Apiomorpha pharetrata (Schrader)

Hodgson, Chris, 2020, A review of neococcid scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) based on the morphology of the adult males, Zootaxa 4765 (1), pp. 1-264 : 58-61

Apiomorpha pharetrata (Schrader) ( Fig. 21 )

Brachyscelis pharetrata Schrader 1863, 3 . Type data: Australia, New South Wales, in neighborhood of Sydney, on Eucalyptus sp. Type status unknown.

Apiomorpha pharetrata (Schrader) ; Cockerell 1896c, 328. Change of combination.

Material examined. Apiomorpha pharetrata , Australia, NSW, Oallen Ford Rd, “Burramarona”, Windellama, - 34.972778 149.902778, Eucalyptus ?eugeniodes ( Myrtaceae ) 4104, P.J. Gullan, 24.iii.2012 (P.J. Mills 00440) ( ANIC) 3/3 ad ♂♂ (fair to poor).

(Described from 3 specimens in rather poor condition, all rather mishappen and with some missing legs and antennae but most features visible).

Mounted material: quite large, total length 2.45–2.65 μm, width across mesothorax 425–505 μm, abdomen slightly attenuated; antennae of moderate length, about half total body length; fleshy setae easily separated from hair-like setae; fs on scape, tibia and tarsi shorter and parallel sided. Wings well developed, each about 3/4 body length; alar setae absent. Hamulohalteres absent.

Head: width across genae about 255 μm; head length about 255 μm. Median crest represented only by a shal- low median ridge of light sclerotisation with no striations or reticulations. Postoccipital ridge (por) well developed, broadening laterally, anterior arms rather parallel and close together but posterior arms widening; with 3–5 pairs of hs dorsal head setae (dhs); minute simple pores absent. Mid-cranial ridge: dorsal ridge (dmcr) well developed, extending posteriorly to level with dorsal simple eyes; ventral ridge (vmcr) represented by a pair of distinct lateral arms (lmcr), each extending posteriorly to ocular sclerite; with a total of 2 or 3 hs ventral mid-cranial ridge setae (vmcrs). Genae (g) not reticulated but with 2 hs genal setae (gs) on each side laterad to postoccipital ridge. Eyes: with two pairs of large, round, slightly protruding, simple eyes, ventral eyes (vse) larger than dorsal eyes (dse): vse 80–85 μm wide, dse about 75 μm wide. Ocelli (o) apparently absent. Ocular sclerite (ocs) with a few concentric striations or ridges around and between eyes. Preocular ridge (procr) extending to about half-way to mid-cranial ridge dorsally. Postocular ridge (pocr) strongly developed ventrally and extending dorsally to level with dorsal simple eyes. Dorsal ocular setae absent. Ventral head setae (vhs): about 4 or 5 in a line above vse. Preoral ridge absent. Cranial apophysis (ca) bifurcate, 40–60 μm long.

Antennae: 10-segmented and filiform; length 1.23–1.35 mm long (ratio of total body length to antennal length 1:0.50). Scape (scp): 60–65 μm long, 65–80 μm wide, with 1 hs ventrally and 2 mediolaterally. Pedicel (pdc) 65–87 μm long, 60–70 μm wide; concentric ridges faint distally only; with 7–9 fs + 5–7 hs + 1 campaniform pore (fs similar to those on flagellum). Segments III–IX more or less parallel-sided, 25–35 μm wide; fs unusually strong, each 43–50 μm long; hs all similar, each 28–40 μm long; lengths of segments (μm): III 160–165; IV 165–170; V 170–180: VI 170–200, VII 170–185, VIII 140, IX 120–130; approximate number of setae and sensilla per segment: III 8 fs + 0 hs, IV 13 or 14 fs + 4–7 hs, V 14 fs + 8–13 hs; VI 11–18 fs + 10–12 hs; VII 13–17 fs + 9–12 hs; VIII 13–16 fs, 5–8 hs +1 antennal bristle (ab); IX 8–10 fs, 6 hs + 1 ab. Segment X 75–90 μm long, with 3 or 4 fs, 3–5 hs + 3 or 4 large and 1 shorter ab; capitate setae entirely absent.

Thorax. Prothorax: pronotal ridge (prnr) well developed and probably fusing medially on dorsum; lateral pronotal sclerites (prn) distinct; without lateral pronotal setae. Medial pronotal and post-tergital setae apparently absent. Post-tergites probably absent. Sternum (stn 1) not sclerotised; transverse ridge moderately well developed, possibly with apophyses (stn 1 a); median ridge absent but with a small area with ridges posteriorly; prosternal setae (stn 1 s) absent. Proepisternum + cervical sclerite (pepcv) showing nothing distinctive. Anteprosternal setae and antemesospiracular setae absent.

