Hallicoccus Kondo

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 : 25

Hallicoccus Kondo , new genus

Type species: Toumeyella lomagundiae Hall, 1935 , by present designation.

Generic diagnosis.

Adult female.

Unmounted material. Body of adult female convex. Living insects with an H-shaped ridge on dorsum somewhat similar to that found on many members of the genus Saissetia Déplanche.

Slide-mounted material.

Dorsum: derm with well-developed areolations. Anal plates each with 4 apical setae. A narrow sclerotized crescent around anal plates present. Anal ring with 6 or 8 setae. Submarginal dorsal tubercles and preopercular pores present or absent. Dorsal setae sharply spinose, stout, with straight and pointed tips. Dorsal microducts heavily sclerotized, with a single central opening. Dorsal simple pores present, small. Eyespots not detected.

Margin: Marginal setae similar to dorsal setae. Stigmatic spines present submarginally on dorsum, totalling 3–16 in each group; each stigmatic area with usually more than 6 spines of various sizes.

Ve nt e r: Antennae small, 5 or 6 segmented. Mouthparts typical of the family; labium 1 segmented, with 8 labial setae. Legs greatly reduced, with all segments fused into one segment plus claw, or reduced to a minute sclerotized plate with a few associated setae. Spiracles relatively small. Ventral tubular ducts present on area between anterior and posterior spiracles. Ventral setae all slender or slender medially and sharply spinose submarginally and submedially; prevulvar setae similar to other ventral setae or only slightly longer. Spiracular disc-pores with 5–12 loculi, mostly with 5 loculi. Pregenital disc-pores each with 6–12 (mostly 10) loculi, present around vulva and extending medially on all median areas of abdomen and thorax. Ventral microducts scattered evenly on venter or most abundant submarginally and around mouthparts.

Etymology. The new genus Hallicoccus is named after the late Dr. Wilfrid John Hall (who collected and described the type species Toumeyella lomagundiae ), and comprises the surname plus “ coccus ”, the latinized version of the Greek word “kokkos”, meaning a small grain or seed, an ending commonly used to describe scale insects.