Stotzia ephedrae (Newstead)

(Fig. 44, Plate 3G, distribution map Fig. 93O)

Lichtensia ephedrae Newstead, 1901: 83 . Stotzia striata Marchal, 1906: 144 . Filippia foucauldi Balachowsky, 1929: 308 . Stotzia ephedrae (Newstead); Matile-Ferrero 1978: 44.

Field characteristics: Adult females completely enclosed in oval, white, thick and compact ovisac.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body broadly oval, but dorsum broader than venter. Stigmatic clefts not developed. Anal cleft fairly short.

Dorsum. Derm completely membranous, even in old specimens. Setae short, spinose, scattered throughout. Two types of pores, both present sparsely. (i) a quite small, round to oval, pore with a finely granulate surface, and (ii) a minute tubular pore, with filamentous inner ductule. Preopercular pores and duct tubercles absent. Tubular ducts of 1 type present, each with outer ductule stout, inner ductule thin with a large, flower-like terminal gland, numerous throughout. Anal plates together quadrate, each plate with 3 apical setae and 1 on inner margin. Anal ring bearing 8 setae.

Margin. Marginal setae bluntly spinose, with parallel sides and a narrow basal socket; each side with about 25– 36 setae between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas. Stigmatic clefts with 3 stigmatic spines, each only slightly differentiated from marginal setae, but slightly shorter and broader; median spines longer than marginal setae.

Venter. Derm entirely membranous. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 10 loculi, present around anogenital fold, and extending posteriorly along part of anal cleft; also present on preceding 3 or 4 abdominal segments; absent from head and thorax. Spiracular disc-pores mostly each with 5 loculi, present in broad bands between each spiracle and margin. Three pregenital segments each with a pair of long setae (not illustrated) (in Iranian specimens); also 2 or 3 pairs of long setae between antennal bases; other setae scattered. Microducts sparse and restricted to a wide submarginal band (not illustrated). Tubular ducts of 1 type, each duct with a large, flower-like terminal gland, abundant in a wide submarginal band, much less frequent medially. Antennae each with 8 segments, third segment longest. Legs well developed, each with a tibio-tarsal articulation and a small articulatory sclerosis; claw digitules both fine and longer than claw.

Distribution: Stotzia ephedrae is known only from 11 Palaearctic countries (García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it is found in Kerman, Khorasan –e Jounobi, Khorasan -e Razavi, Khorasan -e Shomali and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces (Moghaddam 2013).

Host-plants: The species has been recorded on host-plants in six genera belonging to five families: Apiaceae, Asparagaceae, Ephedraceae, Fabaceae and Tamaricaceae (García Morales et al. 2016) . In Iran, it has only been recorded on Ephedra sp. ( Ephedraceae) (Kaussari 1957).

Economic importance: Not of any economic importance in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.