Dorsoceraricoccus Dong & Wu, 2017

Dong, Qin-Gang, Zhang, Jiang-Tao & Wu, San-An, 2017, A new genus and species of Pseudococcidae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) from China, Zootaxa 4299 (4), pp. 592-600 : 593-594

Dorsoceraricoccus Dong & Wu , gen. nov.

Type species: Dysmicoccus muajatae Williams, 2004: 202 .

Diagnosis. Body of adult female elongate- to broadly oval. Anal lobes moderately developed, each bearing a normal apical seta; anal lobe bars absent. Antennae each with 7 or 8 segments. Eye spot present. Legs well developed, claw without denticle, both tarsal and claw digitules apically knobbed, translucent pores present on hind coxa or tibia (on tibia in type species). Anterior and posterior ostioles present. Recognizable lateral cerarii numbering 16 or 17 pairs. Anal lobe cerarii each bearing 2 conical setae, some auxiliary setae and trilocular pores. Anterior cerarii each usually bearing 2 conical setae (those on head sometimes with more than 2), accompanied by some trilocular pores, auxiliary setae absent. Dorsal cerarii present, each usually bearing 2–5 (occasionally only 1) conical setae, same size as those in lateral cerarii, with trilocular pores next to setal collars. Circulus present in type species. Anal ring usually situated at apex of abdomen or a short distance from apex, ring bearing 6 setae. Dorsal setae outside cerarii conical or flagellate. Ventral setae flagellate, slender. Trilocular pores evenly distributed on both surfaces, those in cerarii same size as elsewhere on body. Multilocular disc pores present, at least on venter. Quinquelocular pores absent. Oral collar ducts usually apparent on venter, sometimes present on dorsum (but not in type species). Oral rim ducts absent.

Remarks. The new genus Dorsoceraricoccus Dong & Wu is definitely a member of the subfamily Pseudococcinae as defined by Hardy et al. (2008), based on having antenna with 7 or 8 segments, claw without a denticle, absence of quinquelocular pores, blunted tarsal digitules, and anal ring with pores with spine-like setae (see drawings in Kaydan et al. 2015), but its relationship with other genera is uncertain. In Pseudococcinae, this genus resembles Dysmicoccus in sharing many common characteristics such as (i) lateral cerarii fewer than 18 pairs; (ii) oral rim ducts absent; (iii) anal lobe bar absent; (iv) claw without denticle, but differs from Dysmicoccus in possessing dorsal cerarii. It may be related to Pedronia Green, 1922 (type species: Pedronia strobilanthis Green ) due to the presence of dorsal conical setae and dorsal cerarii, and anal lobe cerarii each bearing 2 conical setae, but differs from Pedronia as follows (the condition in Pedronia in parentheses): (i) anal lobe bar absent (present); (ii) cerarii always recognisable by a concentration of trilocular pores (trilocular pores sometimes absent from dorsal cerarii); (iii) conical setae (including cerarian setae) are situated on a membranous or slightly sclerotized areas (conical setae situated on strongly sclerotized cuticular tubercles). Dorsoceraricoccus is also very similar to Pedrococcus Mamet, 1942 (type species: Pedronia greeni Mamet ), but according to Williams (2004), in Pedrococcus the trilocular pores in the lateral and dorsal cerarii are much smaller than those on other body surfaces (all the same size in Dorsoceraricoccus —see Fig. 3), and oral collar tubular ducts are completely absent (present in Dorsoceraricoccus ).

There are several other members of Pseudococcinae that have dorsomedial cerarii: Crisicoccus caulium Williams, 2004 ; Formicococcus monticola Green, 1922 ; Planococcus angkorensis Takahashi, 1942 ; Planococcus litchi Cox, 1989 ; Pedronia planococcoides Borchsenius, 1962 ; and Pedronia tremae Borchsenius, 1962 (the last two species were transferred by Danzig & Gavrilov-Zimin (2015) to the genus Nipaecoccus Šulc , and we follow their definition of the genus Pedronia herein). All the species in this list have obvious anal lobe bars, so they are not members of Dorsoceraricoccus Dong & Wu .

Etymology. The new genus name “ Dorsoceraricoccus ” means mealybugs with dorsal cerarii.