Mesothorax: prescutum (prsc) elongate, length significantly greater than width, (160–)230 μm long, 165–185 μm wide; sclerotised, without nodulations; prescutal ridges (pscr) well developed; prescutal suture (pscs) poorly developed or represented by slight striations; prescutal setae absent. Prealare (pra) and triangular plate (tp) well developed. Scutum (sct): median area sclerotised, 55–80 μm long, with a single pair of scutal hs laterally; anterolateral margins lightly striated; prealar ridge (prar) weak. Scutellum (scl) rather rounded anteriorly and therefore width unclear, perhaps 185 μm wide, 90–105 μm long; with a strong inverted U-shaped scutellar ridge (sclr); not tubular but with a large foramen; with 1 pair of scutellar setae (scls); posterior notal wing process (pnp) quite long, diagonal and heavily sclerotised. Basisternum (stn 2) 350–390 μm wide, 235–290 μm long; median ridge absent; bounded anteriorly by a weak marginal ridge (mr) (absent medially) and posteriorly by strong precoxal ridges (pcr 2); without basisternal setae (stn 2 s); lateropleurite (lpl) rather narrow, without an extension from marginal ridge; furca (f) well developed, with a broad base, narrow-waisted and extending almost to marginal ridge. Mesopostnotum (pn 2) well developed; postnotal apophysis (pna) well developed. Area bounded anteriorly by scutellum and laterally and posteriorly by mesopostnotum membranous. Mesepisternum (eps 2) not reticulated; subepisternal ridge (ser) strongly sclerotised, arising from lateral ridges of basisternum. Postalare (pa) well developed; without postalare setae and not reticulated anteriorly. Mesothoracic spiracle (sp 2): width of peritreme 33–37 μm. Postmesospiracular setae absent. Tegula (teg) present, each with 6–11 tegular setae (tegs).

Metathorax: metapostnotum quite broad; with 1 pair of hs metatergal setae (mts) medially. Dorsospiracular setae (dss): 1 or 2 pairs hs. Dorsal part of metapleural ridge present but without a suspensorial sclerite; ventral part of metapleural ridge (plr 3) normal; precoxal ridge (pcr 3) and mesepisternum (eps 3) absent; with 1 pair of postmetaspiracular setae. Metepimeron (epm 3) short, without setae. Antemetaspiracular setae absent. Metathoracic spiracle (sp 3): width of peritreme 37–45 μm. Metasternum (stn 3) membranous; metasternal apophyses (stn 3 a) not detected; with 0 or 1 pairs of anterior metasternal setae (amss) but posterior metasternal setae (pmss) absent.

Wings: hyaline, 1.78–1.9 mm long, 0.62–0.69 mm wide (ratio of length to width 1:0.35; ratio of total body length to wing length 1:0.75); alar lobe present but small; alar setae and alar sensoria absent. Hamulohalteres absent.

Legs: metathoracic legs longest. Coxae (cx): I 155–165; II 130–160; III 145–165 μm long; with 0 fs + 8–10 hs on each coxa III; long apical seta setose, each 65–70 μm long. Trochanter (tr) + femur (fm): I 330–350; II 310–340; III 340–365 μm long; trochanter III with 0 fs + 4 or 5 hs; campaniform pores oval and in a semicircle; long trochanter seta 50–60 μm, femur III with 0 fs + 10–13 hs. Tibia (ti): I 305–330; II 295–315; III 330–350 μm, tibia III with many setose and spinose setae, including 1–4 fs, each 10–12 μm long; and with 2 apical spurs (tibs), length 15–25 μm. Tarsi (ta): I 115–135; II 125–135; III 138–150 μm long (ratio of length of tibia III to that of tarsus III 1:0.42); tarsi 2 segmented; tarsus III with many setae, including 9–12 fs; tarsal spurs undifferentiated but setae in this position each 20–25 μm long; tarsal campaniform pore (cp) present; tarsal and claw digitules barely capitate, both longer than claw. Claws (c) quite broad, shorter than width of tarsi, almost straight, with a small denticle; length: III: 28–33 μm.

Abdomen: somewhat attenuated; tergites (at) present weakly on more posterior segments; sternites (as) present on all segments; pleurites all membranous. Caudal extensions (ce) on segment VII absent. Setae all long hs, each 50–70 μm: dorsal abdominal setae (ads): I–VII each with 4 hs; ventral abdominal setae (avs): II–VII 4 hs; dorsal pleural setae (dpls): I–VII generally 3 hs, and ventral pleural setae (vpls): I–VII 1 hs.

Segment VIII: tergite (at) weakly sclerotised, sternite sclerotised; ante-anal setae absent. Margins of segment rounded; caudal extension absent. Setae: with 4 long pleural setae, longest 80–90 μm, others 50–60 μm long. Glan- dular pouches (gp) cone-shaped, with loculate pores extending out of pouch; with 2 glandular pouch setae (gps), each 100–150 μm long with sharp apices.

Genital segments: penial sheath (ps) divided into a bulbous segment IX and a longer, sharply pointed style; length of segment IX 85–95 μm, width 105–120 μm; anal opening 75–90 μm wide, near posterior margin of segment IX; seg- ment IX with total of 5–10 hs setae on each side and ventrally. Style 215–230 μm long, 65–70 μm wide at base, with a long narrow, parallel-sided apex; with a pair of long hs about half-way along length, each 38–45 μm long; other setae absent; with a few small sensilla near apex. Aedeagus (aed) quite long, gradually narrowing to a narrow apex; length 170–220 μm. Basal rod sclerotisation (bra) very short.

Comment. The adult male of this species is very similar to that of A. spinifer . Possible differences are: (i) the number of tegular setae: 6–11 on A. pharetrata but only 2–5 on A. spinifer ; (ii) the length of the penial sheath: 250–270 μm long on A. spinifer and 215–230 μm long on A. pharetrata , and (iii) the shape of the anal opening – possibly much larger and wider in A. pharetrata .

Figures

FIGURE 21. Apiomorpha pharetrata (Schrader). Macropterous male. (Eriococcidae, Acanthococcid group). Where A=cranial apophysis, D1=fleshy seta on antennae, D2=fleshy seta on tarsus, E=hair-like seta and R=dermal reticulation on ocular sclerite.