Dialeurolobus proteae, Millar, I. M. & Dooley, J. W., 2013

Millar, I. M. & Dooley, J. W., 2013, A new species of Dialeurolobus (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from Protea nitida in South Africa, Zootaxa 3694 (2), pp. 178-184 : 180-181

Dialeurolobus proteae sp. nov.

( Figs 1–9 )

PUPARIUM

Habitus. Body colour black, requiring bleaching ( Fig. 9 ); puparia distributed sparsely on underside of leaf. Sparse powdery wax present on dorsum.

Margin. Outline broadly oval, 1.20–1.86 [1.60] mm long by 1.01–1.60 [1.36] mm wide, with the holotype being 1.86 mm long, 1.60 mm wide, 1.16 times longer than wide, widest at A3 (third abdominal) segment (n=17). Margin evenly crenate, with 6–8 rounded teeth per 0.1 mm of margin; 4–7 slightly smaller teeth at thoracic ( Fig. 7 ) and abdominal tracheal openings.

Dorsum. Boundary between submedian and subdorsal areas of dorsal disc not distinctly indicated. Longitudinal moulting suture extending up to the basal border of the submargin; transverse moulting sutures extending to and terminating near submargin; metathoracic suture present and extending to but not overlapping the mesothoracic legs. Submargin to the subdorsum with linear pattern that is straight and parallel; subdorsum to submedian roughened. Thoracic and abdominal segmentation clearly marked submedially, rachis present; abdominal segment VII reduced by 5 µm in length medially; abdominal segment VIII trilobate; each abdominal segment with pair of slightly elongated depressions. Vasiform orifice elongate-cordate, 72.6–92.6 [83.6] µm long by 50–82 [69.7] µm wide, with inner edges ridged, anterior half with fine stipples. Operculum elongate-triangular, 56.9–72.6 [66.0] µm long by 47.9–67.8 [61.2] µm wide with rounded angles, occupying most of orifice and covering lingula; head of lingula globular, 47.4–63.6 [57.8] µm long by 19.1–27.8 [24.4] µm wide, finely setose with a pair of subapical setae.

Pores. Paired geminate pore with associated porette present with collars and separated from each other by a distance of about 1–3 times the diameter of the pore ( Fig. 1 ); distributed over dorsal disc from median to the submargin, where the pores are arranged in an irregular row of one to two pairs with some pores having two porettes associated with each.

Chaetotaxy. Anterior and posterior marginal setae present (most broken off). Anterior marginal setae 9.7–14.6 [11.2] µm long; posterior marginal setae 8.6–34.3 µm long. Submedian dorsal area comprises single pairs of cephalic setae 6.7–12 [9.6] μm long (most broken off) and 8th abdominal setae 6.1–19.5 [10.5] μm, each hair fine, pointed and curved; subdorsal chaetotaxy comprises 8 pairs of similar setae, 7–13 [10] μm long, arranged in a line extending around puparium, with 3 pairs on the thorax and 5 on the abdomen.

Venter ( Fig. 1 ). Cuticle diaphanous, with cellular/areolate pattern through subventral area, smooth submedially. Thoracic and caudal tracheal folds apparent. Ventral abdominal setae placed on either side of anterior angles of vasiform orifice, finely pointed and 16–25 μm long. Legs with apical adhesive pad; each leg with a small basal seta, slightly longer than its base. Antennae extending approximately to podite of middle legs; antennal bases placed anterior to fore legs.

Material examined. HOLOTYPE. Puparium on slide, SOUTH AFRICA, Western Cape, Cedarberg Nature Reserve, approx. 32˚25’S 19˚05’E, 10.xii.1991, C. Roux, on Protea nitida (Proteaceae) , HAl 76 (SANC). PARATYPES. 21 puparia on 11 slides, same data as holotype (SANC), 2 puparia on 2 slides (BMNH), 2 puparia on 2 slides (USNM), 6 puparia on 3 slides (PPQC); 2 puparia on 2 slides, collected in Quarantine from South Africa on Protea flowers on 5.iii.2001 at Los Angeles Plant Inspection station, Hawthorne, Ca, USA, reference laxca010711601640 (PPQC), 1 slide (BMNH).

Additional, non-type material. 8 dry specimens in situ on leaf fragments glued to 5 card platforms on pins, same data as holotype (SANC).

Distribution. Only known to occur in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Host plant. Protea nitida Mill. (Proteaceae) . This plant is endemic to South Africa, where it occurs in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces. It is a large, common protea species that grows into a tree, and is valued for its showy flowers and timber (Coates Palgrave, 2002).

Etymology. The name is derived from the host plant genus, Protea .

Comments. Dialeurolobus proteae sp. nov. differs from the other three species in this genus mainly by the morphological characters mentioned in the key below. It is most similar to D. rhamni , but has fewer pairs of setae in the submargin/subdorsum area, and more teeth in the tracheal combs. It also lacks eyespots, a caudal furrow, and caudal setae; all of these structures are present in D. rhamni . Also, the transverse moulting sutures in D. rhamni are curved abruptly anteriad, whereas in D. proteae they are more conventional in shape.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dialeurolobus proteae sp. nov. Stylized drawing of puparium showing general distribution of dorsal pores and setae. (A) detail of dorsal pore and porette, (B) detail of subdorsal abdominal seta.

FIGURES 2 – 9. Dialeurolobus proteae sp. nov. Photomicrographs of slide-mounted specimens and unmounted puparium. (2) Whole puparium; (3) anterior region; (4) abdominal detail; (5) vasiform orifice area; 6) detail of thoracic area showing margin, antenna and transverse moulting suture; (7) detail of margin showing thoracic tracheal teeth; (8) detail of thorax and first abdominal segment; (9) puparium on leaf of Protea nitida.