Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih, 2019

Moghaddam, Masumeh & Watson, Gillian W., 2024, The Scale Insects Of Iran (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) Part 3 The Soft Scales (Coccidae) And Other Families, Zootaxa 5542 (1), pp. 1-202 : 58

Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih

( Fig. 21 , Plate 2E , distribution map Fig. 90B )

Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih, 2019: 562 .

Field characteristics: Live young adult female pale brown with dark blotches; mature female highly convex, with body as tall as long, pale brown with rather irregular concave brown spots. Second-instar nymphs oval and dark brown, found on twigs.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body circular, with very shallow spiracular clefts. Anal cleft of moderate depth, with sides divergent in a slide mount.

Dorsum. Derm membranous, except for development of a sclerotized crescent around anal plates in older specimens. Setae short and sharply spinose, scattered throughout. Microducts not observed. Preopercular pores circular or oval, each with central surface granular, present in a scattered group anterior to anal plates and extending anteriorly to about level of prothorax. Tubular ducts common throughout dorsum, each with long inner ductule and small terminal gland. Anal plates together approximately quadrate, each bearing 3 subapical setae and 1 apical seta but without a discal seta. Anal ring bearing 8 long setae.

Margin. Marginal setae of 2 types: (i) stoutly spinose with a blunt apex and a large basal socket numerous on lateral margins, each side with about 10 setae between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas; and (ii) long flagellate setae on anterior and posterior margins. Stigmatic clefts broad and shallow, each containing a group of 4–6 stigmatic setae, each bluntly spinose, similar in shape to marginal setae but more rounded apically, sometimes arranged in 2 rows.

Venter. Derm membranous. Pregenital disc-pores each with 10 loculi, present on each side of anogenital fold and across all preceding abdominal segments, also on meta- and mesothoracic segments and present lateral to each coxa, forming a group just mesad to each procoxa. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in a rather sparse band between each spiracle and margin. Ventral microducts rather heavily sclerotized, abundant, present only on head and mesad to submarginal duct band on thorax and abdomen. Ventral tubular ducts of 1 type, each with very long outer ductule and a much shorter narrow inner ductule, with a small terminal gland; present in a broad submarginal band, also in a sparse band extending from antennal bases posteriorly around mouthparts. Legs well developed, each with tibia and tarsus separate but without articulatory sclerosis. Claw without a denticle; claw digitules short, thin and pointed; tarsal digitules each slender with a small apical swelling. Antennal segmentation rather variable, each 7 or 8 (occasionally 6) segmented, with segment IV having up to 2 pseudo-articulations.

Distribution: Ericerus farsicus is known only from Iran, Fars province ( Moghaddam & Faghih 2019).

Host-plants: The species has been found only on Ficus carica ( Moraceae ) ( Moghaddam & Faghih 2019).

Economic importance: Ericerus farsicus is a serious pest of edible figs in Fars province.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Figures

PLATE 2. Coccidae continued: A, Ceroplastes rubens Maskell; B, Coccus hesperidum (Linnaeus); C-1 and C-2, Ceroplastes rusci (Linnaeus); D, Didesmococcus unifasciatus (Archangelskaya); E, Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih; F, Eriopeltis festucae (Boyer de Fonscolombe); G, Eulecanium tiliae (Linnaeus).

FIGURE 21. Adult female of Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih, from Moghaddam & Faghih (2019) page 264, fig. 1. © Magnolia Press, www.mapress.com/j/zt, reproduced with permission from the authors and the copyright holder.

FIGURE 90. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Drosicha turkestanica Archangelskaya; B, Ericerus farsicus Moghaddam & Faghih; C, Eriopeltis festucae (Boyer de Fonscolombe); D, Eulecanium ficiphilum Borchsenius; E, Eulecanium rugulosum (Archangelskaya); F, Eulecanium tiliae (Linnaeus); G, Exaeretopus tritici Williams; H, Gossyparia spuria (Modeer); I, Gueriniella serratulae (Fabricius); J, Hadzibejliaspis stipae (Hadzibejli); K, Icerya aegyptiaca (Douglas); L, Icerya purchasi Maskell.