Pelionella proeminens (Goux) Goux, 2015

Kaydan, Mehmet Bora, 2015, A systematic study of Peliococcus Borchsenius (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae), with descriptions of a new Palaearctic genus and four new species from Turkey, Zootaxa 3920 (2), pp. 201-248 : 240-242

Pelionella proeminens (Goux) , comb. nov.

( Fig. 16 )

Peliococcus proeminens Goux, 1989: 309 .

Peliococcus proemineus ; Ben-Dov, 1994: 297. Misspelling of species name.

Material studied. Paratypes. 3 adult females: France (Bouche-du-Rhône, Bouc-Bel-Air), on Thymus vulgaris (Lamiaceae) , 28.v.1932, coll: L. Goux ( MNHN: 14762-3, 4, 13).

Description. Adult female. Body elongate oval, 1.78–1.96 mm long, 1.24–1.38 mm wide. Eyes marginal, 35–40 µm wide. Antenna 9 segmented, 310–350 µm long; apical segment 50–55 µm long, 22.5–25.0 µm wide; apical setae 32–35 µm long plus 3 fleshy setae 27–35 µm long. Tentorium 155 µm long, 145–150 µm wide. Labium 135–145 µm long, 65–70 µm wide. Anterior spiracles 50–55 µm long, 25 µm wide across atrium; posterior spiracles 60 µm long, 35 µm wide. Legs well developed; posterior legs: 185–188 µm long; tibia + tarsus 205–210 µm long; claw 25 µm long. Ratio of lengths of hind tibia + tarsus to trochanter + femur 1.09–1.13:1; ratio of lengths of tibia to tarsus 2.00–2.21:1; ratio of length of trochanter + femur to greatest width of femur 2.96–3.12:1. Tarsal digitules hair-like, each about 15 µm long. Claw digitules knobbed, each 20–25 µm long. Hind femur and tibia with a total of 19–32 translucent pores. Anterior ostioles with a total for both lips of 6–10 trilocular pores and 2 or 3 setae; posterior ostioles with a total for both lips of 12–17 trilocular pores and 3 or 4 setae. Anal ring 60–65 µm wide, with 6 setae, each seta 90–130 µm long. Cerarii slightly sclerotized, numbering 16 marginal pairs; anal lobe cerarii, each with 2 slender enlarged setae, 12–15 µm long, 2 or 3 spine-like auxiliary setae and 8–13 trilocular pores; other marginal cerarii each with 2 slender enlarged setae and a few trilocular pores; with 1 dorsal cerarius medially on abdominal segment VII.

Dorsum. Setae spine-like, each 5.0–7.5 µm long, distributed as usual. Clusters each with 0–2 (usually 2) multilocular disc pores, each 6.0–7.5 µm in diameter with 2 rings of loculi; each cluster with a small oral collar tubular duct, 7.5 µm long, 2.0–2.5 µm wide, 2 or 3 large ducts, each 6–8 µm long, 3–4 µm wide, and 0–2 minute discoidal pores, each 2.0–2.5 µm in diameter; with a total of 42–51 clusters on head and thorax, and also on abdominal segments as follows: I 8, II 7–9, III 6–8, IV 9–11, V 6– 11, VI 4–6, VII 3–5, VIII+IX 0. Trilocular pores, each 3–4 µm in diameter, scattered throughout. Minute discoidal pores mainly restricted to within clusters.

Venter. Setae of 2 types: (i) slender hair-like setae, each 15–90 µm long; longest setae medially on head; and (ii) spine-like setae, each 5–7.5 µm long, in submarginal rows. Apical setae of anal lobes 140–175 µm long. Multilocular disc pores of 2 kinds: (i) pores, each 7.5–9.0 µm in diameter with a single ring of loculi, present on abdominal segments as follows: V 2–4, VI 22–28, VII 42 –49, VIII + IX 25–28, (ii) pores as on dorsum with 2 rings of loculi, in clusters, each cluster with 1–3 (usually 2) disc pores, a single small oral collar tubular duct, 7.5 µm long, 2.0–2.5 µm wide in centre, 2 or 3 large oral collar tubular ducts, each 6–8 µm long, 3–4 µm wide among multilocular disc pores, and 0–2 minute discoidal pores, each 2.0–2.5 µm in diameter; clusters present submarginally and also medially on abdominal segments II and III. Quinquelocular pores, each 5–6 µm in diameter, present medially on head, thorax and abdominal segments I–VII. Trilocular pores, each 2.5–3.0 µm in diameter, scattered throughout. Minute discoidal pores each 2 µm in diameter, few. Oral collar tubular ducts of 3 sizes: largest and smallest ducts restricted to within clusters as on dorsum; medium-sized ducts, each 8–0 µm long, 2.5–3.0 µm wide, concentrated on body margin and in single rows on abdominal segments as follows: V 34 –44, VI 38 –48, VII 28–32, VIII+ IX 26–28.

Comments. Danzig & Gavrilov-Zimin (2014) regarded P. proeminens as a junior synonym of P. grassiana but, in the present study, these two species are regarded as distinct. The two species are similar and share: (i) the absence of a circulus, and (ii) 14–17 pairs of marginal cerarii, but P. proeminens differs in having: (i) fewer dorsal clusters across each abdominal segment, with only about 8 on abdominal segment I (much more abundant on P. grassiana - about 12 on abdominal segment I), and (ii) each metafemur with translucent pores (metafemur of P. grassiana without translucent pores).

Host plants. On Thymus vulgaris (Lamiaceae) .

Distribution. France (Bouche du Rhône, Bouc-Bel-Air).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Pelionella proeminens (Goux), paratype. Note: clusters on dorsum few, sparsely distributed; hind femur with translucent pores; quinquelocular pores present posteriorly to abdominal segment VII.