Aleuropositus Dubey

Dubey, Anil Kumar, 2013, Dialeurolonga re-defined (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae): with a new genus and species from India, two new genera from Australia, and discussion of host-correlated puparial variation, Zootaxa 3616 (6), pp. 548-562 : 549

Aleuropositus Dubey gen. n.

Type species: Aleuropositus sinus Dubey sp. n.

Diagnosis: Puparium pale, elongate, found along the mid and lateral veins of leaves; margin crenulate; margin may or may not be modified at tracheal pore opening areas. Dorsal surface tuberculate; submargin not demarcated from dorsal disc; median length of abdominal segment VII not reduced and almost equal to VIII; transverse moulting suture reaching submedian area and longitudinal moulting suture obsolete, indicated by merged tubercles and reaching submargin; cephalothoracic and abdominal segment sutures reaching submedian area; subdorsum/ submedian area with a row of setae, variable in number and may be placed asymmetrically; geminate pores scattered on dorsum. Thoracic tracheal furrows absent; caudal furrow present. Submedian depressions visible. Cephalic and first abdominal setae absent. Eighth abdominal setae present. Vasiform orifice subcordate; operculum subcordate, almost covering the orifice and concealing lingula, lingula lobed and not extending beyond vasiform orifice. Caudal and thoracic tracheal folds indicated with stipples.

Etymology: The genus name is coined from ‘ Aleuro -‘ and a Latin word ‘ positus ’ that means location or position; it emphasizes the feeding site of the fourth instar on leaf veins, and the asymmetry of puparia abutting leaf veins.

Remarks: This new genus shares characters with the, Dialeurodes Cockerell and Dialeurolonga Dozier. The presence of a comb of teeth (as defined in literature) on the posterior wall of the vasiform orifice is used as an important character for distinguishing Dialeurodes , however, in SEM studies of Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead) , the ‘comb of teeth’ was shown to be foldings of the inner posterior wall of the orifice (unpublished data). In puparia of A. sinus sp. n. the foldings of the inner posterior wall are absent, but there are multiple series of microsetae, with these usually appearing in slide mounts as dots.

The new genus differs from Dialeurolonga by the absence of: submarginal papillae, distinct tracheal pores, cephalic and first abdominal setae, punctured dorsum, and median pore on abdominal segment VIII. Further, the puparia are elongate, with vasiform orifice longer than wide as in Dialeurolonga , but differing as follows: transverse moulting sutures extending to submedian area only, operculum almost filling the orifice ( Figs 5 , 28 ), and subcordate vasiform orifice ( D. elongata has triangular vasiform orifice). It also differs from Extensaleyrodes Bink-Moenen by the absence of first abdominal setae, the cephalothoracic and abdominal segment sutures and transverse moulting sutures reach the submedian area only, operculum almost filling the orifice, and the median length of the cephalothorax is nearly equal to the abdomen (In Extensaleyrodes , the median length of the cephalothorax is nearly half the length of the abdomen). It differs from Ramsesseus Zahradnik in that the submargin and subdorsum are not recurved, and the median part is not elevated. It differs from Australeurodes by the absence of marginal setae, and from Septemaleurodes by the presence of a caudal furrow.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 5 A. sinus sp. n., holotype puparium, variation, India (Kerala). 1, dorsal view and ventral legs with asymmetrical placement of subdorsal setae. 2, thoracic tracheal pore and margin. 3, subdorsal seta. 4, geminate pores. 5, vasiform orifice with ventral setae in dotted lines.

FIGURES 27 – 30 A. sinus sp. n., India (Kerala), light micrographs. 27, dorsal sculpturing, submedian depressions and geminate pores. 28, vasiform orifice. 29, legs and antennae. 30, prothoracic leg, antenna and stipples (stpl).