Hallicoccus obunca ( De Lotto) De Lotto, 2007

Kondo, Takumasa, 2007, Taxonomy of Toumeyella lomagundiae Hall and T. obunca De Lotto, and their transfer to Hallicoccus gen. nov. (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Coccidae), Zootaxa 1415, pp. 23-33 : 30-31

Hallicoccus obunca ( De Lotto) , comb. nov.

( Fig. 3 )

Toumeyella obunca De Lotto, 1966: 149 ; Hodgson 1969: 39; Ben-Dov 1993: 381.

Material studied.

Holotype. South Africa, 1 (1): Natal, Richmond, 21.iii.1964, coll. J. Munting, ex Cnestis natalensis , H.C. #856 ( SANC).

Paratypes. South Africa, 3(3): same data as Holotype, H.C. #856/3, 4 & 7 ( BMNH).

Description. Adult female ( Fig. 3 )

Unmounted material. “ Living adult females at the beginning of the stage moderately convex, with a well developed H-mark on the dorsum; colour evenly brown.” ( De Lotto, 1966).

Mounted material. Body outline elongate oval; body 1.9–2.3 mm long, 1.6–2.0 mm wide (n=3).

Dorsum. Derm of young adult females membranous, with well-developed derm areolations. Anal plates located about 1/5–1/6 of body length from body apex. Each plate 117–121 µm long, 55–57 µm wide; anterolateral margin 64–66 µm long, posterolateral margin 100–102 µm long; each with 4 dorsal setae: 2 short setae on inner margin, 1 long subapical seta and 1 short apical seta; plus 2 ventral anterior margin setae and 1 lateral margin seta. Anal ring with 6 setae and 2 rows of translucent pores. Submarginal dorsal tubercles absent. Preopercular pores each 2–3 µm in diameter, present in a group of 15–40 pores on area anterior to anal plates. Setae robust, scattered over dorsum, each 15–22 µm long. Dorsal microducts heavily sclerotized, each about 4 µm wide, scattered throughout dorsum. Simple pores each about 2 µm in diameter, scattered evenly over dorsum.

Margin. Marginal setae each 12–16 µm long, longest at anal lobes, with 10–15 setae between groups of anterior and posterior stigmatic spines. Stigmatic spines of one type only present on dorsal submargin, each sharply to bluntly spinose, totalling 3–7 in each group, longest 120–150 µm long, others shorter, each 15–120 µm long.

Ve n te r. Derm membranous. Antennae reduced; antennal segments indistinct, probably 3–5 segmented, 98–107 µm long. Clypeolabral shield 164–175 µm wide. Legs vestigial, each composed of a small sclerotized plate plus 2 or 3 associated setae, not easy to detect. Spiracles: anterior pair usually smaller than posterior pair, each anterior and posterior peritreme 36–43 µm wide. Ventral tubular ducts present in a narrow band between anterior and posterior spiracles. Ventral body setae slender, each 7–16 µm long. Interantennal setae numbering about 2 pairs. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5–7 (mostly 5) loculi, rarely with an occasional disc-pore with 10 loculi, 3–5 µm in diameter; spiracular pore bands each 2–4 pores wide. Pregenital disc-pores numerous, each 5–6 µm in diameter, with 10 loculi, present medially on all abdominal segments, extending anteriorly onto area near anterior spiracles. Ventral microducts each 3 µm wide, scattered throughout venter.

Diagnostic features. See under diagnostic features of H. lomagundiae comb. nov.

Remarks. The present description of H. obunca differs from that given by De Lotto (1966) in the following points (character states of present description in parenthesis): (i) preopercular pores absent (present), (ii) absence of legs (legs vestigial), and (iii) slightly larger ranges for some measurements. Perhaps De Lotto did not notice the vestigial legs and the preopercular pores in H. obunca because of their small size, each leg being represented by a small sclerotized plate plus 2 or 3 associated setae, and the preopercular pores being only about 0.5–1.0 µm wider than the more abundant dorsal microducts. First-instar nymphs were not available during the present study.

Distribution of H. obunca: Afrotropical Region: South Africa.

Host plants. Connaraceae : Cnestis natalensis (Hochst.) Planch. ex Sond.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Hallicoccus obunca (De Lotto), adult female. A, enlargement of dorsal derm; B, stigmatic spines; C, dorsal microduct; D, simple pore; E, dorsal and marginal seta; F, preopercular pores; G, anal plate; H, pregenital disc-pore; I, anal ring (right half); J, metathoracic leg; K, ventral setae; L, ventral microduct; M, ventral tubular duct; N, spiracular disc-pores; O, antenna.