Aleurodicus capiangae Bondar, 1923

Martin, Jon H., 2008, A revision of Aleurodicus Douglas (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae), with two new genera proposed for palaeotropical natives and an identification guide to world genera of Aleurodicinae, Zootaxa 1835 (1), pp. 1-100 : 21-22

Aleurodicus capiangae Bondar

(Fig. 55)

Aleurodicus capiangae Bondar, 1923: 71 . Lectotype puparium here designated, Brazil [USNM].

Aleurodicus fucatus Bondar, 1923: 74 . Syntypes, Brazil [BMNH, examined]. Syn. nov.

DISTRIBUTION. Neotropical Region – Anguilla, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Nicaragua, Panamá, Surinam, Trinidad.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Type material of A. capiangae and A. fucatus as detailed and discussed below; figured specimen, Panamá, Canal Zone, Cerro Galera, on? Combretum , 26.iii.1983 (Martin #4147) ( BMNH); numerous samples from most countries listed above ( BMNH, USNM).

COMMENTS. The USNM collection contains a single slide of A. capiangae collected by Bondar, the data being “ Aleurodicus capiangae Bondar , Bahia, Brazil, G. Bondar, #504, Q[uaintance] 23299”. Bondar (1923: 72) clearly stated that cotype material [= syntype in currently accepted terminology] was deposited in

USNM. Accordingly, one of three puparia on the single Bondar slide of A. capiangae in USNM is here designated the lectotype (see discussions of lectotype designation, p. 9), and is clearly indicated on the slide. All three specimens on the lectotype slide are parasitised (each with a fuscous patch in a different position and one with an emergence hole), and the lectotype puparium also has some adult whitefly abdominal cuticle present inside it, of which the observer should be aware.

Five specimens in BMNH are on slides prepared from duplicate dry material of A. fucatus in USNM, presumed to be syntypic – the data are “ Inga & cacao, Brazil, Dec. 1922, fr. Dr G. Bondar #637, Q[uaintance] 23041”. Comparison of these specimens with the lectotype and paralectotypes of A. capiangae indicate that the two species are one and the same. Bondar (1923) described the two species consecutively, on pp 71–73 ( capiangae ) and 74–75 ( fucatus ). He illustrated A. fucatus with considerably larger compound pores than he showed for A. capiangae , but there is little size difference observed in the examined specimens. Bondar’s comments compared both species with A. trinidadensis Quaintance & Baker , but not with each other. Even though, amongst the many studied samples, there is considerable variation in the numbers and density of double-rimmed septate pores in the outer-submarginal row, this feature is in fact almost identical in the type specimens of both A. capiangae and A. fucatus . Accordingly A. fucatus is here regarded as a junior synonym of A. capiangae , syn. nov., using the principle of page priority to decide upon the senior name.

As stated above, the many specimens examined in connection with this study display great variation in the number of double-rimmed septate submarginal pores (and hence the proximity of each pore with its neighbours) and also variation in compound pore size: specimens with their submarginal septate pores almost contiguous impinge on the characters used to define A. trinidadensis (q. v.) and there is uncertainty over the species limits in A. capiangae , which may be part of a complex of similar species. With such variability, and in view of the imperfect condition of the lectotype, the specimen chosen for the illustration, figure 55, is an individual from Panamá that closely matches the lectotype – the data are detailed in Material Examined, above.

Mound (1961) provided observational data on the biology of A. capiangae , based on a colony on Canna indica in Trinidad. No voucher material of this studied colony is known to exist.