Megalocryptes buteae Takahashi, 1942

Gavrilov-Zimin, Ilya A., 2020, Chromosomal and reproductive features of some Oriental and Australasian scale insects (Homoptera, Coccinea), Comparative Cytogenetics 14 (3), pp. 339-352 : 339

Megalocryptes buteae Takahashi, 1942 Figs 3d , 4 , 5c

Material.

K 1536, Thailand, Pai, on twigs of an undetermined dicotyledonous tree, 13.XI.2019, I.A. Gavrilov-Zimin.

New data.

2n = 18; there is no heterochromatinization in all 72 studied embryos from 3 females, no sperm in spermathecae and no males in the population suggesting thus thelytokous reproduction. Female reproductive system is distinguished by unusually long and thin lateral oviducts (Fig. 4 ). Cleavage divisions in the egg start just prior to oviposition.

Comments.

These are the first cytogenetic and reproductive data for the small Oriental genus Megalocryptes Takahashi, 1942 which comprises two species only.

Figures

Figure 3. Embryonic cells and chromosomes of the studied species (Coccidae). a Coccus viridis (2 n = 18) b Discochiton expansum (2 n = 18) c Luzulaspis australis (2 n = 18) d Megalocryptes buteae (2 n = 18) e Megapulvinaria maxima (2 n = 20) f Saccharolecanium krugeri (2 n = 18). Scale bars: 10 µm.

Figure 4. General anatomy of the female reproductive system in the studied species (Coccidae).

Figure 5. Females of some species on twigs of host plants. a Gossypariella siamensis b Megapulvinaria maxima c Megalocryptes buteae (with a colony of Kerria sp. at the background) d Saccharolecanium krugeri.