Eriococcus maximus Foldi & Kozár, 2007

Foldi, Imre & Kozár, Ferenc, 2007, New species and new records of Eriococcus (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Eriococcidae) from South America, Zootaxa 1573 (1), pp. 51-64 : 56-58

Eriococcus maximus Foldi & Kozár sp. nov.

Type material. Holotype, adult female: Venezuela, Merida, near of Lagunillas, on Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae) , 28-X-1984, I. Foldi coll., (N° 9909-3) in MNHN.

Paratypes. Venezuela: same data as holotype, 15 adult females: 14 (N° 9902–1, 2; 9908–3, 4; 9909-3, 4, 6; 9910–1-3, 9954–1-3; 9965–1-3, 9993–1-4) in MNHN, and one (N° 9909-6) in PPI. Brazil Rio Grande do Sul, Itaimbézinho, Parc National de Asparados, on Psidium guajava (Myrtaceae) , 16-XI-1985, Foldi coll., 5 paratypes (1 adult female per slide): (N° 10388–1, 3, 4, 5, 6) in MNHN. Paraguay: Asuncion, on Psidium sp. (Myrtaceae) , March 1972, F. D. Bennett coll., C.I.E. A 5500, 50, 7 paratype adult females: 6 in BMNH, and one in PPI.

ADULT FEMALE ( Fig. 3 ) described from 16 specimens

Mounted female. Body elongate oval, 2.3– 30 mm long, 2.0–2.1 mm wide. Antenna 7 segmented, 305– 347 µm long; segment lengths (µm), I 47–55, II 44 50, III 66–72, IV 60–65, V 30, VI 30 and VII 45; antennal segments with few hair-like setae, longest 35 µm long; segment III without setae; a sensory pore as usual on segment II; apical segment with setae about 53 µm long, plus 3 sensory falcate setae, longest 39 µm; 2 preapical segments each with a falcate sensory seta 20–27 µm long. Frontal lobes well developed. Eyes near margin on venter.

Venter. Labium 3-segmented, 141–149 µm long. Legs long; prothoracic legs (lengths in µm): coxa 125– 135 trochanter + femur 290–325, tibia 140–152, tarsus 110–125. Mesothoracic legs (lengths in µm): coxa 120–127, trochanter + femur 300–330, tibia 155–164, tarsus 130–136. Metathoracic legs (lengths in µm): coxa 135–145, trochanter + femur 310–336, tibia 180–187, tarsus 140–144; tarsal digitules knobbed, each 61– 68 µm, claw 39–44 µm, claw digitules each 50–54 µm long, broadly knobbed. Coxae with lines of microspines; metathoracic coxae each with about 40–45 medium-sized translucent pores; femur with about 5– 8 translucent pores dorsally at distal end; trochanter with two pores on each side. Claw with a denticle. Legs with few hair-like setae, trochanter with a short seta 32–34 µm long, and a longer seta about 110–130 µm long; tarsus with one sensory pore.

Disc pores, each 3 or 5 locular and 5 µm in diameter, distributed in broad bands on abdomen and more scattered on other segments. Peritremes of anterior spiracles 48 µm wide. Hair-like setae mostly 20–70 µm long and scattered mainly on submarginal areas, longest setae about 80–90 µm long, sparse, predominately on median and submedian areas; with 2–4 long setae on head, each about 130 µm long. Microtubular duct absent. Macrotubular ducts of two sizes; both sparsely distributed on all segments; smaller ducts about 25 µm long and 3–4 µm wide and larger ducts 30–40 µm long and 5–6 µm wide. Cruciform pores, each 4 µm wide, along margin as far as abdominal segment VII posteriorly, and on submargin where about 15–22 cruciform pores connecting pro- and mesothoracic spiracles. Anal lobes each with 3 hair-like setae.

Margin. Spinose setae along margin of venter similar to those dorsally but smaller and straight, each 15- 25 µm long.

Dorsum. Dorsal spinose setae, strong, broad, predominantly straight, sometimes slightly curved, length variable, each 49–80 µm marginally and anteriorly but those on mid-dorsum of abdominal segments III–VII shorter, each about 35–40 µm long; in a band along margin and submargin and in broad bands 2–3 setae wide across all segments. Macrotubular ducts each about 5–6 µm wide and 25–40 µm long; in longitudinal bands on margin and submargin and in transverse rows 2–3 ducts wide on dorsal surface. Microtubular ducts each about 5 µm long, without a bifurcated opening, scattered among dorsal setae. Disc pores absent. Anal ring with pores and 8 hair-like setae, 145–160 µm long. Anal lobes membranous, about as long as wide, each with two spinose setae along inner margin, and one seta on outer margin, similar in size to those on dorsum; apical setae on each anal lobe 230–247 µm long. Suranal setae hair-like. Median sclerotised plate absent.

Etymology. The name is from the Latin maximus and refers to the large size of this species.

Distribution and Host plants. Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul; Paraguay, Asuncion; Venezuela, Merida, all on Psidium guajava or Psidium sp. (Myrtaceae) .

Comment. E. maximus is similar to E. perplexus Hempel, 1900 , sharing with it a similar arrangement of dorsal spinose setae, the presence of frontal lobes and the large body size. However, E. perplexus has much smaller spines on the mid-dorsum of the posterior abdominal segments (each about 5 times shorter than the larger marginal spinose setae), whereas those in this position on A. maximus are only 2 times shorter than those on the margin. In addition, the coxal pores on E. maximus are larger and more abundant (about 40–45) than on E. perplexus , which has smaller and fewer pores (about 20). E maximus also differs from E perplexus in having a band of about 15–22 cruciform pores on each side between the anterior and posterior spiracles, whereas these are absent on E. perplexus . E. maximus differs from E. longisetosus in having short ventral hair-like setae; from E. paranaensis in the abscence of groups of microtubular ducts on dorsum; from E. christopherus in the random distribution of spine-like setae on dorsum, and from E. venezuelaensis in the presence of frontal lobes and twice as many cruciform pores.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Adult female Eriococcus maximus Foldi & Kozár sp. nov. Where A = macrotubular duct; B = microtubular duct; C = spinose setae; D = trilocular pore; E = 5-locular pore; F = macrotubular duct; G = metathoracic claw; H = cruciform pore; I = short ventral seta; J = antenna.