Conchaspis socialis Green, 1896

Hodgson, Chris, 2020, A review of neococcid scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) based on the morphology of the adult males, Zootaxa 4765 (1), pp. 1-264 : 136-139

Conchaspis socialis Green ( Fig. 55 )

Conchaspis socialis Green 1896a , 20. Type data: Sri Lanka [= Ceylon], Tangalla, on unidentified shrub. Syntypes, female. Type depository: BMNH.

Material examined. Sri Lanka (as Ceylon), Tangalla, on an unknown plant, no date, J. Pole ( BMNH 1940:180): 1/2ad ♂♂ (one fair-poor, with one antenna missing and half its legs and wings crumpled; other poorly cleared with crumpled wings).

Mounted material: of moderate size, total body length 1.37–1.38 mm; antennae short and broad, about 1/6th total body length; body setae very few, possibly all hs. Wings crumpled.

Head: oval in dorsal view, broadest near dorsal eyes, attached to thorax by a rather broad neck; greatest width 182–215 μm. Median crest (mc) broad, with numerous short ridges; postoccipital ridge (por) absent; with 1 pair of hs dorsal head seta (dhs). Mid-cranial ridge: dorsal ridge (dmcr) absent; ventral ridge (vmcr) quite well developed, with distinct transverse lateral arms (lmcr); with 1 quite long hs ventral mid-cranial ridge setae and a few small striations laterad to vmcr. Genae (g) without reticulations and genal setae. Simple eyes: two pairs, dorsal eyes (dse) subequal in width to ventral eyes (vse): each 28–35 μm wide and with ventral eyes placed anterior to dorsal eyes near scape. Ocelli (o) absent. Ocular sclerite (ocs) with short irregular ridges. Preocular ridge (procr) rather short, extending dorsally from outer margin of each antenna to anterior margin of dorsal simple eyes; ventral ridge absent. Postocular ridge (pocr) strongly developed, extending laterally from near mouth to just onto dorsal surface, not nearly extending past dorsal eye. Dorsal ocular setae (docs): with two minute setae just posterior to dorsal eyes. Ventral head setae (vhs): 3 long hs (length 30–47 μm) on each side anterior to ventral eyes, otherwise absent. Preoral ridge (pror) and cranial apophysis (ca) possibly absent.

Antennae: 7-segmented, segments III–VI rather short and broad and terminal segment almost round; total length 402 μm (ratio of total body length to antennal length 1:0.29). Scape (scp): 33 μm long, 53 μm wide, possibly with only 2 hs, 1 dorsal and 1 ventral. Pedicel (pdc): length 23 μm, width 42 μm; distinctly ridged on distal half; with 2 hs (no campaniform pore detected). Segments III–VI all broad, 38–44 μm wide: fleshy setae, 10–13 μm long and 2–3 μm wide; surface of each segment faintly reticulated, each reticulation rather elongate; lengths of segments (μm): III 72–80; IV 58–66; V 70; VI 74–78; approximate number of setae per segment: III 20 fs + 1 hs; IV 18 fs + 0 hs; V 20 fs + 1 hs (+ bristle?); VI 21 fs + 1 hs (+ bristle?). Segment VII short, length 44–51 μm; with 4 capitate setae (cap), 10 fs +? bristles; sensilla basiconica (sb) not noted. Bristles probably present, if so, similar to fs but thicker.

Thorax. Prothorax: pronotal ridge (prnr) well-developed but not fused dorsally; lateral pronotal sclerite (prn) possibly absent; without lateral pronotal (lpns) setae. Medial pronotal setae, post-tergites and post-tergital setae probably absent. Sternum (stn 1) with a strongly sclerotised, long, median ridge, extending anterior to procoxae (116 μm long); transverse ridge poorly defined but with a distinct sclerotisation posteriorly on prosternum; without pros- ternal setae (stn 1 s). Anteprosternal (astn 1 s) and antemesospiracular setae (am 2 s) absent.

