Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)

Moghaddam, Masumeh, 2013, A review of the mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae, Putoidae and Rhizoecidae) of Iran, with descriptions of four new species and three new records for the Iranian fauna, Zootaxa 3632 (1), pp. 1-107 : 31-32

Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)

(Fig. 16)

Phenacoccus hirsutus Green, 1908: 25 . Phenacoccus glomeratus Green, 1922: 389 . Spilococcus perforatus De Lotto, 1954: 114 . Paracoccus pasaniae Borchsenius, 1962: 590 .

DIAGNOSIS. Mounted adult female broadly oval. Anal lobes poorly to moderately developed, each ventral surface bearing an anal lobe bar. Antennae 9 segmented. Legs well developed, claw without a denticle. Translucent pores present on posterior surface of hind femur and tibia. Cerarii usually numbering 4–6 pairs. Anal lobe cerarii each with 2 short conical setae and a few trilocular pores, all situated on a membranous area. Anterior cerarii each similar to anal lobe cerarii but sometimes reduced to a single seta, or with 1 or both setae replaced by flagellate setae. Circulus present, quadrate to oval, divided by an intersegmental line. Ostioles well developed. Dorsal and ventral setae flagellate, ventral setae usually longer than those on dorsum. Multilocular disc pores present on venter, mainly across anterior and posterior edges of abdominal segments as far forward as abdominal segment IV, often reaching margins, sometimes present on abdominal segment III and head. Trilocular pores evenly distributed on dorsum and venter. Dorsal oral rim ducts numerous on head, thorax and across abdominal segments; and ventrally on marginal areas of head, thorax and abdominal segments, except posterior to vulva. Oral collar ducts of 2 sizes, both narrower than a trilocular pore: small type present across middle of dorsal segments in single rows, sometimes reduced to only 1 or 2 per segment, and on venter across middle of abdominal segments to margins and on head and thorax; large pores present ventrally across abdominal segments III–VI and on lateral margins of all abdominal segments, plus a few in medial and marginal areas of thorax.

DISTRIBUTION. Afrotropical, Australasian, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oriental, Palaearctic: China, Egypt, France, Iran, Japan, Oman and Saudi Arabia. In Iran, M. hirsutus occurs in Fars, Hormozgan, and Sistan & Balouchestan. It is known from about 76 plant families worldwide (Ben-Dov et al., 2012).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Fars: Jahrom, 5 adult Ƥ, on Morus alba (Moraceae) , 28.iv.2001 (Fallahzadeh). Hormozgan: Bandar Abbas, 2 adult Ƥ, on Ficus religiosa ( Moraceae ), 01.i.1970, (Unknown); Gheshm, 3 adult Ƥ, on Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) , 28.x.2002 (S. Serri); Minab, 5 adult Ƥ, on, Acacia sp. ( Fabaceae ). Sistan & Balouchestan: Chabahar, 2 adult Ƥ, on Hibiscus syriacus (Malvaceae) , 2 adult Ƥ, Salix sp. ( Salicaceae ), 2 adult Ƥ, M. alba ; Chabahar, Bahookalat, 4 adult Ƥ, on Albizia sp. ( Fabaceae ), 8 adult Ƥ, Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) , 6 adult Ƥ, H. rosa-sinensis , 6 adult Ƥ, Ipomoea sp. ( Convolvulaceae ), 5 adult Ƥ, Syzygium aromaticum (Myrtaceae) , 01.iv.2001; Chabahar, Kahir, 1 adult Ƥ, on Lawsonia inermis (Lytraceae) , 3 adult Ƥ, H. rosa-sinensis , 23.iv.2001; Chabahar, Ouraki, 3 adult Ƥ, on Ziziphus spina-christi (Rhamnaceae) , 09.ii.2001, 14 adult Ƥ, Acacia arabica (Fabaceae) ; Chabahar, Tiss, 5 adult Ƥ, on Prosopis sp., 3 adult Ƥ, Prosopis spicigera (Fabaceae) , 1 adult Ƥ, Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) , 22.iv.2001; Nikshahr, 7 adult Ƥ, on Citrus sinensis (Rutaceae) , 13.viii.2001; Nikshahr, Sarbook, Koshok, 3 adult Ƥ, on Tamarix sp. ( Tamaricaceae ), 30.vi.2003.

COMMENTS The pink hibiscus mealybug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus , is a serious pest of many plants in tropical and subtropical regions, including Africa, Southeast Asia and northern Australia (Ben-Dov et al. 2012). The date of entry of this mealybug to Iran uncertain, but the earliest specimens were seen and collected in Hormozgan in 1970. The author collected much material of M. hirsutus in southeast Iran in 2001, with heavy infestations, especially on M. indica . It is expected to spread to other southern regions. Fallahzadeh et al. (2009a) recorded Anagyrus fusciventris (Girault) and Gyranusoidea indica Shafee, Alam & Agarwal ( Hymenoptera : Chalcidoidea) as parasitoides of M. hirsutus . Fallahzadeh & Hesami (2004) recorded A. agraensis Saraswat, A. dactylopii (Howard) ( Hymenoptera : Encyrtidae ) on M. hirsutus . The plant family Tamaricaceae is a new record for M. hirsutus from Iran.