Icerya seychellarum (Westwood, 1855)

Unruh, Corinne M. & Gullan, Penny J., 2008, Identification guide to species in the scale insect tribe Iceryini (Coccoidea: Monophlebidae), Zootaxa 1803 (1), pp. 1-106 : 71

Icerya seychellarum group

Five species belong to this group: I. crocea , I. formicarum , I. hanoiensis , I. menoni and I. seychellarum . Until recently, I. crocea was considered a synonym of I. seychellarum , but the two were separated based on the shape and distribution of the open-centre pores and genetic differences ( Unruh & Gullan, 2008). These five species all have open-centre pores present in marginal clusters and transverse rows on the dorsal surface. This distribution of open-centre pores differs from other species in which the distribution is restricted to the margins and across the head only. The five species of this group can be separated based on the shape and density of their open-centre pores. The open-centre pores of I. crocea have 17–20 outer loculi and may or may not have a small cleft present. These pores are densely clustered on the middorsal head and thorax. Icerya seychellarum has similar-looking pores that always have a triangular cleft and are scattered only across the dorsal head and thorax. Both species have three cicatrices, which differs from I. formicarum and I. menoni , which each have a single cicatrix. The latter two species can be separated by the number of loculi in the open-centre pores and the shape of the ovisac in life [we were unable to examine material of I. menoni and base these claims on Rao’s (1951a) description and illustrations]. In life, the external appearance of the two species differs as the ovisac of I. menoni consists of a fluffy white secretion on the ventral abdomen compared to the elongate, fluted ovisac of I. formicarum . Icerya menoni also has two pencils of wax projecting from the posterior end of the body [projections visible in photograph accompanying original description ( Rao, 1951a: 61)] and I. formicarum has two tufts of wax surrounding the anal opening (1951a: 54). Rao reported that the opencentre pores of I. menoni are larger than those of I. formicarum and have a proportionately larger number of outer loculi and larger diameter.

Refer to the taxonomic notes on I. hanoiensis for a discussion of possible synonymy with I. seychellarum .