zootaxa 3212, pp. 1-76 : 8

Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh)

( Figures 2 and 43)

Aleurotrachelus rachipora Singh, 1931: 57–59 .

Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) Russell, 1962: 64 .

citri ( Priesner & Hosny, 1934b: 7–8) (Aleurotrachelus) [Synonymised by Jesudasan & David, 1991: 242.]

alhagi ( Priesner & Hosny, 1934b: 9) ( Aleurotrachelus ) [Synonymised with citri by Mound, 1965a: 119.]

Distribution in the Canary Islands: LANZAROTE: Costa Teguise, Órzola, Playa Blanca. FUERTEVENTURA: Toto. GRAN CANARIA: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Zárate, Mirador del Laso, Moya. TENERIFE: Agua Dulce, Barranco Badajoz, Barranco Moradas, Cuevas Negras, Las Américas, Playa San Juan, Valle Guerra. LA GOMERA: Barranco Santiago, San Sebastián. LA PALMA: Barranco de las Angustias, Los Cancajos, Los Sauces, Puerto Nao. Elsewhere: Palaeartic Region: widely distributed in Mediterranean countries, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Portugal, Rhodes, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Syria, Turkey; Ethiopian Region: widely distributed. Oriental Region: India, Pakistan.

Host plants in the Canary Islands: Citrus reticulata , Euphorbia atropurpurea , Euphorbia balsamifera , Euphorbia berthelotii , Euphorbia lamarckii , Euphorbia regis-jubae . Other host plants listed: Mound & Halsey (1978) listed plant species within 13 different plant families, including Acacia spp ., Cassia spp ., Bauhinia sp. , Citrus sinensis , Psidium guajava , Punica granatum , Tamarindus indica .

Comments: A. rachipora is a polyphagous species whose puparia are usually widely scattered under leaves. However, it sometimes occur in dense colonies on both surfaces of Euphorbia leaves in the Canary Islands. In the field, it can be identified by the shiny black, rather convex, puparium, each individual surrounded by a narrow fringe of whitish waxy secretion ( Fig. 43). Adults are also distinctive, with dark infuscation on the wings. The puparium is characterised in the generic heading above. A. rachipora has been mentioned as an important pest of Citrus in Egypt and Pakistan ( Khan et al., 1991) and was considered by Llorens-Climent & Garrido-Vivas (1992) as a potential pest for Spanish citriculture. Martin (1987) also included this species in a guide to whitefly pests of the world, but to the authors’ knowledge, A. rachipora has never caused significant damage to agricultural crops. In the Canary Islands, A. rachipora populations observed on Citrus have always been low, but very large numbers have been recorded on ornamental Euphorbia shrubs, even causing severe chlorosis and premature leaf-drop.