Paraleyrodes minei Iaccarino

Hernández-Suárez, Estrella, Martin, Jon H., Gill, Raymond J., Bedford, Ian D., Malumphy, Christopher P., Betancort, J. Alfredo Reyes & Carnero, Aurelio, 2012, 3212, Zootaxa 3212, pp. 1-76 : 34-35

Paraleyrodes minei Iaccarino

( Figures 41, 92, 93)

Paraleyrodes minei Iaccarino, 1990: 132 .

Distribution in the Canary Islands: TENERIFE: Santa Cruz de Tenerife. GRAN CANARIA: Arucas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Marzagán, Puerto de Mogán, San Bartolomé, Telde. LA PALMA: Tazacorte. LA GOMERA: San Sebastián, Valle Hermoso. Elsewhere: Neotropical Region: Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico; Nearctic Region: Bermuda, California , Florida, Texas; Palaeartic Region: Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Syria, Turkey; Ethiopian Region: Benin; Oriental Region: Hong Kong; Austro-oriental Region: West Malaysia; Pacific Region: Hawaii.

Host plants in the Canary Islands: Citrus limon , Citrus sinensis , Citrus sp. , Hibiscus sp. , Cocos nucifera , Syagrus romanzoffiana , Strelitzia augusta . Other listed host plants: It has being recorded from Citrus aurantium , C. limon in Spain (Llorens Climet & Garrido Vivas, 1992). A small colony of P. minei in Hong Kong was found on a most unusual host for any aleurodicine whitefly species— Miscanthus sinensis (Poaceae) ( Martin, 2004, BMNH). P. minei is polyphagous everywhere it occurs.

Comments: Paraleyrodes minei , the so-called “nesting whitefly”, is another example of a whitefly species that was described following its introduction to a new area and establishment as a pest, in this case from specimens collected in Syria. It is native to the neotropics, as are all other species in the genus. Two other Paraleyrodes species , P. bondari Peracchi and P. citricolus Costa Lima, have recently become established in Madeira (Martin, 1996). An identification guide to the species of this genus present in the western Palaeartic was provided by Martin (1996). Paraleyrodes minei is not an economic pest in the Canaries’ citrus orchards but it is spreading as a pest of ornamental palms.

Females of P. minei secrete waxy material around themselves and they oviposit within these tiny “nests” ( Fig. 92), giving rise to the common name but this is a characteristic of most Paraleyrodes species , so use of the common name is discouraged. In the field in the Canaries, P. minei can be recognised by the secreted wax, very small adults, and the males’ antennal flagellum comprising a single, thick and usually orangy-coloured segment; each female usually occupies her nest formed from white waxy material ( Fig. 92); puparia are surrounded by (and sometimes covered by) filamentous translucent wax rods that extend from the dorsum ( Fig. 93).