Ceroplastes planoides Li & Wang, 2025

Li, Pengchen & Wang, Xubo, 2025, A new species of Ceroplastes (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) from southwest China evidenced by morphological and molecular data, with a discussion on the variation in the number of clear areas in the C. floridensis species-group, Zootaxa 5693 (1), pp. 94-106 : 97-101

Ceroplastes planoides Li & Wang , sp. nov.

( Figs. 2–4 )

Material studied. All the specimens are mounted singly on slides. CHINA, Yunnan Province: holotype: adult ♀: 59 Dongna Road, Menghai , Xishuangbanna / 100°44'E, 21°95'N / on leaves of Psidium guajava ( Myrtaceae ) / 1.xi.2018 / coll. Xubo Wang ( SWFU). Paratypes: 4 ♀♀, collection data same as holotype (2 SWFU, 2 CFJAU). 1 ♀, on leaves of Eriobotrya japonica ( Rosaceae ), other collection data same as holotype ( SWFU). 2 ♀♀, Dafenshan in Simao District, Pu’er City, 100°99'E, 22°77'N, on leaves and branches of Aquilaria sinensis ( Thymelaeaceae ), 23.iv.2018, coll. Yong Wang & Xubo Wang ( SWFU). 1 ♀, Environment Protection Bureau of Ning’er County, Pu’er City, 101°04'E, 23°04'N, on leaves of Hedera nepalensis var. sinensis ( Araliaceae ), 17.x.2018, coll. Xubo Wang ( SWFU). 1 ♀, Pingcun Town, Linxiang District, Lincang City, 100°32'E, 23°65'N, on leaves of Mangifera indica ( Anacardiaceae ), 21.iii.2023, coll. Xubo Wang & Xu Hou ( SWFU). To summarise, the holotype, and 7 paratypes, each mounted singly on 7 slides, have been deposited in SWFU, Yunnan, China, and two paratypes with same collection data as the holotype have been deposited in CFJAU, Nanchang, China.

Live appearance. Wax test of adult female oval or subcircular in outline ( Figs. 2A, 2D ), flat or slightly convex in pre-reproductive female ( Fig. 2B ), and strongly convex in post-reproductive female ( Fig. 2E ), 2–3 mm in diameter, and 1.3–1.7 mm high. Dry wax filaments as follows: cephalic filament appearing trifurcate; anterolateral and mediolateral filaments simple; posterolateral and caudal filaments bifurcate. In the first- and second-instar female stages, the dorsal dry wax forms a small, forward-inclined cap.

Description of slide-mounted adult female ( Figs. 3 and 4 )

Dorsum. Derm membranous in pre-reproductive female adult except for heavily sclerotized caudal process. Number of clear areas variable, 9 or 11 in pre-reproductive individuals, 7 in reproductive or post-reproductive ones, mediodorsal area absent. When numbering 7, clear areas distributed as follows: 1 cephalic, and 3 at each lateral area; when numbering 9, each posterior lateral clear area is divided into two; when numbering 11, the cephalic clear area is divided into three, with the middle area large. Dorsal setae very short, each with apex blunt, 1.5–2.4 μm long, and basal socket about 2 μm wide. Dorsal pores all of one type, each with 2–4 satellite loculi. Loculate microducts of complex type, each no more than 5–6 μm wide, with oval trilocular pores predominant over other pore types, apparently randomly distributed and abundant throughout but absent from all clear areas; triangular trilocular pores mainly distributed in mediodorsal region, also with a few bilocular or quadrilocular pores in mediodorsal region. Preopercular pores numbering 8 in one transverse row. Anal plates each 101–127 μm long, width of both plates together 78–100 μm, each plate with 3 long, stout dorsal setae and 1 short seta near apex. Anal tube 160–180 μm long; anal ring bearing 6 setae.

Margin. Marginal setae each setose, all curved and with sharp apex, located as follows: with 13–29 (average 20) between eye tubercles; each side with 6–13 (average 10) between each eye tubercle and anterior stigmatic furrow, 7–15 (average 12) between anterior and posterior stigmatic furrows, and 45–67 (average 54) on each side of abdomen, with last 3 setae longer. Stigmatic clefts shallow, each with a line of rather bullet-shaped stigmatic setae extending some distance along margin on either side of cleft, each group of stigmatic setae broadening to 4–8 setae deep in 3 irregular rows in center of each cleft. Eyespots slightly protruberant.

