Vryburgia succulentarum Williams

MOGHADDAM, MASUMEH & WATSON, GILLIAN W., 2022, The Scale Insects Of Iran (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) Part 2 The Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae And Rhizoecidae) And Putoidae, Zootaxa 5126 (1), pp. 1-169 : 137-139

Vryburgia succulentarum Williams

( Fig. 63 , distribution map Fig. 71 C )

Vryburgia succulentarum Williams, 1985: 388 .

Field characteristics: Not recorded.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female broadly oval. Anal lobes moderately developed. Antennae each with 9 segments. Legs well developed; hind leg with numerous translucent pores on tibia only; claw stout, with a small denticle; tarsal digitules clubbed at tip and longer than claw. Cerarii numbering 2 pairs, on anal lobes and abdominal segment VII; anal lobe cerarii each with 2 enlarged conical setae, rarely with 1 smaller conical seta, also with some auxiliary setae and a group of trilocular pores. Circulus absent. Ostioles present. Anal ring normal, with 6 setae.

Dorsum with short slender setae. Multilocular disc pores usually absent in Iranian specimens, but sometimes with a few in medial areas of posteriormost abdominal segments. Trilocular pores and discoidal pores evenly dispersed. Oral collar tubular ducts of 3 sizes, all forming rows across middle of segments.

Venter with long flagellate setae, and slender conical setae near margins. Multilocular disc pores each with 10 loculi, present medially on abdominal segments IV‒VII and posterior to vulva. Trilocular pores and discoidal pores evenly dispersed. Large oral collar ducts present on margins of thorax and abdomen.

Distribution: Vryburgia succulentarum has been recorded from Australia ( Williams 1985), and Iran, Tehran province (Moghaddam 2015).

Host-plants: The species has been found on host-plants in four genera belonging to the families Aizoaceae , Cactaceae and Crassulaceae ( García Morales et al. 2016) . In Iran, it has been collected on Crassula sp. (Crassulaceae) (Moghaddam 2015).

Economic importance: None.

Natural enemies: None recorded.

Comments: This species may have been introduced to Iran via the plant trade from Africa or other southern countries (D.J. Williams pers. comm.).

The accompanying illustration is reproduced from Moghaddam (2015), page 129, Fig. 6 , with kind permission from the Editor of Entomologica Fennica .

Family RHIZOECIDAE Williams

Based on a study of adult male morphology and phylogenetic data, Hodgson (2012) concluded that the rhizoecine mealybugs form a separate family from the Pseudococcidae : Rhizoecidae Williams. Further study has supported this ( Hodgson 2020). Initially the family was considered to include two subfamilies, Rhizoecinae Williams and Xenococcinae Tang, but the latter taxon has recently been elevated to family status, as Xenococcidae ( Danzig & Gavrilov-Zimin 2014; Choi & Lee 2022). The Rhizoecidae includes about 218 species in 16 genera, some of which occur in Iran, while the Xenococcidae contains only 33 species in 3 genera, not represented in Iran ( García Morales et al. 2016). All the species are small to minute and live underground in soil, leaf litter or rotting logs (a hypogaeic habit), usually associated with plant roots.

Principle characters. Adult female with: labium narrow, elongate, 3 segmented; body usually minute, mostly <1.5 mm long; cerarii absent; antennae each usually strongly geniculate, never more than 6 segmented, terminal segment always tapering and pointed; apical and subapical antennal segments each with strong, blunt, falcate sensory setae; presence of “internal genitalia”; presence of bi- and tritubular pores/cerores (not always present); anal ring with two concentric rows of elongate pores ( Rhizoecinae ); eyes hardly noticeable ( Rhizoecinae ) or absent (Xenococcinae); claw without a denticle; anal lobes absent or poorly developed, each with a group of setae; spines and spinules absent; and a hypogaeic habit ( Danzig1980; Koteja 1974a, 1974b; Kozár & Konczné Benedicty 2007; Williams 1998).

Genus RHIZOECUS Künckel d'Herculais

Rhizoecus Künckel d'Herculais, 1878: 163 . Type species: Rhizoecus falcifer Künckel d'Herculais , by monotypy. Rhizoecus (Pararhizoecus) Goux, 1941: 197 . Neorhizoecus Hambleton, 1946: 40 . Radicoccus Hambleton, 1946: 47 .

Principal characters: As for the family, see above; distinguished from other genera of Rhizoecidae by having anal lobes poorly developed; eyes small, hardy noticeable; cerores (if present) tritubular; and anal ring with two concentric rows of elongate pores.

Comments: Worldwide, 95 species are included in Rhizoecus ( García Morales et al. 2016) ; one species is known from Iran ( Moghaddam 2001).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Adult female of Brevennia (Brevennia) rehi Lindinger.

FIGURE 63. Adult female of Vryburgia succulentarum Williams.

FIGURE 71. Maps of species distributions in Iran. A. Vryburgia amaryllidis (Bouché); B. Vryburgia succulentarum Williams; C. Rhizoecus albidus Goux; D. Puto superbus (Leonardi).