Pulvinaria aurantii 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 : 79

Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell

( Fig. 32 , distribution map Fig. 92K )

Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell, 1896: 19 . Chloropulvinaria aurantii (Cockerell) ; Borchsenius 1952b: 300. Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell ; Ben-Dov 1993: 251.

Field characteristics: Live adult female elongate oval, usually flat, pale green with a longitudinal dark-brown median patch. Ovisac short, white, about 1‒2 times as long as body.

Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body elongate oval, scarcely sclerotized at maturity, with large oval areolations densely distributed over dorsum except for near margins. Stigmatic clefts relatively deep. Anal cleft of moderate depth.

Dorsum. Dermal areolations well developed. Setae spiniform, scattered throughout. Preopercular pores each oval to circular, present anterior to anal plates. Tubular ducts and microducts (not illustrated) present throughout, each duct situated within an areolation. Duct tubercles numbering 3‒7 on each side. Anal plates together quadrate, each with 4 or 5 apical setae. Anal ring bearing 8 setae.

Margin. Marginal setae long, with tips fimbriate, frayed or simply pointed, numbering about 20‒28 between anterior and posterior stigmatic clefts on each side; setae at hind end of body longer, simple or slightly branched. Stigmatic setae present in groups of 3 per stigmatic cleft; median seta 2 or 3 times longer than lateral setae.

Venter. Derm membranous. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 6‒8 loculi, present around anogenital fold, and on medial areas of preceding 2 or 3 abdominal segments; a small group also present lateral to each metacoxa and occasionally lateral to each mesocoxa. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in a band 3 or 4 pores wide, between each spiracle and margin, and extending medially over spiracle, particularly near mesocoxa. Microducts scattered throughout. Tubular ducts of 3 types (i) a duct with a short, filamentous inner ductule and a minute terminal gland, intermixed with type (ii) and type (iii) ducts in outer broad submarginal areas of head, thorax and abdomen, forming an almost complete submarginal band, but ducts on apex of head sparse or absent; (ii) a duct with a fairly short outer ductule and filamentous inner ductule with a well-developed terminal gland, present in posterior medial area of head, medial areas of all thoracic segments and anterior abdominal segments, also in inner submarginal area extending from near anterior abdominal segments to area between antennae; and (iii) a duct with quite a broad outer ductule often much longer than inner ductule, and with a large terminal gland, present in posterior medial area of posterior abdominal segments and inner submarginal area of head, thoracic and abdominal segments. Three pregenital segments each with a pair of long setae; also with 3 or 4 pairs of long setae present between antennal bases; 1‒3 pairs of long setae present on area mesad of each procoxa; other setae short and fine. Legs well developed, each with free tibio-tarsal articulation and a tibio-tarsal sclerosis; claw without a denticle; both claw digitules broad and shorter than thin tarsal digitules. Antennae mostly each with 8 segments.

Distribution: Pulvinaria aurantii is known from eight countries in the Australian, Oriental and Palaearctic regions ( García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it is found in Gilan, Golestan, Mazandaran and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces ( Moghaddam 2013).

Host-plants: The species is relatively polyphagous, with host-plants in 17 genera belonging to 15 families ( García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been recorded on Psidium guajava ( Myrtaceae ), Morus alba ( Moraceae ); and Citrus bigaradia and C. sinensis ( Rutaceae ) ( Moghaddam 2013).

Economic importance: Pulvinaria aurantii is one of the most important pests of Citrus trees in Asia including Iran, Japan and Republic of Georgia ( Ebeling 1951). Damage occurs not only by sap depletion due to the direct feeding of both nymphs and adult females, but also as a result of production of large amounts of sugary honeydew, which supports the growth of sooty moulds on the plant surfaces ( Maleki & Damavandian 2015).

Natural enemies: In Iran, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri Mulsant ( Coleoptera : Coccinellidae ) is an effective predator on P. aurantii ; the beetles feed on the ovisacs ( Bozorg-Amirkalaee et al. 2015).

Figures

FIGURE 32. Adult female of Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell: distributions of tubular duct types (i), (ii) and (iii) not shown; for details of their respective distributions, see the diagnosis.

FIGURE 92. Distribution maps of scale insect species in Iran covered in this work. A, Porphyrophora chelodonta Vahedi; B, Porphyrophora cynodontis (Archangelskaya); C, Porphyrophora hamelii Brandt; D, Porphyrophora jachenkoi Vahedi; E, Porphyrophora medicaginis Jashenko: F, Porphyrophora tritici (Bodenheimer); G, Porphyrophora victoriae Jashenko; H, Pseudaspidoproctus hyphaeniacus (Hall); I, Pseudochermes fraxini (Kaltenbach); J, Pulvinaria aligarhensis Avasthi & Shafee; K, Pulvinaria aurantii Cockerell; L, Pulvinaria floccifera (Westwood).