Tanyscelis spinosa (Froggatt) Hardy, Nate B. & Gullan, Penny J., 2010

Hardy, Nate B. & Gullan, Penny J., 2010, Australian gall-inducing scale insects on Eucalyptus: revision of Opisthoscelis Schrader (Coccoidea, Eriococcidae) and descriptions of a new genus and nine new species, ZooKeys 58, pp. 1-74 : 35-36

Tanyscelis spinosa (Froggatt) comb. n. Figs 3d,e20

Opisthoscelis spinosa Froggatt 1894b: 341-343.

Opisthoscelis fibularis Froggatt 1894b: 344-345, syn. n.

General.

What we believe to be type material of Opisthoscelis spinosa does not match exactly Froggatt’s (1894b) description of the gall of the female–tapering to a sharp thorn-like apex with a minute circular orifice–because the presumed syntype galls from Eucalyptus siderophloia at Flemington have a more slit-like orifice. Assuming that Froggatt made an error in his description and that we have examined the correct type material, adult females of Opisthoscelis spinosa are indistinguishable from those of Opisthoscelis fibularis . The name Opisthoscelis spinosa has priority, as it was described on an earlier page than Opisthoscelis fibularis . Froggatt (1894b, 1921) does not compare his two species. Froggatt (1894b) appears to have confused some of his drawings of Opisthoscelis spinosa and Opisthoscelis fibularis in that the illustrated galls labelled as those of Opisthoscelis spinosa (plate XVI, fig. 10) match his description of the galls of Opisthoscelis fibularis , and the drawings of galls purported to be of Opisthoscelis fibularis (plate XVI, fig. 17) match the description for Opisthoscelis spinosa . The original description of Opisthoscelis spinosa states that this species was plentiful in several localities about Sydney and common on Eucalyptus siderophloia at Flemington, which is in western Sydney and is now in the suburb of Homebush West, whereas Opisthoscelis fibularis was described from two localities: Bathurst, New South Wales (which is about 150 km west of Flemington) and Bendigo, Victoria ( Froggatt 1894b). We have examined adult female insects ex thorn-like leaf galls from localities in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and all specimens are similar.

Gall

(Fig. 3d,e). Female. On leaf. Thorn-like, height 3.1-7.3 mm, width 2.7-7.7 mm, length of basal attachment 3.4-8.1 mm, usually on adaxial (upper) leaf surface. Gall opening slit-like, ca 0.1 mm wide, 0.3-1.0 mm long. Base of gall globose and decorticated (i.e., outer tissue cracking and lifting from tissue below), distal area tapered, apex truncate.

Male. On leaf (probably adaxial surface). Height 1.8-2.3 mm, width 1.6-4.5 mm, length of basal attachment 1.9-4.6 mm. Gall subconical, apex truncate, opening oblong, 0.7-1.9 mm long, 0.2-0.8 mm wide.

Adult female

(Fig. 20) (n=28). Body turbinate, head, thorax, and anterior abdominal segments with intersegmental boundaries indistinct along margin, intersegmental boundaries incised along posterior abdominal margin; body length 1.8-3.0 mm, greatest width 1.5-2.2 mm; abdomen tapered, about as long as head + thorax. Eyespots each 20-50 µm wide, on dorsal margin. Antennae 1-segmented, 45-103 mm long. Frontal lobes difficult to see, each 165-190 µm long, 215-288 µm wide. Tentorial box 240-370 mm long. Labium 70-130 mm long, 75-163 mm wide. Pump chamber 25 µm long, 28 µm wide. Spiracles 105-188 mm long, 50-83 mm wide across atrium. Fore and mid legs each 28-106 µm long. Hind leg slender and elongate; coxa 270-666 µm long, trochanter + femur 540-980 µm long, tibia 380-1660 µm long, tarsus 320-700 µm long; translucent pores on both sides of femur and proximal proximal part of tibia; trochanter with 2 or 3 campaniform sensilla on each side; femur-tibia articulation functional; claw and digitules present but reduced. Anal opening 13-35 µm wide, without distinct sclerotic anal ring.

Dorsum. Derm weakly sclerotised, densely beset with small papillae. Small medial hump present on each thoracic segment, in some specimens additional humps discernable on anterior abdominal segments. Dorsal setae flagellate, 21-202 mm long; arranged in a transverse row across each abdominal segment, scattered over surface of head and thorax; setae increasing in length caudad. Macrotubular ducts 8-11 mm long, 4-5 mm in diameter; in transverse band across each abdominal segment, scattered across head and thorax. Microtubular ducts absent. Quinquelocular pores absent.

