Dromedaricoccus Hodgson & Miller, 2011

Hodgson, Chris, 2020, A review of neococcid scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccomorpha) based on the morphology of the adult males, Zootaxa 4765 (1), pp. 1-264 : 84-87

Dromedaricoccus Hodgson & Miller, 2011

Dromedaricoccus Hodgson & Miller in Hodgson et al. 2011 , 66. Type species: Dromedaricoccus hansoni Hodgson & Miller by original designation.

Introduction. This monotypic genus from Costa Rica induces bulbous swellings on the young stems, petioles and undersides of the mid-veins of leaflets of Astronium graveolens (Anacardiaceae) . The adult male ( Fig. 32 ) and female of D. hansoni were described by Hodgson et al. (2011). Unlike the adult males of many gall-inducing species, the male of D. hansoni does not have an elongate abdomen or a long penial sheath. Instead, it is the adult female which has an attenuated abdomen, which is presumably extended to the gall opening for copulation.

Generic diagnosis based on adult male morphology ( Fig. 32 ). Body not attenuated and abdomen more or less parallel sided with a short penial sheath; body setae fairly short, with hs and fs almost indistinguishable. Head: quite setose; simple pores absent; ocular sclerite without striations or reticulations; dorsal mid-cranial ridge absent; preocular ridge almost absent; genae with both hs and fs; antennae 6 segmented; flagellar segments with mostly fs, these almost indistinguishable from hs; capitate setae restricted to apical antennal segment. Thorax: prescutum with prescutal setae; scutal setae present laterally; scutellum with 1 pair of scutellar setae; postmesospiracular setae abundant, mainly fs; basisternum with abundant setae; metasternal setae common; metaprecoxal ridge very short; postmetaspiracular setae present; tibial spurs undifferentiated; tarsi 1 segmented; tarsal digitules setose; claw digitules capitate; claw with denticle. Abdomen: glandular pouches present on segment VIII; abdominal segment IX barely if at all differentiated from style; penial sheath short, narrowing gradually to a sharp apex, with several pairs of long setae.

Comment. Three species in the Gondwanan-group have glandular pouches and a reduced number of antennal segments, namely Eriogallococcus isaias and D. hansoni (Neotropical) and C. merwei from South Africa. They can be easily separated morphologically as E. isaias has 5-segmented antennae, D. hansoni has 6-segmented antennae and C. merwei has 8-segmented antennae. In addition, E. isaias and D. hansoni have setose tarsal digitules, otherwise unknown in the Gondwanan Group.

Figures

FIGURE 32. Dromedaricoccus hansoni Hodgson & Miller. Macropterous male. (Eriococcidae, Gondwanan group). Where A=cranial apophysis, B=side view of aedeagus, C=hair-like seta, D=fleshy seta and F=tibia and tarsus of metathoracic leg. For abbreviations, see p. 8.