Ripersiella Tinsley, 1899

Schneider, Scott A. & LaPolla, John S., 2022, A Neotropical complex of Ripersiella species (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Rhizoecidae) collected from the nests of Acropyga ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), ZooKeys 1123, pp. 1-30 : 1

Genus Ripersiella Tinsley, 1899

Ripersiella Tinsley in Cockerell, 1899: 278. Type species: Ripersia rumicis Maskell, 1892.

Rhizoecus (Pararhizoecus) Goux, 1941: 197. Type species: Rhizoecus petiti Goux, 1941.

Pararhizoecus Goux, 1941; Goux 1943: 41.

Remark.

The new species described below are placed in Ripersiella based on the following diagnosis, which is a condensed version of the comprehensive descriptions provided by Kozár and Konczné Benedicty (2007) and Szita et al. (2020). For further details on the genus and a broader treatment of species, refer to these references.

Diagnosis.

Tritubular cerores (also referred to as tritubular pores or ducts) absent; bitubular cerores (bitubular pores/ducts) typically present, absent in some species; anal ring with or without elongate cells, lacking protuberances, and situated dorsally; body setae all flagellate, anal lobes usually poorly developed, bearing a set of 3 distinct long setae or with several short setae; trilocular pores present but never arranged in tight clusters on the venter; body oval to spherical and membranous; antennae geniculate with 5 or 6 segments.

Comments.

In Kozár and Konczné Benedicty (2007) and Szita et al. (2020), species that lack bitubular cerores but are otherwise morphologically similar to the generic type species, R. rumicis (Maskell), have been tentatively placed in Ripersiella . We maintain the established precedent here. However, it is important to note that Choi and Lee (2022), in their phylogenetic analysis of mealybug clades, failed to recover a monophyletic Ripersiella , and our own preliminary phylogenomic analyses (unpublished data) show similar results. It is therefore likely that some or all of the new species described here will eventually require a change of combination corresponding with a revision of Rhizoecidae that is informed through both their morphology and molecular phylogenetic analysis.