Venter. Derm entirely membranous. Antennae each 218–256 μm long, with 6 segments; segment lengths in μm: III longest, 82–106; with 2 pairs of setae present between antennal bases. Legs developed, each without a tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis, each claw without a denticle; claw digitules both broad, each 20–26 μm long; tarsal digitules slender, expanded at apex, obviously longer than claw digitules, each 45–55 μm long. Leg measurements in μm: foreleg 398–476 long in total, with coxa 80–100; trochanter + femur 149–173; tibia 76–110, tarsus 54–67, and claw 20–26. Pregenital multilocular disc-pores, mostly each with 10 loculi, abundant on segment VII and forming 1–2 rows on segment VI, but absent anterior to segment VI. Spiracular quinquelocular pores forming fairly narrow band 3–5 pores wide. Ventral tubular ducts each with an asymmetrical cup at inner end, each duct with basal portion of inner filament greatly expanded, ducts arranged in submarginal band 2–5 ducts wide, originating just below eye and ending just anterior to anal cleft, interrupted only by stigmatic furrows. Cruciform pores present between band of tubular ducts and body margin. A single pair of prevulvar long setae present.

Remarks. The ventral tubular ducts of this species, each with a very short, swollen inner ductule, form a submarginal band, a characteristic typically found in the C. floridensis -group. It closely resembles C. planus due to the absence of multilocular disc-pores on the thorax and abdomen anterior to segment VI, but differs from the latter (character states for C. planus given in parentheses) in having the following character combination: (i) stigmatic clefts each with 26–29 bullet-shaped setae (5–14); (ii) microducts along the body margin absent (present).

Etymology. The specific epithet “ planoides ” combines the Latin word planus (“flat”, referring to C. planus ) with the Greek suffix -oides (“resembling”), meaning “similar to C. planus ”.

Molecular evidence

The eleven COI sequences were each trimmed to a length of 705 bp, with no insertions, deletions, or stop codons detected. The sequences of C. planoides revealed four variable sites and three parsimony-informative sites, with intraspecific genetic K2P distances and p -distances ranging from 0% to 0.42% (mean 0.19%). Genetic distances between C. planoides and five other species in the C. floridensis -group ranged from 10.30% to 16.69% (mean 12.99%) for K2P distances and from 9.50% to 14.75% (mean 11.70%) for p -distances, indicating the closest relationship is with C. planus and the most distant relationship is with C. kunmingensis . In the NJ tree, all the individuals of C. planoides formed a well-supported monophyletic clade, sister to the clade of C. planus ( Fig. 5a ). The clade, comprising C. planoides and C. planus , showed a sister relationship with a clade containing C. floridensis , C. japonicus , C. centroroseus , and C. kunmingensis . Within the C. planoides clade, three subclades were observed, all with high bootstrap support values: one subclade consisting of two specimens from Yingjiang County, a second subclade with two specimens from Menghai County, and a third subclade comprising the remaining six specimens ( Fig. 5a ).

For the nuclear gene marker, ten 28S sequences of C. planoides were obtained, with a length of 863 bp, containing two variable sites and one parsimony-informative site. Intraspecific genetic distances ranged from 0% to 0.20% (mean 0.08%) for both K2P and p -distances. Ceroplastes planoides exhibited K2P distances ranging from 1.23% to 4.06% (mean 2.18%) and p -distances ranging from 1.22% to 3.94% (mean 2.12%) when compared to other species in the C. floridensis -group, indicating the closest relationship is with C. planus and the most distant relationship is with C. kunmingensis . Neighbor-joining analysis based on the 28S sequences placed individuals of C. plaoides in an independent clade with high support, also sister to C. planus ( Fig. 5b ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Ceroplastes planoides Li & Wang, sp. nov. Live appearance of pre-reproductive (A–C) and post-reproductive (D–F) adult females: A, D: dorsal views; B, E: lateral views; C, F: ventral views.

FIGURE 3. Ceroplastes planoides Li & Wang, sp. nov., morphology of the adult female: A, antenna; B, marginal setae; C, stigmatic setae; D, ventral tubular duct; E, quinquelocular pore; F, cruciform pore; G, leg; H, multilocular pore; I, triangular trilocular pore; J, oval trilocular pore; K, quadrilocular pore; L, bilocular pore; M, dorsal setae; N, anal plate.

FIGURE 4. Ceroplastes planoides Li & Wang, sp. nov.: photographs of a slide-mounted pre-reproductive adult female. A, interantennal setae; B, dorsal seta; C, bilocular pore; D, stigmatic cleft and setae; E, ventral tubular ducts; F, triangular trilocular pore; G, magnification of ventral tubular ducts; H, oval trilocular pore; I, quadrilocular pore; J, multilocular pores; K, quinquelocular pores.

FIGURE 5. Neighbor-joining trees of C. floridensis species-group wax scales based on (a) COI and (b) 28S sequences, rooted with Saissetia coffeae and S. miranda. The trees were constructed using Kimura 2-parameter distances. Bootstrap values were calculated with 1000 replicates, and values less than 75% are hidden. Each individual is presented as the code followed by species name.