Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret)

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 : 88-90

Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret)

( Fig. 37 , Plate 3C , distribution map Fig. 93I )

Pulvinaria artemisiae Signoret, 1873b: 31 . Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret) ; Borchsenius 1952a: 302.

Field characteristics: Live adult female oval to circular, convex; young female bright green with a longitudinal yellow band medially; older specimens with body wrinkled dorsally. Ovisac oval or circular, strongly convex and white.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body oval, rather more pointed anteriorly than posteriorly; more-or-less membranous at maturity; lacking stigmatic clefts; with rather shallow anal cleft.

Dorsum. Derm developing sparse areolations at maturity. Setae each broadly spiniform or conical and short, sparsely distributed throughout. Pores of 2 types present, both frequent throughout: (i) a minute pore whose exact structure could not be discerned, but which has a long, fine, inner filament, and (ii) a larger, round, flat pore, which may have a short, wider, inner filament. Preopercular pores circular, each with a granulate surface, present in a sparse group anterior to anal plates. Tubular ducts small and sparsely distributed.Anal plates together quadrate, each plate with 4 setae, 3 of them located on posterior and outer margins. Anal ring bearing 6 setae.

Margin. Marginal setae spinelike, each 1.5−2.0 times longer than a stigmatic seta and with a blunt apex, present in 1 or uneven 2 rows. Stigmatic setae very similar to marginal setae but shorter, with 3 (sometimes 2) in each anterior stigmatic area and usually 2 (but sometimes 3 or 1) in each posterior stigmatic area.

Venter. Derm membranous. With pairs of long setae on posterior 3 abdominal segments anterior to anogenital fold; 2 pairs of setae between antennal bases; also with large, spinose setae frequent in submarginal ring; other setae normal. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 6−8 loculi, numerous around anogenital fold, less frequent across anterior abdominal segments. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in broad bands between each spiracle and margin, and with a few pores present more medially. Microducts each with an oval orifice, present throughout except on posterior abdominal segments. Tubular ducts of 3 types present: (i) a duct with a fairly short outer ductule and a filamentous inner ductule; present in a rather narrow submarginal band, and becoming sparse between antennae; (ii) a duct with a long outer ductule and an equally long and wide inner ductule with a large terminal gland; present medially on head, thorax and more anterior abdominal segments; and (iii) a duct rather similar to those laterally (type (i)), but with a longer outer ductule; present medially on more posterior abdominal segments. Antennae each with 8 segments, third segment usually longest. Legs slender, each with a tibio-tarsal articulation and articulatory sclerosis; claw with a small denticle; claw digitules both fine with small knobs; tarsal digitules similar but longer and without knobs.

Distribution: Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae is known from 32 countries in the Palaearctic region ( García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, where it is found in Ardabil, Azarbaijan -e Sharghi, Esfahan, Fars, Khorasan -e Jounobi, Khorasan -e Razavi and Markazi provinces ( Moghaddam 2013).

Host-plants: The species is polyphagous, having been recorded on host-plants belonging to 19 families ( García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been recorded on Echinops ritro and Artemisia sp. ( Asteraceae ), Noaea mucronata ( Chenopodiaceae ), and Astragalus sp. ( Fabaceae ) ( Moghaddam 2013).

Economic importance: Not of any economic importance in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Figures

PLATE 3. Coccidae continued: A, Palaeolecanium bituberculatum (Signoret); B, Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché); C, Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret); D, Rhizopulvinaria turkestanica (Archangelskaya); E-1 and E-2, Saissetia miranda (Cockerell & Parrott); F, Sphaerolecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe); G, Stotzia ephedrae (Newstead).

FIGURE 37. Adult female of Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret), reproduced from Kosztarab & Kozár (1988) page 247, fig. 105 (labelled R. spinifera Borchsenius, a synonym), originally published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary. Enlargements of ventral tubular ducts of types (i), (ii) and (iii) shown; for details of their respective distributions, see the diagnosis.

FIGURE 93. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell; B, Pulvinaria vitis (Linnaeus); C, Rhizococcus asperulae Moghaddam; D, Rhizococcus avicennae Moghaddam; E, Rhizococcus borchsenii Danzig; F, Rhizococcus istresianus (Goux); G, Rhizococcus reynei (Schmutterer); H, Rhizococcus saxidesertus (Borchsenius); I, Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret); J, Rhizopulvinaria turkestanica (Archangelskaya); K, Saissetia coffeae (Walker); L, Saissetia miranda (Cockerell & Parrott); M, Saissetia oleae (Olivier); N, Sphaerolecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe); O, Stotzia ephedrae (Newstead).