Asiphonipponaphis, Chen, Jing, Sorin, Masato & Qiao, Ge-Xia, 2011

Chen, Jing, Sorin, Masato & Qiao, Ge-Xia, 2011, Asiphonipponaphis, a new genus of Hormaphidinae (Hemiptera, Aphididae) causing galls on Distylium chinense from China, with description of a new species, ZooKeys 111, pp. 1-10 : 2-3

Asiphonipponaphis gen. n.

Type species.

Asiphonipponaphis vasigalla sp. n.

Etymology.

The new genus is named for the absence of siphunculi. “A” (Latin) means “absent”, “sipho” (Latin) means “siphunculi”, “nipponaphis” refers to its affiliation to the tribe Nipponaphidini .

Generic diagnosis.

In alatae, antennae 5-segmented, secondary rhinaria annular. Rostrum short, ultimate rostral segment shorter than second hind tarsal segment, with 2 pairs of primary setae and 1 pair of accessory setae. Abdomen with 5 pairs of spiracles, present on abdominal segments II–VI. Siphunculi absent in both fundatrix and emigrant alatae. Cauda knobbed, distinctly constricted at base. Anal plate bilobed. Legs normal. Tarsi 2-segmented, claws normal, first tarsal chaetotaxy of alatae 3, 3, 3. Fore wings of emigrant alatae with pterostigma narrow and long, distal margin of pterostigma forming almost a straight line with the hind margin, media unbranched, not united with cubitus, and two cubitus veins fused at base; hind wings with 2 obliques.

Comments.

This new genus is unique in Nipponaphidini by its peculiar galls and morphological characters. Different from other saccate galls on Distylium , e.g. galls of Nipponaphis , its galls are located on the midrib of leaves and split at the tip when mature, forming a flower-shaped opening, while galls of Nipponaphis are located on twigs and usually open on the lateral wall of the galls when mature. It is related to Quadrartus Monzen for sharing several characters in alatae, such as spiracles present on abdominal segments II–VI (i.e. 5 on each side of abdomen), distal margin of pterostigma forming almost a straight line with the hind margin, but differs from the latter as follows: antennae 5-segmented (in Quadrartus : 4-segmented); media of fore wings unbranched (in Quadrartus : once branched); siphunculi absent (in Quadrartus : present). It is also related to Indonipponaphis Ghosh & Raychaudhuri. Both of them possess 5-segmented antennae in alatae and induce galls on the midrib of leaves of Distylium . But the new genus differs from Indonipponaphis as follows: abdomen with 5 pairs of spiracles (in Indonipponaphis : 4 pairs); media of fore wings unbranched (in Indonipponaphis : once branched); siphunculi absent (in Indonipponaphis : present).

Taxonomy of Nipponaphidini is mostly based upon the apterae on secondary hosts. The identification of alatae is much more difficult because of the vague descriptions and limited diagnostic characters. But not all species are known by both alate and apterous morphs. Thus identification of alatae, although confusing, is still very important to the classification of Nipponaphidini . Further observations of life cycles will probably reveal more gall causers on Distylium ,and acquisition of more morphs will facilitate the taxonomic study and clear up the confusion.