Arctorthezia pseudoccidentalis Morrison, 1952

Szita, Eva, Kaydan, Mehmet Bora, Benedicty, Zsuzsanna Konczne, Tanaka, Hirotaka, Fetyko, Kinga & Kozar, Ferenc, 2015, The genus Arctorthezia Cockerell (Hemiptera, Ortheziidae) with the description of a new species, ZooKeys 472, pp. 59-75 : 66-68

Taxon classification Animalia Hemiptera Ortheziidae

Arctorthezia pseudoccidentalis Morrison, 1952 Figs 4, 5 f–g, 6 g–h

Material examined.

USA: 4 females on 4 slides, Nevada, 15 mi S of Ely, beneath boards, 6.vii.1960, leg. T.R. Haig [PPI 8964, USNM 60-0381]

Description.

Adult female, with secretion, fairly large, similar to Arctorthezia occidentalis . Body completely covered with dense, sharply defined wax plates, these occurring in the usual marginal and dorsal tufts, white. With 3 wide, shield-shaped plates in centre of thorax (Fig. 5 f–g).

Slide-mounted adult female (Fig. 4, 6 g–h). Body elongate oval, 4.015 mm long, 3.497 mm wide. Antenna 7 or 8 segmented. Measurements of antennal segments: 1st 320‒350, 2nd 227‒260, 3rd 144‒155, 4th 113-124, 5th 103, 6th 93-103, 7th 103, apical segment 191 mm long; apical spine of antenna 26 mm long, subapical seta absent; fleshy sensory seta near apical seta 18 mm long; all segments of antennae covered with very robust, spine-like setae, longest spine 11 mm long; first antennal segment with 2 spines on each side of segment. Eye with sub-parallel sides, tall, situated very close to first segment of antenna.

Venter: Labium 391‒402 mm long, apparently one segmented. Stylet loop usually longer than labium. Legs well developed; measurements of front coxa 247‒310 mm long, middle 309‒330 mm, hind 330‒340 mm; front trochanter+femur 917 mm long, middle 958 mm, hind 1060‒1088 mm; front tibia+tarsus not seen, middle 649 mm, hind 824-868 mm; front claw 1 not seen, middle 108 mm, hind 113 mm; hind claw digitules 23-26 mm; legs with rows of robust spine-like setae, without 2 fleshy sensory seta on tibia each 10 mm, trochanter with 4 placoid sensilla on each surface. Wax plates present on ventral areas of head and thorax, with wide marginal plate laterad of each thoracic spiracle; two wax plates present between mid-coxa in wide triangular shape, below one wide arch shape, with 4 spine rows within ovisac band (Fig. 6g). Thoracic spiracles with wide band of disc pores inside atrium. Setae few, scattered in medial areas of thorax, with several setae near anterior edge of ovisac band and associated with simple pores. Ovisac band wide. With four wide wax plate bands within ovisac band. Multilocular pores with 4loculi around perimeter, 1 loculus in central hub; 5 mm in diameter; present in 4 complete bands near posterior edges of each spine bands, and scattered around vulva.

Dorsum: Wax plates cover all dorsum; three shield-shaped setae plates on middorsum (first 390‒540 mm in width, 290‒400 mm in length; middle 540‒710 mm in width, 330‒460 mm in length; third 570‒720 mm in width, 370‒460 mm in length, Fig. 6h), 9 circular pores clusters, separating the dorsal and marginal wax plate bands. Spines at margin of wax plate 22‒27 mm long, spines apically capitate. A few setae present in marginal clusters near posterior edges of marginal wax plates, with 3‒6 setae laterad of thoracic spiracles, longest seta 40‒50 mm long also present in very small numbers on other wax plates and in medial bare area. Multilocular pores generally with 4 loculi around perimeter, one loculus in central hub, sparsely present in wax plates. Abdominal spiracles 8 pairs on the margin, last 3 in posterior apical spine clusters. Anal ring 161 mm long and 127‒138 wide with 6 anal ring blunted setae, each 259‒264 mm long.

Distribution.

USA (California, Idaho, Nevada, Washington).

Ecology.

Host plant: Berberis aquifolium ( Berberidaceae ). Grass roots, litter under different trees, often under rocks.

Concluding comment.

Macromorphological characters of ortheziid species, such as the shape, number and arrangement of the wax plates of live (or dead) ensign scales have been useful for genus and in some cases for species identification ( Kondo et al. 2013, Kozár 2004, Szita et al. 2010). These wax plates on the intact body (Fig. 5) do not always have the same appearance as the wax plates of the mounted female (Figs 1-4, 6). For example, the submedial dorsal wax plates of Arctorthezia cataphracta are apparently in two parts on the intact body (Fig. 5b), while on the mounted female there is only one undivided wax plate on each tergite in the same position (Fig. 2). In the case of Arctorthezia species both the usability and limitations of this method for separating species within the genus are clear; the medial wax plates and midcoxal wax plates can be useful characters for quick separation of species (Figs 5-6). Nevertheless, the correct identification of a species needs always to be confirmed by slide mounting.