Ceroplastes elytropappi (Brain)

Hodgson, Chris J. & Peronti, Ana L. B. G., 2012, 3372, Zootaxa 3372, pp. 1-265 : 164-166

Ceroplastes elytropappi (Brain)

( Fig. 74; Map fig. 105)

Baccacoccus elytropappi Brain, 1920a: 127 .

Ceroplastes adustus De Lotto, 1967b: 781 . Synonymised by De Lotto, 1971: 141.

Ceroplastes elytropappi (Brain) ; De Lotto, 1971: 141.

Material examined. C. elytropappi : Lectotype ♀ (here designated): South Africa: top label: Baccacoccus / elytropappi Brain / on Elytropappus / rhinocerotis / French Hock, CPL, 1904 / Paratype ( SANC 297): 1/1 (poor).

Paralectotype ♀: labelled as for lectotype ( SANC 297 ): 1/1 (poor); data essentially as lectotype ( USNM): 3/5 (1 slide marked type with 2 specimens, 2 slides marked paratypes, 1 with? 2 specimens; see comment on “type” specimens in Material and methods) .

C. adustus : Paratype ♀: South Africa, Western Cape Province, Ceres , 1.iii.1966, on Passerina sp. , J. Munting ( USNM): 3/5 (good); as previous ( BMNH): 1/1 (good) .

Also: South Africa, Western Cape Province, Hopefield , on Erica sp. , 26.v.1967, A. Boonzaaier ( SANC #2803 ): 2/2 (good) ; Mpumalanga Province [Eastern Transvaal], Graskop , on Passerina montana , 1.viii.1970, P. Insley ( SANC #4425 ): 1/1 (good) ; Western Cape Province, Jeffrey’s Bay , on Passerina vulgaris , 17.iii.1970, P. Insley ( SANC #4391 ): 2/2 (good) .

Note. Data in brackets below from De Lotto (1967b) for C. adustus .

Unmounted material. “Test of the immature adult females small, about 3 mm long, 2 mm wide; fairly highly convex, with a well-marked lateral depression; centre of the dome with a rather large whitish boss; wax soft, not divided into plates; colour light brown. Length [presumably of unmounted specimens] 1.1 mm, width 0.8 mm.” ( De Lotto (1967b) of C. adustus ).

Mounted material. Body broadly elliptical to roundly circular; lateral processes well developed. Length: 0.85–2.5, width: 0.6–1.5.

Dorsum. Derm entirely membranous on young individuals except for heavily sclerotised caudal process. Caudal process short, conical, 0.25–0.4 mm long, 0.25–0.4 mm wide, with a few simple pores; some specimens with a reticulate pattern within sclerotised area. Derm with eight clear areas, distributed as usual except mediodorsal area exceptionally large; all clear areas without dorsal setae. Dorsal setae spinose with convergent sides and a sharp apex; extremely short, smaller than width of loculate microducts and shorter than width of basal socket (length 2–3 µm; basal socket width 3–3.5 µm); frequent except absent from clear areas. Dorsal pores: (i) loculate microducts of intermediate type, abundant; pores with 1 satellite loculus most abundant, each about 4.0–5.0 µm wide; pores with 2 satellite loculi infrequent; present throughout but absent from all clear areas and from a fairly wide marginal band; wax-plate lines not detected; and (ii) simple microducts present throughout and very obvious, possibly of 2 types, those amongst loculate microducts appearing slightly larger and darker than those in clear areas. Preopercular pores present in a transverse band of 9–20 pores, each very small. Anal plates generally slightly longer than combined breadth, each 109–135 µm long, combined width 99–120 µm; each with 3 pairs of long dorsal setae on posterior third, each 32–55 µm long, plus a smaller subapical seta, 15–25 µm long. Anal tube subequal to length of anal plates.

Margin. Marginal setae short, each 6–13 µm long, with perhaps 4–6 between eyespots, and (on each side) 1–3 between eyespots and anterior stigmatic setae, 2–4 between stigmatic clefts and maybe about 2–15 on each side of abdomen; longer setae on anal lobes not observed. Stigmatic clefts shallow, each with a group of 3–15 roundly conical stigmatic setae of rather uniform size, most setae as wide as or wider than their length, usually in 1–3 rows. Eyespots each about 15–18 µm wide.

Venter. Derm entirely membranous. Pregenital disc-pores abundant around vulva and in segment VI, plus 0–4 in all preceding abdominal segments. Spiracular disc-pores in narrow bands, each with 45–50 pores. Ventral microducts usually absent medially on posterior thoracic and abdominal segments. Ventral tubular ducts with basal part of inner ductule dilated and short, usually 4–6 µm long, without a glandular end; absent in cephalic region but with 8–18 mediolaterally associated with each anogenital fold in abdominal segments III–VI. Submarginal setae each about 5–8 µm long, more abundant than marginal setae.

Antennae each with 6 (–7) segments, with 0 or 1 pseudo-articulation in segment III (sometimes apparently completely dividing segment, making antenna appear 7 segmented); each antenna 175–220 µm long. Clypeolabral shield about 125–140 µm long. Spiracles: diameter of peritremes 30–45 µm long, muscle plate 45–50 µm long. Legs well developed, each without a tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis; each claw with a small denticle; claw digitules both broad; dimensions of metathoracic legs (µm): coxa 80–124; trochanter + femur: 105–152; tibia: 70–116; tarsus 47–83, and claw 20–24; tarsal digitules 57–58 long; claw digitules 31–34 long.

Discussion. Brain (1920a) originally placed this species in a new genus Baccacoccus because his specimens lacked a wax test. However, as De Lotto (1971) pointed out when synonymising Baccacoccus with Ceroplastes , very old wax scale insects frequently lose their wax.

Within this species group, C. elytropappi differs from C. delottoi in having fewer than 20 stigmatic setae in each cleft, and from the other 2 species in lacking ventral tubular ducts in the cephalic region.

C. elytropappi is currently only known from the Cape area of South Africa on Elytropappus sp. (Asteraceae) , Erica sp. (Ericaceae) and Passerina sp. (Thymelaeaceae) .