Venter. Oral lobes membranous. Setae 25-165 mm long, in a transverse row across each abdominal segment, along margin of head and thorax. Macrotubular ducts absent. Quinquelocular pores large, 8-11 µm in diameter, similar in distribution to ventral setae except absent on head, and with a cluster near each spiracle.

Material examined.

Lectotype of Opisthoscelis spinosa (here designated): AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 1 adult female (2.52 mm long, 2.06 mm wide): ex dry gall on leaf, with printed label: "No. 3093 E / GALL MAKING COCCIDS. / Opisthoscelis spinosa , Frogtt. / On the leaves of Eucalyptus siderophloia , / Flemington, N.S.W." ASCT0004862 (ASCU).

Paralectotype: AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 1 adult female: same data as lectotype.

Lectotype of Opisthoscelis fibularis (here designated): AUSTRALIA: Victoria: 1 adult female (2.95 mm long, 2.10 mm wide): ex dry gall on leaf, with printed label: "No. 1790 E / GALL MAKING COCCIDS. / Opisthoscelis fibularis , Frogtt. / Male and female galls on Eucalyptus / Bendigo, Victoria", ASCT00004878 (ASCU)

Paralectotype: AUSTRALIA: Victoria: 2 adult females, 6 slides with hundreds of first-instar nymphs: same data as lectotype (ASCU).

Additional material:

AUSTRALIA: New South Wales: 1 second-instar female: Eucalyptus sp. (ironbark), Arakoon Conservation Park, 27 Dec., 2005, LGC, NH117, LGC00539 (ANIC). Queensland: 3 adult females: Eucalyptus populifolia , Barakula, 5 Oct., 1939, No. 586 (QDPI); South Australia: 5 adult females: ex galls, Eucalyptus fasciculosa , Keith, 18 Feb., 1963, T. C. R. White, Specimen Index No. 15/63 (ANIC); 13 adult females, 9 second-instar females, 2 second-instar males, 55 first-instar nymphs: ex galls, Eucalyptus fasciculosa , Keith, 19 Feb., 1963, T. C. R. White, Specimen Index No. 15/63 (ANIC). Victoria: 7 adult females: ex galls, Eucalyptus microcarpa , 8 km W of Melton, Long Forest Road, 27 Feb., 1975, PJG (ANIC); 1 adult male: ex gall, Eucalyptus microcarpa , 8 km W of Melton, Long Forest Road, 10 Nov., 1976, PJG (ANIC); 2 adult females, 7 second-instar females: ex galls, Eucalyptus microcarpa , 8 km W of Melton, Long Forest Road, 18 Jan., 1976, PJG (ANIC); 16 adult females: ex galls, Eucalyptus microcarpa , 8 km W of Melton, near Bacchus Marsh, 6 Mar., 1976, PJG (ANIC); 1 adult female, 1 second-instar female: ex leaves, Eucalyptus?goniocalyx (sapling), ca 20 km E of Bendigo, roadside on Calder Hwy, near Axedale Flora and Fauna Reserve, -36.78°; 144.49°, 3 Feb., 2005, PJG and NBH, NH29 (ANIC); 5 adult females: ex galls on leaves, Eucalyptus microcarpa , Long Forest, off Long Forest Road, Canopus Circuit, -37.65°; 144.50°, 12 Feb., 2005, NBH and PJG (ANIC, NMV).

Comments.

Adult females of Tanyscelis spinosa are most similar to those of Tanyscelis mollicornuta and Tanyscelis grallator . Adult females of Tanyscelis spinosa and Tanyscelis grallator also have the dorsum with weakly sclerotic cuticle and conical to papilliform evaginations. Adult females of Tanyscelis spinosa can be separated easily from those of Tanyscelis mollicornuta and Tanyscelis grallator by having eyes, and lacking the fleshy projections that are in the place of eyes in Tanyscelis mollicornuta and Tanyscelis grallator . Tanyscelis spinosa has been collected exclusively from eucalypt species in the section Adnataria (also true of Tanyscelis mollicornuta and Tanyscelis grallator ), with the exception of a collection from a sapling that had been identified tentatively as Eucalyptus?goniocalyx (section Maidenaria ).