Mesothorax: shape of prescutum (prsc) uncertain, probably rather convex, 182–200 μm wide, length unknown; distinctly nodulated, each nodulation quite large; presence of prescutal ridge (pscr) and prescutal suture (pscs) uncertain; without prescutal setae. Scutum (sct) without a median membranous area, sclerotised but not reticulated; without minute setae laterally; lateral margins apparently not reticulated and without setae. Prealare ridge (prar) quite well developed. Scutellum (scl) 173–186 μm wide, 78–83 μm long; possibly tubular, but with a foramen; without scutellar setae (scls). Basisternum (stn 2) 178–195 μm wide, 124–129 μm long (rather spectacle-shaped); with a strong median ridge (mdr) and bounded anteriorly by a weak marginal ridge (mr) (rather broad laterally) and posteriorly by strong precoxal ridges (pcr 2); without basisternal setae (stn 2 s); lateropleurite (lpl) probably quite broad anteriorly, without an extension from marginal ridge anteriorly; furca (f) well developed, unusual, without a waist, with short arms (each about 38 μm long), these parallel-sided but with tips diverging. Mesopostnotum (pn 2) well developed; postnotal apophysis (pna) not detected. Area bounded anteriorly by scutellum and laterally and posteriorly by mesopostnotum sclerotised. Mesepisternum (eps 2) narrow, not reticulated; subepisternal ridge (ser) short; mesopleural apophysis (pla 2) long. Postalare (pa) probably not reticulated anteriorly; without postalare setae (pas). Mesothoracic spiracle (sp 2) small: peritreme 31 μm wide, muscle plate broad and sclerotised. Postmesospiracular setae (pm 2 s) absent. Tegula (teg) present; tegular setae (tegs) absent.

Metathorax: metatergal setae (mts): possibly absent. Dorsospiracular setae (dss) absent. Dorsal part of metapleural ridge (plr 3) present; suspensorial sclerite (ss) probably present. Ventral part of metapleural ridge well developed; metepisternum (eps 3) probably sclerotised, without postmetaspiracular setae (eps 3 s) on either side. Metepimeron (epm 3) well developed but without setae. Antemetaspiracular setae (am 3 s) absent. Metathoracic spiracles (sp 3) not located. Metasternum (stn 3) possibly unsclerotised; metasternal setae (amss + pmss) absent.

Wings: too crumpled for data. Hamulohalteres present: 78 μm long, 18 μm wide; hamulus 67 μm long.

Legs: legs subequal in length. Coxae (cx): I 72–79; II 70–79; III 78–83 μm long; coxa III with about 3 hs; long apical setae on each coxa absent. Trochanter (tr) + femur (fm): I 178; II 174; III 178–186 μm long; trochanter III with 1 hs, up to 45 μm; femur III with about 8 hs. Tibia (ti) and tarsus (ta) fused: combined lengths: I 227; II 207; III 215–219 μm; tibia + tibia III slightly swollen at distal end, with a total of about 20 setae, mainly hs and spur-like setae, those on dorsal surface distinctly bifurcated; surface distinctly ridged at a slightly oblique angle; without tibial spurs (tibs); tarsal campaniform pore absent; tarsal digitules (tdt) each with a small apical knob and longer than length of claw. Claws (c) rather small, narrowing fairly gradually, with a small denticle; length: III 25 μm, slightly longer than width of tarsus; claw digitules (cdt) slightly longer than claw, with small apical knobs.

Abdomen: segments I–V: tergites (at) and sternites (as) probably unsclerotised; tergite VI with some sclerotisation, sternite VI possibly unsclerotised; VII: tergites and sternites both sclerotised. Caudal extension (ce) of segment VII absent. Dorsal setae (ads): segments I–VII each with 1 or 2 pairs of small hs. Pleural setae: dorsopleural + ventropleural setae: I–VII each with 2 setae on each side. Ventral setae (avs): III–VII each with 1 pair of small hs.

Segment VIII: tergite (at) + sternite (as) forming a sclerotised ring; tergite with 2 or 3 small hs dorsal abdominal setae (ads) on each side; sternite (as) without ventral abdominal setae (avs); caudal extension (ce) absent but with 2 small hs pleural setae. Glandular pouches (gp) absent.

Genital segments: segment IX fused to style; distinctly sclerotised; rather narrow, but broader than style (length 37–41 μm; width 82–90 μm); anal opening on dorsum possibly with a sclerotised margin; setae absent. Style heavily sclerotised; broad anteriorly (width 70–75 μm), abruptly narrowing into a long needle-like posterior part; total length of style 488–497 μm; anterior broad section with I pair of fairly long hs dorsally and with 1 pair of longer setae laterally where penial sheath abruptly narrows; with 6–8 small sensoria on margin near apex. Aedeagus very long, of approximately equal width throughout; length 488 μm; basal rod distinct, 36–38 μm long.

Comment. Adult male Conchaspis socialis differs from those of the other three species discussed here in having much broader antennae and in having the distal end of each tibio-tarsus slightly swollen.

Figures

FIGURE 55. Conchaspis socialis Green. Macropterous male. (Conchaspididae). Where F=bifurcated seta and R=dermal marking on ocular sclerite.