Aleurodicus floccissimus (Martin, Hernández-Suárez & Carnero), Martin, 2008

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 : 33-34

Aleurodicus floccissimus (Martin, Hernández-Suárez & Carnero)

( Figures 40, 89–91)

Lecanoideus floccissimus Martin, Hernández-Suárez & Carnero, 1997: 1262 .

Aleurodicus floccissimus (Martin, Hernández-Suárez & Carnero) Martin, 2008: 32 .

Distribution in the Canary Islands: TENERIFE: Adeje, Agua Dulce, Arona, Bahía del Duque, Garachico, Geneto, Güímar, Guía de Isora, Las Américas, Las Galletas, Los Cristianos, Los Gigantes, Los Realejos, Puerto de la Cruz, Playa San Juan, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Juan de La Rambla, Tembel, Valle Guerra. GRAN CANARIA: Arucas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Maspalomas, Puerto Rico. LA GOMERA: Hermigua. LA PALMA: Los Cancajos. Elsewhere: Neotropical Region: Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad.

Host plants in the Canary Islands: Acalypha wilkesiana , Alpinia zerumbet , Apollonias barbujana , Archontophoenix alexandrae , Archontophoenix cunninghamiana , Syagrus romanzoffiana , Arenga pinnata , Artocarpus altilis , Bambusa sp. , Bauhinia variegata , Bougainvillea spectabilis , Brachychiton discolor , Brahea armata , Brahea brandegeei , Caryota urens , Chamaerops humilis , Chamaedorea costaricana , Dypsis lutescens , Coccoloba uvifera , Cocos nucifera , Cordyline australis , Cordyline fruticosa , Costus megalobractea , Dictyosperma album , Doryanthes palmeri , Dracaena draco , Ficus benjamina , Ficus macrophylla , Ficus microcarpa , Ficus sp. , Ficus religiosa , Heliconia bihai , Heliconia champneiana , Howea forsteriana , Livistona chinensis , Malvaviscus penduliflorus , Mangifera indica , Hyophorbe verschaffeltii , Monstera deliciosa , Musa acuminata , Musa sp. , Musa textilis , Nicotiana glauca , Polyscias guilfoylei , Philodendron selloum , Phoenix canariensis , Phoenix dactylifera , Phoenix roebelenii , Pittosporum tobira , Plumeria alba , Plumeria rubra f. acutifolia , Psidium guajava , Ravenala madagascariensis , Roystonea borinquena , Rhapis humilis , Rhopalostylis baueri , Rhopalostylis sapida , Schinus terebinthifolius , Senecio grandifolius , Solandra maxima , Stenocarpus sinuatus , Strelitzia alba , Strelitzia nicolai , Strelitzia sp. , Thrinax radiata , Trachycarpus fortunei , Trachycarpus martianus , Trachycarpus wagnerianus , Veitchia joannis , Veitchia montgomeryana , Washingtonia filifera , Washingtonia robusta , Wigandia caracasana , Zingiber sp. , Zingiber zerumbet . Other host plants listed: Elais guineensis , Inga sp. , Theobroma cacao .

Comments: As happened with A. dispersus , A. floccissimus was described from material collected in the Canary Islands although it, too, was clearly an introduction from the neotropics. At the time of its description parasitised puparial material from Ecuador was found in the BMNH collection confirming that this was indeed an introduction from the New World ( Martin et al. 1997).

Aleurodicus floccissimus is now a notorius pest in the Canary Islands ( Hernández-Suárez et al., 2002). Its economic impact can be highlighted by its range of host plants, that in Tenerife Island alone had risen to 94 different plant species ( Hernández-Suárez et al., 2000). In 1998, the Cabildo of Tenerife made the first attempt at biological control of this pest by the introduction of the exotic parasitoid Encarsia guadeloupae Viggiani ( Hymenoptera : Aphelinidae ) ( Nijhof et al., 2000). This introduction did not give the desired results so an enhanced effort is currently being made (unpublished data). Currently, A. floccissimus is now established as a pest of cacao in Mexico ( Cortez-Madrigal et al., 2006), and it still has considerable economic impact in the Canaries.

In the field, in the Canary Islands, perfect or near-perfect specimens of A. floccissimus can be recognized by the arrangement of white wax secretions on the dorsum, combined with broader egg-laying trails ( Figs 90, 91) and its adults are larger than those of A. dispersus and are without infuscated spots on the wings ( Fig. 90).