Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock

Hodgson, Chris J. & Peronti, Ana L. B. G., 2012, 3372, Zootaxa 3372, pp. 1-265 : 37-39

Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock

( Fig. 27; Map fig. 103)

Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock, 1881: 333 .

Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock ; Gimpel et al., 1974: 29; Gill, 1988: 18.

Ceroplastes plumbaginis Cockerell, 1893: 82 . Synonymised by Gimpel et. al., 1974: 29

Ceroplastes euphorbiae Cockerell, 1896a: 17 . Synonymised by Gimpel et. al., 1974: 29

Ceroplastes mexicanus Cockerell, 1896b: 20 . Synonymised by Gimpel et. al., 1974: 29

Ceroplastes breviseta Leonardi, 1911: 264 . Synonymised by Granara de Willink, 1999: 49

Ceroplastes cultus Hempel, 1900: 470 . Synonymised by Peronti et al., 2008: 150

Ceroplastes cuneatus Hempel, 1900: 491 . Synonymised by Peronti et al., 2008: 150

Ceroplastes rarus Hempel, 1900: 469 . Synonymised by Peronti et al., 2008: 150

Ceroplastes rotundus Hempel, 1900: 473 . Synonymised by Peronti et al., 2008: 150

Material examined: Lectotype ♀ (designated by Gimpel et al., 1974), U.S.A., Florida, Sanford , on Eupatorium sp. , 06.ii.1880, J. H. Comstock ( USNM): 1/2. Also Paralectotype ♀, U.S.A., Florida, on Myrtle orange, 1880, J. H. Comstock ( USNM): 1/1 .

Also: South Africa, SABA, 17.624 N, 63.237W, 330m asl., on herb, no date, B. Richardson ( DCBU): 1/2 (poor). Also: Bermuda, Southampton, South Shore, on Schinus sp. , 2.iv.1989, C.J. Hodgson ( BMNH): 3/3 (fairpoor); as previous, on Tamarix gallica (BMNH) : 1/1 (split into dorsum and venter). Also U.S.A., California, quarantined at Redding, C.A., Shasta Co., on Gardenia sp. , 16.viii.2002, Cobb ( BMNH): 1/5 (mainly good).

Note. Description taken mainly from Gimpel et al. (1974) and Peronti et al. (2008).

Unmounted material. “Wet wax rectangular to oval in dorsal view, hemispherical laterally, without horn, dirty to grayish white, with marginal flange small or absent and not hiding lateral filaments, divided into 1 dorsal and 6 lateral plates, with nuclei. Dry wax filaments as follows: cephalic filament appearing trifurcate, with acute apices; anterolateral and posterolateral filaments simple; posterolateral filaments bifurcate; caudal filaments with weakly divided, bifurcate apices; dorsal dry wax of first and second instars forming small central cap, surrounded by large dorsomedial nucleus; dorsal dry wax not tilted. Stigmatic wax bands present near both pairs of spiracles, anterior bands directed dorsally, filamentous wax confined to stigmatic areas. Length 3.8 (range 1.0–7.1) mm, width 2.4 (range 0.8–5.2) mm, height 2.0 (range 0.7–4.2) mm.” ( Gimpel et al., 1974: 29).

Mounted material. Body elliptical. Length: 0.8–6.5 mm, width: 0.5–5.0 mm.

Dorsum. Derm entirely membranous, except for heavily sclerotised caudal process. Caudal process short, 0.4–0.6 mm long, 0.4–0.7 wide. Derm with eight clear areas, without setae apart from cephalic area with 1 or 2 cylindrical setae. Dorsal setae mainly capitate, each 3.5–9.5 µm long, mostly slightly longer than width of basal socket, latter 4–5 µm wide; very sparse. Dorsal pores: (i) loculate microducts of the intermediate type, those with 2 or 3 satellite loculi most abundant and widespread; those with 1 satellite loculus most frequent in submarginal region, otherwise scarce; those with 4+ satellite loculi scarce or absent; (ii) simple microducts possibly absent. Preopercular pores in a transverse band of 9–15 pores. Anal plates about as long as wide, each plate 105–115 µm long, combined width 95–103 µm; each plate with 3 large dorsal setae, 1 smaller apical seta and 1 ventral seta. Anal tube 1.2–1.4x longer than anal plate.

Margin. Marginal setae each about 2 or more times longer than submarginal setae; length 13–32 µm; with perhaps 5–7 between eyespots and, on each side, 1–5 between eyespots and anterior stigmatic setae, 2 or 3 between stigmatic clefts, and about 5 or 6 on each side of abdomen; anal lobes each with 3–6 larger setae, each 20–60 µm long. Stigmatic setae conical to lanceolate, each cleft with a group of 17–60 setae in 3 or 4 irregular rows, but group narrow and extending out of cleft along margin; most setae 15–20 µm long but with about 3–5 larger seta near centre of each group, each 20–30 µm long and 30 µm wide. Eyespots each about 28–30 µm wide.

Venter. Derm entirely membranous. Pregenital disc-pores abundant around genital opening and segment VI, plus some in all preceding abdominal segments and 0–8 medially near base of each coxa. Spiracular disc-pores in a mainly narrow band, widening near margin. Ventral microducts showing nothing distinctive. Ventral tubular ducts each with a long inner ductule and a small glandular end; in a group of 12–25 in cephalic region and 16–31 medially and mediolaterally on posterior abdominal segments. Ventral setae: submarginal setae about twice as frequent as marginal setae, each 5–8 µm long.

Antennae each with 6–8 (usually 7) segments; usually with 1 or 2 distinct pseudoarticulations in segment III; each 205–310 µm long. Clypeolabral shield about 150–210 µm long. Spiracles: width of each peritreme 50–60 µm. Legs well developed, each with a distinct tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis; each claw without a denticle; claw digitules both broad; dimensions of metathoracic legs (µm): coxa 43–120; trochanter + femur 96–170; tibia 87–126; tarsus 54–75, and claw 15–25. Tarsal digitules 1.8x longer than claw digitules.

Discussion. C. cirripediformis appears to have been recorded just once in the area covered by this paper, in South Africa, off an unknown herb. This record almost certainly resulted from an introduction but, as there appears to be no other records, the population may have died out. C. cirripediformis is a polyphagous species and is widely distributed in the world ( Ben-Dov et al., 2011) and has been recorded from about 60 plant host families. It is a minor pest of Citrus and many ornamentals in the USA.

Similar species. Within the area under study, C. cirripediformis is close to C. sinensis (also an introduced species, but currently only known from northern Africa). According to Gimpel et al. (1974), C. cirripediformis differs from C. sinensis as follows (data for C. sinensis in brackets): (i) dorsal setae mainly capitate (rarely capitate); (ii) each anal plate with 1 ventral seta (with 2 ventral setae); (iii) stigmatic setae predominantly isosceles with pointed apices, apical third never bent (predominantly hemispherical, bullet-shaped with rounded apices or lanceolate with apical third bent); (iv) ventral submarginal band of filamentous ducts absent (present), and (v) multilocular disc-pores present on all abdominal and generally on all thoracic segments (multilocular disc-pores absent from abdominal segments II and III and thorax).