Hallicoccus lomagundiae (Hall) Hall, 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 : 25-29

Hallicoccus lomagundiae (Hall) , comb. nov.

( Fig. 1 & 2 )

Toumeyella lomagundiae Hall, 1935: 81 ; De Lotto 1966: 149; Hodgson 1969: 36; Ben-Dov 1993: 330.

Material studied.

Holotype. ZIMBABWE, 1 (1): Sinoia, coll., 15.xii.1927, ex Bauhinia macrantha , (det. date: 11.vii.1934), det. W.J. Hall, No. 1770 ( BMNH).

Paratypes. ZIMBABWE, 1 (2): Same data as Holotype ( BMNH); ZIMBABWE, 1 (4): Same data as Holotype, except No. 185 (Note: not labelled as Paratypes but with same data as Holotype) ( BMNH); ZIM- BABWE, 28 (28): Same data as Holotype, except AL-141-98 (mounted from BMNH dry Type material) ( BMNH).

Non-type material. MALAWI, 1 (1): Chitedzi Exp. Station, 1.vii.1966, ex Piliostigma thouningii , coll. C.J. Hodgson, BM 1967-558 (528), det. C.J. Hodgson ( BMNH).

Description. Adult female ( Fig. 1 )

Unmounted material. “Old adult female very highly convex, the height being approximately the same as the diameter. The sides are roughly vertical with the top more or less evenly rounded but surmounted at the apex by a minute protuberance. The margin is outwardly turned so as to give a small flattened base. On either side of the dorsum is a large and usually conspicuous dent, as though the insect has been pinched between the finger and thumb. In cross-section the adult female is either irregularly broadly oval or circular. In some specimens the dorsum exhibits vertical ridges making it six or seven sided. The colour is a dull brown, darker brown generally in the vicinity of the ridges. The surface of the dorsum is not smooth but has little irregularly shaped flattish protuberances at wide intervals. Very young specimens have a distinct dorsal keel and the margin is set with crystalline outgrowths which are more or less regular and tend to be conical in shape. Similar conical outgrowths occur submarginally and are directed outwards towards the margin. In somewhat older specimens three spurs run down to the margin from the dorsal keel on either side, the conical marginal processes are present and similar crystalline masses occur at intervals over the dorsum giving a somewhat glassy appearance. Diameter of adult female, 5.5–7.5 mm; height, 5–7.5 mm.” ( Hall, 1935).

Mounted material. Body outline subcircular or elongate oval; body 2.7–6.4 mm long, 2.3–5.0 mm wide (n=35).

Dorsum. Derm of young adult females only slightly sclerotized; derm areolations well developed. Anal plates located about 1/5 of body length from body apex. Each plate 156–199 µm long, 81–97 µm wide, anterolateral margin 102–113 µm long, posterolateral margin 156–194 µm long; with 4 dorsal apical setae: 2 short setae on inner margin, 1 large subapical seta close to outer margin, and 1 short apical seta displaced towards outer margin, often broken off, but setal sockets clearly present; plus 2 ventral anterior margin and 1 shorter lateral margin seta. Anal ring with 8 setae and 2 rows of translucent pores. Submarginal dorsal tubercles present, each about 24 µm in diameter, totalling 6–18 around body. Preopercular pores absent. Setae scattered over dorsum, each 13–17 µm long. Dorsal microducts elongate oval, each about 5 µm wide, scattered throughout dorsum. Simple pores each about 2 µm in diameter, scattered evenly over dorsum.

Margin. Marginal setae more or less in two rows, each 11–28 µm long, longest on anal lobes, with about 12–16 setae between groups of anterior and posterior stigmatic setae. Stigmatic spines of two shapes, totalling 11–16 in each group, located on dorsal submargin, longest sharply spinose, slender, 77–98 µm long; others spinose with greatly swollen bases, each shorter, 13–43 µm long.

