Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell

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 : 84-86

Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell

( Fig. 35 , distribution map Fig. 93A )

Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell, 1893b: 160 .

Field characteristics: Adult female elongate oval, yellow to yellowish green. Mature female convex.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body oval to broadly oval. Stigmatic clefts rather shallow. Anal cleft relatively short.

Dorsum. Derm entirely membranous. Setae relatively long and spiniform, scattered throughout. Pores absent. Preopercular pores oval to circular, in group of 4−12 present anterior to anal plates. Submarginal duct tubercles usually absent but occasionally present in small numbers ( Williams & Watson 1990). Tubular ducts scattered throughout. Anal plates together quadrate, each with 3 or 4 apical setae. Anal ring usually bearing 8 setae.

Margin. Marginal setae slender, with parallel sides or curved, some bluntly pointed, some with fimbriate or bifid tips; with about 9 setae present between anterior and posterior stigmatic clefts on each side. Stigmatic clefts rather shallow, each containing 3 setae, with median seta about 2 or 3 times longer than lateral setae.

Venter. Derm membranous. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 7 loculi, present around anogenital fold, and on preceding 3 or 4 abdominal segments; a small group also present lateral to each metacoxa. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in single to triple rows between each spiracle and margin. Microducts present in a submarginal band and scattered throughout. Tubular ducts of 3 types: (i) a short duct, with short filamentous inner ductule and minute terminal gland, present in a broad submarginal band extending from anal cleft to posterior spiracular disc-pore band and with a few ducts also present on marginal area of head and between spiracular disc-pore band; (ii) a large duct, with fairly long and slender inner ductule and a well-developed terminal gland, present in submarginal areas; and (iii) a duct with a shallow cup-shaped invagination, very long slender inner ductule and a well-developed terminal gland, present medially on posterior abdominal segments. Legs well developed, each with freely articulated tibia and tarsus and with articulatory sclerosis; claw without a denticle; both claw digitules broad and shorter than thin tarsal digitules. Antennae each with 8 segments, with segments II and III subequal in length.

Distribution: Pulvinaria urbicola is a cosmopolitan species ( García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it is found in Sistan & Balouchestan province.

Host-plants: The species is polyphagous, having been recorded on host-plants belonging to 45 families ( García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been found on Psidium guajava ( Myrtaceae ).

Economic importance: No damage caused by this species has been recorded in Iran.

Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.

Comments: This is the first record of P. urbicola from Iran. Please see the comments under P. camelicola above.

Figures

FIGURE 35. Adult female of Pulvinaria urbicola Cockerell: tubular ducts of types (i), (ii) and (iii) shown; for details of their respective distributions, see also 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).