Ovaticoccus amplicoxae, Williams, D. J. & Martin, J. H., 2003

Williams, D. J. & Martin, J. H., 2003, Description of a new species of Ovaticoccus Kloet (Hemiptera: Coccoidea, Eriococcidae) from Belize, with remarkably large hind coxae and causing leaf­curl galls, Zootaxa 367, pp. 1-6 : 2-5

Ovaticoccus amplicoxae sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 2 )

Description

In life, the adult female is bright red, naked, without evident waxy covering ( Fig. 2 ), feeding on top centre of small leaves, a single insect to each leaf, causing the leaf to curl over and completely enclose the insect, each leaf cluster resembling a bunch of grapes.

Body of adult female on microscope slide ( Fig. 1 ) membranous, oval, largest specimen 1.95 mm long, 1.35 mm wide, widest at about mesothorax, abdomen gently tapering to rounded posterior margin, segmentation distinct. Anal lobes not developed, but position of each punctuated by a stout apical seta 125–175 µm long, usually situated on dorsal margin. Antennae each 180–190 µm long, tapering, with 7 segments. Legs well developed; hind trochanter + femur 180–192 µm long, hind tibia + tarsus 155–170 µm long. Ratio of lengths of hind tibia + tarsus to trochanter + femur 0.88–089. Ratio of lengths of hind tibia to tarsus 0.88–0.94. Claw slender, about 35 µm long, claw digitules knobbed, surpassing claw in length. Tarsal digitules knobbed, longer than claw digitules. Hind coxa unusually large, 150–160 µm long, 230–240 µm wide, conspicuously larger than anterior coxae, with numerous large translucent pores with faint rims occupying most of anterior and posterior surfaces; proximal edges of both surfaces of coxae indistinct, posterior surface slightly shorter than anterior surface. Labium 105–115 µm long, rather wide, anterior surface with 2 pairs of short setae on first segment, a single pair on the second, and 3 pairs of lateral setae on distal segment in addition to minute apical pair. Anal ring`horse­shoe­shaped’, anterior edge barely perceptible, varying in position from next to posterior margin to a distance of about its length from apex of abdomen; with 6 setae, each about 55 µm long, and with a single row of cells, 5–13 present on each side, totalling 16–23. Eyes present. Macrotubular ducts and microtubular ducts absent entirely.

Dorsal surface with slender setae, mostly 80–100 µm long, accompanied by a few shorter setae about 40 µm long, all flagellate, present in more or less single rows across middle of segments. Quinquelocular pores minute, about 5 µm in diameter, fairly abundant across most segments, absent from medial areas of posterior abdominal segments, becoming scattered on head and thorax. Other minute pores present, each smaller than a quinquelocular pore, divided medially, with a minute internal filament arising from centre of pore, widely spaced, arranged in clusters around margins: although of different appearance, these are considered to be structurally the same as the cruciform pores of other Ovaticoccus species—see Comments.

Ventral surface with similar setae to those on dorsum. Quinquelocular pores numerous, distributed fairly evenly across segments. Cruciform pores present around margins of head, thorax and anterior abdominal segments only.

Material examined

HOLOTYPE adult female, Belize, Cayo District, Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Las Cuevas forest, on unidentified woody seedling, inside petiole­to­apex fold of leaf, 25.iii.2003 (J.H. Martin #7803) ( BMNH).

PARATYPES, Belize, same data as holotype, 27 adult females ( BMNH), 4 adult females ( USNM).

Etymology

The chosen species name is based on the Latin adjective` amplus’, meaning large or wide, and the genitive singular of` coxa’, referring to the large hind coxae.

Comments

In the key to North American genera of the family Eriococcidae by Miller & McKenzie (1967), this new species could be included in the monotypic genus Hypericicoccus Williams , a genus lacking macrotubular ducts and microtubular ducts. H. hyperici (Ferris) was formerly described and illustrated by Ferris (1955) in the genus Trachycoccus Ferris , a junior homonym of Trachycoccus Borchsenius. The antennae of Hypericicoccus , however, are 5­segmented, the legs are much reduced, acorn­shaped setae and multilocular disc pores are present, and the surface of the body is covered in minute points. The new species does not possess these characters. Ovaticoccus , as defined by Miller & McKenzie (1967) possesses a non­cellular anal ring, macrotubular ducts, and usually microtubular ducts and enlarged setae. Cruciform pores are present in all species. O. californicus McKenzie lacks microtubular ducts, enlarged setae, and the lateral medial extensions of the cruciform pores appear to be absent. O. parkerorum Miller possesses enlarged setae but macrotubular ducts are absent. Although the new species possesses a cellular anal ring, inclusion in Ovaticoccus is considered preferable to erecting a new genus for it, a course endorsed by Douglass R. Miller (USDA), who kindly examined material for us.

Ovaticoccus amplicoxae comes closest to O. californicus but differs in lacking macrotubular ducts. Furthermore, the slender setae of O. californicus are minute, whereas in O. amplicoxae , the setae are noticeably long and flagellate. The hind coxae of O. amplicoxae are unusually large, with numerous large translucent pores on the anterior and posterior surfaces and these characters alone separate O. amplicoxae from any other species in Ovaticoccus , and from related genera listed by Miller & Gimpel (2000). Although the cruciform pores in O. amplicoxae appear to have two loculi, and are without the medial lateral extensions, the general shape of the pores is similar to all those illustrated in Ovaticoccus so far, and the term is retained here.

The new species can be included in a key to adult females of North American species of Ovaticoccus by Miller & McKenzie (1967) by modifying couplets 1 and 5 as follows:

1. With at least 10 enlarged setae................................................................................ 2 ­ With at most one or two enlarged setae, often none............................................. 5a 5a (1) Macrotubular ducts absent. Hind coxae greatly enlarged, conspicuously larger

than fore and middle coxae ....................................................... amplicoxae sp. nov. ­ Macrotubular ducts present. All coxae similar to each other .............................. 5b 5b(5a) Microtubular ducts absent .................................................... californicus McKenzie ­ Microtubular ducts present ..................................................................................... 6 Ovaticoccus amplicoxae curls the leaves of the host plant from the tip to the petiole ( Fig. 3). It proved impossible to make a positive identification of the host plant, which was only a small woody seedling with every single leaf distorted in this way. Searching the local environment, in an attempt to discover other plants with less galled leaves, revealed no further examples. No adult males have been collected but the possible function of the numerous translucent pores on the enlarged hind coxae of the adult females may be to emit sufficient pheromones to attract males while living in such a cryptic habitat. Certainly the translucent coxal pores of O. amplicoxae are very similar in appearance to the tibial scent plaques of oviparous (sexual) aphids, which are of pheromonal function. Another curious feature of the type colony of this insect was the complete absence of immature stages and, further, the preparation of specimens for mounting on slides did not reveal any signs of eggs, developing embryos or parasitoids. The biology of O. amplicoxae is clearly worthy of investigation.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ovaticoccus amplicoxae sp. nov., unmounted adult female in alcohol, with large hind coxa prominent.

FIGURE 1. O. amplicoxae. Drawing of slide­mounted female.