Ve nt e r. Derm membranous. Antennae reduced, 6 or 7 segmented, each 76–108 µm long. Clypeolabral shield 162–205 µm wide. Legs greatly reduced, with all segments fused but with a claw; prothoracic legs shortest; metathoracic legs longest; total length of each leg, 32–76 µm long. Tarsal digitules on each prothoracic leg dissimilar, one knobbed and the other spiniform; tarsal digitules on each meso- and metathoracic leg similar, knobbed. Claws simple, with no denticle; each claw with a pair of slender, knobbed digitules. Spiracles relatively small, anterior spiracles usually smaller than posterior spiracles, each anterior peritreme 92– 113 µm wide, posterior peritreme 92–124 µm wide. Ventral tubular ducts scarce, present in a narrow band between anterior and posterior spiracles. Ventral setae of two types, those on mid areas of abdomen and thorax slender and long, each 13–17 µm long; rest of setae with broader bases, shorter, each 10–12 µm long. With 2– 4 pairs of interantennal setae present. Spiracular disc-pores with 4–12 loculi, mostly with 5 loculi, each 2–5 µm in diameter; spiracular pore bands each 2–5 pores wide. Pregenital disc-pores numerous, each 4–6 µm in diameter, each with 6–12 (mostly 10) loculi, present medially on all abdominal segments, extending anteriorly onto both sides of mouthparts, and reaching area around prothoracic legs; often with 1 or 2 multilocular discpores on area between antennae. Microducts each about 4 µm wide, abundant around body margin and labium, less frequent elsewhere on venter.

Diagnostic features. The adult female of Hallicoccus lomagundiae (Hall) can be easily separated from Hallicoccus obunca ( De Lotto) by the following combination of character states (character states of H. obunca in brackets): (i) absence of preopercular pores (present), (ii) presence of submarginal dorsal tubercles (absent), (iii) legs with all segments fused, but with a distinct claw (legs vestigial, composed of a small sclerotized plate plus 2 or 3 associated setae), and (iv) presence of bulbous stigmatic spines (stigmatic spines sharply spinose).

Remarks. The present description of H. lomagundiae differs from previous descriptions by Hall (1935) and Hodgson (1969) in the following points (character states of present description in parenthesis): (i) dorsal setae most abundant near the anal plates (dorsal setae not particularly abundant around anal plates), (ii) antennae 7 segmented (6 or 7 segmented), and (iii) ventral tubular ducts absent (present in a narrow band between According to Hall (1935), Hallicoccus lomagundiae (as Toumeyella lomagundiae ) was a common species on Bauhinia in the Sinoia district (Lomagundi) of Zimbabwe. The second host, Piliostigma thonningii , is closely related to Bauhinia , a genus in which it was formerly included (Missouri Botanical Garden: “w3TROPICOS”, 2006).

Description. First-instar nymph ( Fig. 2 )

Material studied.

Paratypes. ZIMBABWE, 6(33): Same data as Holotype (slide-mounted from type dry material) ( BMNH); ZIMBABWE, 1(6): Same data as Holotype, except No.185, ( BMNH).

Unmounted material. External morphology not recorded.

Mounted material. Body outline elongate oval; body 464–507 µm long, 226–280 µm wide (n=39).

Dorsum. Derm membranous. Anal plates each 47–55 µm long, 21–24 µm wide, with 4 dorsal setae: 1 inner margin seta and 3 apical (including long median apical seta), plus 1 anterior margin seta. Anal ring with 6 setae and an irregular row of pores. Dorsal setae short, each about 3 µm long; in 2 submedian parallel rows of 4 setae on head and thorax. A trilocular pore present on each side of head region near margin. Dorsal microducts each about 3 µm wide, present submarginally and in 2 submedian rows. Simple pores each about 2 µm in diameter, usually closely associated with a microduct. Eyespots present on margin of head.

Margin. Marginal setae slender, each 11–15 µm long, totalling about 32 around body, with 8 anteriorly between eyes, plus (on each side) 2 between eye and anterior stigmatic setae, 2 between anterior and posterior stigmatic setae, and 8 between posterior stigmatic setae and body apex on each side. Each stigmatic area with a group of 3 stigmatic spines, each well differentiated from marginal setae; each median spine sharply spinose, 24–28 µm long; lateral spines short, sharply spinose or bulbous, each 5–7 µm long.

