Ferrisia setosa (Lobdell)

Kaydan, M. B. & Gullan, P. J., 2012, 3543, Zootaxa 3543, pp. 1-65 : 44-46

Ferrisia setosa (Lobdell)

( Fig. 18)

Trionymus setosus Lobdell, 1930: 220 .

Erium setosum ; Lindinger, 1935: 122. Change of combination.

Ferrisiana setosa ; Ferris, 1950: 91. Change of combination.

Ferrisia setosa ; McKenzie, 1967: 179. Change of combination.

Ferrisia lobdellae Varshney, 1982: 857 . Unjustified replacement name; discovered by Ben-Dov, 1994: 164.

Type material examined. Holotype of Trionymus setosus Lobdell : adult ♀, larger specimen (4.0 mm long, 2.5 mm wide) on slide with 1 other adult ♀, slide labels: “Lachnodiella / liquidambaris / On Sweet Gum Roots / Durant, Miss. / Prop.? / Coll. G.R. Williams / Sept. 18, 1926 / S. R. 9740 Draw [this word in pencil]” and “ Trionymus / setosus n. sp. / On Sweet gum roots / Prop.? / G.R. Williams, Coll. / Sept. 18, 1926 / S. R. 9740”; slide envelope: “setosus n. sp. Durant Sept 18, 1926 / on sweet gum roots Holotype / Trionymus S.R.9740” ( MEM) . Paratypes: 1 adult ♀, on same slide as holotype ( MEM) ; 5 adult ♀ (1 slide), same data as holotype but envelope also says “ On Sweetgum near ground attended by ants / Paratype ” ( MEM) ; 1 adult ♀, same data as holotype except labelled as “ Paratype ” and host given as Liquidamber styraciflua (USNM) ; 10 adult ♀ (5 slides), labels: “Type material” and “ Trionymus / setosus Lobd. / On Sweet gum / Durant, Miss. / Coll. G.R. Williams / 9- 18-26 / L.E.M. ( BME); 6 first-instar nymphs (1 slide), labels: “ Trionymus / setosus n. sp. / crawlers on Sweet gum / Bird Reserve / A & M. College, Miss / J. N. Roney, Coll. / Crawlers Sept 28 from / Durant, Miss.” and “Crawlers / from Durant / Miss. Sept. 28, / 1926. Second / generation / crawlers / Dec 3, 1926 ” and envelope also says “ Paratype ”( MEM) ; 1 adult ♀ (mature and broken apart) with 4 embryos (1 slide), labels: “ Trionymus / setosus n. sp. / larva & adults / On sweet gum / Bird Reserve / A & M College, Miss. / J.N. Roney, Coll. / Dec. 3, 1926 / #602” and “Crawlers / placed on shrub / Sept 28, 1926 / From Durant, / Miss. anal ring [previous two words in pencil] / Mature adult / with larvae / Dec 3, 1926 ” ( MEM). The USNM also has a small box of dry adult ♀, here considered as paratypes, with labels: “Lachnodiella liquidambaris m.s. / on Liquidamber styraciflua / (Sweet gum) / Durant Miss. / G.R. Williams, Coll. / Sept. 1926 / In “cow sheds” / built by ants” and also “ Paratype ” [on outside of box]. The label data match the collection information in the original description, which uses both the scientific and common names of the host plant and refers to “cowsheads” built by ants .

The holotype slide is broken in two, as noted by Schiefer (2000), and the mountant of two of the paratype slides from MEM is dried out and cracked. Also as noted by Schiefer (2000), some of Lobdell’s type material is missing (e.g., Lobdell described a second-instar female but only adult females and first-instar nymphs are represented in collections) and for the MEM slides the type designations are written only on the envelopes and not on the slides. Furthermore, the slide in the envelope bearing the holotype designation has two adult females but no explicit indication of which is the holotype. We here recognise the larger and more intact specimen as Lobdell’s holotype because the smaller female is so damaged that it could not have been drawn and the label seems to indicate that the illustration was made from this slide. We consider the two slides of specimens collected on 28 September 1926 to be part of the type series because, although Lobdell (1930) lists the original collection as made on 18 September 1926, she states that the descriptions of the first-instar nymph and adult female were made from material collected on 28 September. She also states that an immature female was reared at A. & M. College until slide-mounted on 26 October. The original description gives the number of anal ring setae as 12–36; 12 is atypically low number of anal ring setae, but the mature and broken female that was reared and then collected on 3 December 1926 has 12 anal ring setae and the label has a pencil annotation “anal ring”, suggesting that Lobdell saw the unusual anal ring and used this female as part of the description. The five slides of adult females in the BME are part of the G.F. Ferris collection and one slide also has an additional label: “ Ferrisiana / setosa / (Lobdell)”, which was the name used by Ferris (1950) in his redescription. Lobdell (1930) makes no mention of specimens being sent to Ferris and we believe that this material must have been acquired by him much later, presumably from the MEM. We consider these BME specimens to be part of the type series and we here treat them as paratypes.

Other material examined. U.S.A., Mississippi: 6 adult ♀ (3 slides), ex sweet gum, Goodman , 12.x.1927, G.R. Williams, attended by Crematogaster laeviuscular (MEM) ; 1 adult ♀, same locality as previous but collected 12.x.1928, M.R. Smith ( MEM) ; 8 adult ♀ (4 slides), ex sweet gum, Mayhew , 14.iv.1927, M.R. Smith (3 slides MEM, 1 slide USNM) ; 3 adult ♀ (1 slide), ex sweet gum, West Point, 52E Broad St. , vii.1929, L. H. Shropshire ( MEM) .

The only records of this species are from (i) the original 1926 collection from Durant, Mississippi, U.S.A., where it was found near the roots of sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua (Altingiaceae) , under shelters built by Argentine ants [ Linepithema humile Mayr ] ( Lobdell 1930) and (ii) from non-type slides of specimens, also from sweet gum in Mississippi (as listed above). The adult female was described and illustrated by Lobdell (1930) and Ferris (1950) (redrawn here, Fig. 18). This species is most similar to F. claviseta , F. gilli and F. quaintancii as the adult female of all four species lacks the anterior pair of ostioles, and all four species are native to the southeastern U.S.A. However F. setosa is most distinctive in having an anal ring with numerous anal ring setae (12–36, compared with six in all other Ferrisia species ). Also each anal lobe cerarius has two to four conical setae, and the openings of the posterior pair of ostioles are lightly sclerotised. There are abundant setae on the abdomen and these are especially noticeable on the venter posterior to the vulva. Multilocular pores are restricted to a few around the vulva and these typically number 1–3 or can be absent. There are about 50 enlarged tubular ducts on the dorsum, mostly marginally around body and usually with one duct on each side of each abdominal segment. There appears to be no recent collections of this species.