Lecanodiaspis zygophylli Hodgson, 1973

Hodgson, Chris J., 2021, New genera, new species and new combinations for some African Coccomorpha (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha), Zootaxa 5020 (1), pp. 57-80 : 78

Lecanodiaspis zygophylli Hodgson, 1973

Material studied: NIGERIA, Zaria , Ahmadu Bello University, on Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae), Oct. 1986, C.J. Hodgson, 1 adult ♀ .

Comments: Lecanodiaspis zygophylli was originally described from Mauritania, collected on twigs of Zygophyllum waterlotii (Zygophyllaceae) ( Hodgson 1973). It is very close to L. africana Newstead but differs in a number of rather subtle characters (contrasting condition in L. africana in brackets), perhaps the most obvious being that L. zygophylli has cribriform plates in four rows (in 2 rows) and the 8-shaped pores on the dorsum are of two sizes distributed in a specific pattern (only one size, more or less randomly distributed). Whilst visiting Nigeria in 1986, the author collected a further specimen of Lecanodiaspis on Terminalia . Whilst this specimen is considered to be L. zygophylli , it differs in a few possibly important characters from the original description, namely (characterstate on original type material in brackets): (i) antennae 7 segmented, although segment IV on one antenna shows slight pseudo-articulation (antennae 8 segmented); (ii) fusion of leg segments even greater than in type material; (iii) claw very reduced, more or less to just a point or even less (claw reasonably normal, with a small denticle); (iv) multilocular disc-pores rapidly decreasing in number anteriorly, with very few in thorax and head (multilocular discpores remaining fairly abundant in thorax and with 1 near each antennal base); (v) ventral setae very few, with none anterior to abdominal segment II (ventral setae scarce but, for instance, inter-antennal setae present); (vi) marginal setae very scarce or absent, almost entirely restricted to near anal lobes (with 6-12 marginal setae on each side); and (vii) with 0 or 1 cribriform plate in each outer 2 rows (3 pores in each outer row). Despite these differences, the general layout and dimensions of the rest of the structures, particularly the distribution of the 8-shaped pores on the dorsum, are almost identical.