Cerafilum saddlense, Dubey, 2024

Dubey, Anil Kumar, 2024, Description of a new whitefly genus and two new species (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) from the Western Ghats and Andaman Islands, India, Zootaxa 5453 (2), pp. 271-281 : 278-280

Cerafilum saddlense sp. nov.

( Figs 29–34 )

Puparium. Yellowish; elongate ( Figs 29 , 32 ); with wax threads and palisade, more than two times longer than wide, ♀ 1010–1070 μm long, 410–430 μm wide; ♂ 830–880 μm long, 340–380 μm wide; broadest from metathorax to abdominal segment IV region; found singly on the underside of leaves; 1–2 puparia per leaf.

Margin. Irregularly crenulate ( Fig. 33 ), but smooth in a few places within a single puparium; 17 and 14–16 crenulations in 0.1 mm in ♀ and ♂ puparia, respectively. Thoracic and caudal tracheal pore opening areas not modified into combs in the margin. Anterior marginal setae absent. Posterior marginal setae not differentiated from the three pairs of setae along posterior margin.

Dorsum. Dorsum tuberculate on submedian area. Longitudinal moulting suture reaching margin. Transverse moulting sutures reaching submedian-subdorsal area. Cephalothoracic and abdominal segment sutures and depressions prominent. Submedian area of cephalothorax and abdomen with microtubercles. Median length of cephalothorax, smaller than abdomen in both sexes, cephalothorax vs abdomen: 475–498 μm vs 555–625 μm long in ♀; 430–398 μm vs 450–470 μm long in ♂. Metathorax 48–60 μm long, medially. Abdominal segment VII shorter than VI, medially. Median length of abdominal segments I–VIII: in ♀ A1: 57–75, A2: 57–60, A3: 60–70, A4: 60–67, A5: 62–75, A6: 62–70, A7: 17–23, A8: 57–60; in ♂: A1: 50–55, A2: 47–52, A3: 47–52, A4: 50, A5: 50–53, A6: 50–52, A7: 12–13, A8: 47–48 μm. Vasiform orifice located anterior to caudal margin at a distance of 75–78 μm in ♀, 55–60 μm in ♂. Thoracic tracheal furrows absent; caudal furrow with tubercles. Geminate pores present in three rows, one row on submargin, usually 25 pairs, and two rows on submedian area, of which one row each near termination of segment sutures and along the submedian depressions. Pockets discontinuous .

Vasiform orifice. Elongate subcordate ( Fig. 34 ), broad at base, narrow anteriorly, as long as wide, outer lateral margins straight; inner posterior and lateral margins smooth; ♀ 47–50 μm long and wide, ♂ 40–45 μm long, 40–43 μm wide, as long as wide or slightly longer than wide; operculum subcordate, broad in middle, truncate apically, slightly emarginated in middle, covering nearly 60% of the orifice length, ♀ 27–30 μm long, 32–33 μm wide; ♂ 22–27 μm long, 30–35 μm wide; lingula not covered by operculum, exposed, triangular, lobulate, setose, apex pointed, overlapping orifice margin, 17–25 μm long, a pair of setae sub-apically.

Chaetotaxy. Cephalic, first, eighth abdominal and caudal setae fine, 5–7, 8–10, 15–20 and 57–65 μm long, respectively. Caudal setae longer than cephalic and the first abdominal setae, equally long to other posterior submarginal setae, 57–65 μm long, 75–90 μm apart in ♀, 55–57 μm apart in ♂; the third pair usually broken. Submedian-subdorsal setae small, two pairs each on anterior and posterior submargin, curved or simple, not reaching margin, 5–7 μm long, one of the cephalic pairs usually longer than remainders, 65 μm long, three pairs of longer setae (including caudal setae) on posterior margin extending outside margin.

Venter. A narrow, faint submarginal fold present. Paired ventral abdominal setae 12–15 μm long, 22–40 μm apart. Antennae bases located inside prothoracic legs, reaching near base of prothoracic legs, 30 μm long. Thoracic tracheal folds absent; caudal tracheal fold faintly indicated. Legs slightly curved, with space at bases, without prominent apical pads. Adhesive sacs and spiracles present.

Host plant. Poaceae : Gigantochloa nigrociliata (Buse) Kurz.

Holotype. INDIA: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Diglipur, Lamiya bay, Saddle Peak National Park , at peak, one puparium, ♀, on slide, on Gigantochloa nigrociliata , 23.ii.2018, 737 meters altitude, 13º12′285′′N, 93º02′401′′ E, A. K. Dubey (Deposited in the collections of the National Zoological Collection, Zoological Survey of India , Kolkata).

Paratypes. Ten puparia on five slides, data same as for the holotype ( ZSI, FRI) .

Etymology. The species is named after the Saddle Peak N.P. located in the Andaman Islands, type collection from the peak.

Remarks. The new species differs from the C. ochlandrae sp. nov. in having microtubercles on submedian area, elongate-subcordate vasiform orifice and fewer number of submedian/subdorsal setae. The numbers of marginal crenulations in 0.1 mm were more in ♀ puparia than ♂ puparia.

Figures

FIGURES 29–31. Cerafilum saddlense sp. nov.: holotype, camera lucida drawings; 29, puparium; 30, submedian depressions; 31, vasiform orifice, caudal area.

FIGURES 32–34. Cerafilum saddlense sp. nov.: holotype, 32, puparium; 33, thoracic tracheal pore opening area; 34, vasiform orifice, caudal furrow.