Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell)

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 : 122-124

Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell)

( Fig. 55 , distribution map Fig. 70 F )

Dactylopius sacchari Cockerell, 1895: 195 . Dactylopius sacchari brasiliensis van Gorkum, 1913: 29 . Trionymus praegrandis James, 1936: 200 .

Field characteristics: Found on sugarcane and other large grasses, on the stems beneath leaf sheaths or on underground stems; sometimes ant-attended. Body of live adult female ovoid, up to 6 mm long, pale pink and covered with white powdery wax; there are no wax protrusions from the margins.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female elongate to broadly oval. Anal lobes moderately developed. Antennae each with 7 segments. Legs well developed, slender; derm surrounding each hind coxa with numerous minute pores; claw without a denticle; tarsal digitules pointed at tip and shorter than claw. Cerarii represented by 1 pair on anal lobes only, each cerarius with a pair of slender conical setae and a few trilocular pores. Circulus large, longer than wide, usually described as hourglass- or dumb-bell-shaped. Ostioles represented by anterior and posterior pairs. Anal ring normal, with rows of pores and 6 setae.

Dorsum with flagellate setae. Multilocular disc pores present in single to double rows at anterior and posterior edges of most abdominal segments, and towards margins on head and thorax. Trilocular pores numerous, evenly distributed. Tubular ducts absent.

Venter with normal flagellate setae; abdominal segments V‒VII each with a single robust long seta on each margin, longest on segment VII, about as long as an apical seta, slightly smaller anteriorly. Multilocular disc pores each with 10 loculi, numerous at anterior and posterior edges of abdominal segments, around margins forward to head and on median areas of head and thorax. Trilocular pores evenly distributed. Oral collar tubular ducts sparsely present across most abdominal segments, each duct narrower than a trilocular pore.

Distribution: Saccharicoccus sacchari has recorded from 79 countries in all biogeographical Regions ( García Morales et al. 2016) including Iran, where it has been collected in Khouzestan province ( Moghaddam 2013b).

Host-plants: The species has been recorded on host-plants in 11 genera belonging to the families Arecaceae , Caricaceae and Poaceae ( García Morales et al. 2016) . In Iran, it has been recorded on Saccharum officinarum (Poaceae) ( Moghaddam 2013b).

Economic importance: None in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Comments: The accompanying illustration has been modified from the illustration by Ferris in Zimmerman (1948), pages 264–265, Fig. 141.

Genus SPILOCOCCUS Ferris

Spilococcus Ferris, 1950 b: 219 . Type species: Dactylopius gutierreziae Cockerell by original designation.

Principal characters: Cerarii numbering 6‒17 pairs, each containing 2 conical setae, except on head where sometimes with 3 or 4 setae; auxiliary setae only present in anal lobe cerarii; oral rim ducts present in variable numbers.

Comments: Worldwide, 46 species are included in Spilococcus ( García Morales et al. 2016) ; three species are known from Iran ( Asadeh & Mossadegh 1993a, Moghaddam 2013a).

Key to species of Spilococcus in Iran

1(0) Dorsum with oral collar tubular ducts................................................. mirzayansi (Moghaddam)

- Dorsum without oral collar tubular ducts.................................................................. 2

2(1) Ventral oral rim tubular ducts confined to margins of thorax......................................... alhagii (Hall)

- Ventral oral rim tubular ducts present in both submedial and submarginal areas of abdominal segments, and in submargins of thorax............................................................... williamsi Moghaddam & Watson sp. n.

Figures

FIGURE 55. Adult female of Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell).

FIGURE 70. Maps of species distributions in Iran. A. Planococcus vovae (Nasonov); B. Pseudococcus comstocki (Kuwana); C. Pseudococcus longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti); D. Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret); E. Rhodania aeluropi Williams & Moghaddam; F. Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell); G. Spilococcus alhagii (Hall); H. Spilococcus mirzayansi (Moghaddam); I. Spilococcus williamsi sp. n.; J. Trabutina crassispinosa Borchsenius; K. Trabutina mannipara (Hemprich & Ehrenberg); L. Trabutina serpentina (Green).