Bemisia Quaintance & Baker

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 : 14

Genus Bemisia Quaintance & Baker

Bemisia Quaintance & Baker, 1914: 99–100 . Type species: Aleurodes inconspicua Quaintance, 1900: 28–29 [Synonymised with Aleurodes tabaci Gennadius, 1889: 1–3 by Russell, 1957: 122]

Roucasia Goux, 1940: 45 [Synonymised by Danzig, 1964: 326.]

Cortesiana Goux, 1988: 63 [Synonymised by Martin, 1999: 54.]

Lipaleyrodes Takahashi, 1962: 100 [Synonymised by Dubey et al. 2009: 541.]

Comments. This genus currently includes 49 species ( Martin & Mound, 2007, updated by Dubey et al., 2009) whose puparia are characterised by having the vasiform orifice acute-triangular, usually leading into a pronounced caudal furrow, with abdominal segment VII reduced in length medially in relation to the more anterior segments ( Fig. 12), and with the transverse moulting sutures terminating in the subdorsum. In the European–Macaronesian area, members of the genus Bemisia generally belong to either the B. afer or B. tabaci species complex. This is discussed in more detail under B. afer , below. We wish to make it clear that there are many taxa within Bemisia sens . lat., worldwide, that are demonstrably not members of either the afer or tabaci complexes, but these are outside the scope of this work.

Bemisia puparia may display pronounced phenotypic variation, with chaetotaxy and presence of dorsal sculpturing highly variable both between and within species as well as between species, often depending on the physical characteristics of leaf surfaces ( Mound, 1963, 1965b). Whitefly puparia of several other genera are also notorious for displaying variation induced by physical characteristics of leaf surface, as discussed by Russell (1948) with reference to Trialeurodes species (see Fig. 38), and subsequently demonstrated experimentally by Mound (1963) with reference to Bemisia tabaci in Africa. There also appears to be variation in the production of dorsal waxes in various patterns in some Bemisia species or populations: this led to the separation of several species and their placement in the genus Lipaleyrodes , now regarded as a junior synonym of Bemisia .

However, some puparia of the Bemisia afer complex in the Macaronesian islands display extremes of variation that have not been seen anywhere else in the world, and it remains unknown whether some or all of these forms represent species, varieties, biotypes or simply extreme variations within species. Here, our approach to this phenomenon is to describe as new only two species whose puparia and adults are both very distinctive. However, we also discuss in detail and illustrate eight other puparial forms (A–H) that are particularly notable, and list their hosts.

Although there are no recorded species in the genera Asterobemisia and Neobemisia on the Canary Islands, this group of species has puparia with very similar morphology to the B. afer complex. However, they have a longitudinal moulting suture that does not reach to the anterior margin, and the transverse moulting sutures curve anteriorly to meet at the anteriormost extremity of the longitudinal suture. David & Dubey (2009), from a study of material of Asterochiton cordiae David & Subramaniam and Asterobemisia carpini (Koch) , along with the descriptions of Bemisiella species ( Danzig, 1966) opined that the genera Asterobemisia Trehan and Bemisiella Danzig should be regarded as junior synonyms of Bemisia Quaintance & Baker. David & Dubey were sceptical about Danzig’s description of glandular structures on the apices of the marginal crenulations. We have been able to examine two paratype puparia of Asterobemisia mediorossica Danzig & Gavrilov (2000) , placed as a junior synonym of Bemisiella artemisiae Danzig (1966) by Danzig & Gavrilov (2002), and cannot see anything that resembles such “glands”. We are thus in agreement with David & Dubey, that Asterobemisia and Bemisiella are congeners. However, we are also of the opinion that the characteristics of the transverse moulting sutures in Asterobemisia species , where the sutures curve anteriorly and actually join the longitudinal moulting suture (thereby leading to the complete loss of a heart-shaped section of dorsal cuticle when the adults emerge), are so fundamentally different from those seen in Bemisia puparia, that Asterobemisia should be retained as a valid genus. Several authors have stated that the degree of development of the subdorsal part of the anteriorly-curved transverse moulting suture in Asterobemisia is variable. We agree with this observation, but it is likely that this gradually develops into a true suture as adult emergence approaches—indeed, observations on a series of specimens lends weight to this hypothesis (Malumphy, personal observations). We conclude, therefore, that Bemisiella Danzig (1966) should become a junior synonym of Asterobemisia Trehan (1940) (syn. nov.) but that Asterobemisia should remain a valid genus (stat. rev.).