Nipponaclerda McConnell, 1954

Schneider, Scott A., 2019, A key to the flat grass scale genus Nipponaclerda (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Aclerdidae), ZooKeys 862, pp. 81-87 : 83-84

Nipponaclerda McConnell, 1954

Nipponaclerda McConnell 1954: 107.

Type species.

Aclerda biwakoensis Kuwana by monotypy and original designation.

Comments.

Nipponaclerda are classified within the subfamily Aclerdinae Cockerell ( Hodgson and Millar 2002), with Aclerda Signoret and Lecanaclerda Hodgson & Millar. Members of this genus are similar to species of Aclerda but can be distinguished in the adult female stage by the poor development of anal ring setae, which are few in number, shorter than the anal plate, and never extend beyond the body apex ( Borchsenius 1960). In adult females of Aclerda , these setae are numerous, long, and usually protrude beyond the posterior body margin; however, these setae fail to extend beyond the margin in A. pasquieri Balachowsky, A. sinaloaensis McConnell, and A. subterranea Signoret. Additionally, dorsal conical pores (referred to as invaginated setae in McConnell 1954) can be found in species of Aclerda but are absent from Nipponaclerda . There are no discernable differences between the immature instars of these two genera but adult males of Nipponaclerda can be differentiated by the encircling marginal setae, absence of dorsal invaginated conical pores, and reduction in the number of anal ring setae ( McConnell 1954). The adult male stage has only been described for N. biwakoensis .

The list of host genera reported in ScaleNet (http://scalenet.info/; last accessed 19 March 2019) for Nipponaclerda species includes: Agropyron , Bambusa , Fargesia , Phragmites , Sorghum ( Poaceae ), and Juncus ( Juncaceae ) ( Borchsenius 1960; García Morales et al. 2016; McConnell 1954; Wang 1994; Wang and Zhang 1994; Zhang 1998).

Species list

Nipponaclerda biwakoensis (Kuwana, 1907: 187)

Nipponaclerda leptodermis Wang & Zhang, 1994: 94

Nipponaclerda triumpha Zhang, 1998: 7

Nipponaclerda turanica (Borchsenius, 1950: 156)

Key to genera of Aclerdidae based on adult females

Key to Nipponaclerda based on adult females