Ve nt e r. Antennae 6 segmented, each 162–178 µm long. Clypeolabral shield 76–86 µm wide. Legs well developed, each trochanter and femur with a very long seta; also with a long seta on each meso- and metathoracic tibia; trochanter + femur of each leg 81–86 µm long, tibia + tarsus 108–113 µm long; anterior tarsal digitules dissimilar, one long and knobbed, the other short and spiniform; meso- and metathoracic tarsal digitules both knobbed and subequal in size; claw digitules all similar and knobbed; claw with a small denticle. Anterior and posterior spiracular peritremes similar in size, each 6–9 µm wide. Submedian abdominal setae in pairs on posterior 3 segments. Submarginal setae arranged in an inner and outer row, each with 7 setae on each side, between posterior stigmatic areas and posterior body apex, plus 1 seta on each side between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas, and 1 pair present anteriorly on head region; other ventral setae present in a submedian line, with 1 seta on each abdominal segment. Spiracular disc-pores each about 3 µm in diameter, with 3– 5 loculi (mostly 3 or 5); present in a line between each spiracle and margin, with 3 pores in each anterior line and 4 in each posterior line. Ventral microducts each about 2 µm wide, present submarginally on each segment between inner and outer submarginal setae, except absent from between posterior-most pair; also with 2 microducts on each side between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas, and 2 on each side posterior to antennae.

Diagnostic features. The first-instar nymphs of H. lomagundiae can be easily diagnosed by the presence of a very long seta on each coxa and femur, with a long seta found also in the meso- and metathoracic tibiae (see remarks for additional comments).

Distribution of H. lomagundiae: Afrotropical Region: Zimbabwe, Malawi.

Host plants. Fabaceae : Bauhinia macrantha Oliv. ; B. variegata ( Ben-Dov, 1993; Hodgson, 1969); Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach. & Thonn.) Milne-Redh.

Remarks. The extremely long setae observed in the legs of H. lomagundiae are unique among the Coccidae in their distribution, being present in each trochanter and femora, and on each tibia of the meso- and metathoracic legs. Williams & Hodges (1997) discussed the taxonomic features of first-instar nymphs of 52 species in 45 genera representative of 8 out of the 10 subfamilies of the Coccidae as recognized by Hodgson (1994). In their study, Williams and Hodges reported similar long setae in the leg segments of first-instar nymphs of several coccids, i.e., one long seta on the trochanters of Coccus hesperidum L., two long setae on the trochanters of Eulecanium tiliae (L.), one long and one short seta on each trochanter of Ceroplastodes dugesii (Signoret) , and the presence of an extremely long seta on the femur which extends to near the apex of the leg of Etiennea petasus Hodgson , Kilifia americana Ben-Dov , Milviscutulus mangiferae (Green) and Protopulvinaria pyriformis Cockerell. However , long setae on the legs of the first-instar nymphs discussed by Williams and Hodges were restricted to one segment on each leg, rather than two or more leg segments as observed on H. lomagundiae .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Hallicoccus lomagundiae (Hall), adult female. A, derm areolation; B, submarginal dorsal tubercle; C, stigmatic setae; D, dorsal microduct; E, simple pore; F, dorsal and marginal seta; G, anal plate; H, pregenital disc-pores; I, spinose ventral submarginal seta; J, slender ventral submedial seta; K, anal ring (right half); L, reduced metathoracic legs; M, ventral microduct; N, top and side view of ventral tubular duct; O, spiracular disc-pores; P, antenna.

FIGURE 2. Hallicoccus lomagundiae (Hall), first-instar nymph. A, trilocular pore; B, marginal setae; C, dorsal seta; D, stigmatic spines; E, dorsal microduct; F, simple pore; G, ventral submarginal seta; H, anal ring (right half); I, spiracular disc-pores; J, ventral microduct; K, ventral submarginal cephalic seta.