Melanaspis targionoides Schneider, Claps, Wei, Normark & Normark, 2020

Schneider, Scott A., Claps, Lucia E., Wei, Jiufeng, Normark, Roxanna D. & Normark, Benjamin B., 2020, Five new species of Aspidiotini (Hemiptera, Diaspididae, Aspidiotinae) from Argentina, with a key to Argentine species, ZooKeys 948, pp. 47-73 : 47

Melanaspis targionoides Schneider, Claps, Wei, Normark & Normark sp. nov. Figs 9 , 10

Material examined.

Holotype: Argentina • 1 adult female; Jujuy, entre Maimará & Tilcara; 23.586S, 65.408W; 13.II.2002; L. E. Claps, P. Zamudio, L. Diaz-Briz, & P. Cabrera leg.; IFML, L. E. Claps catalog #20-02, #1092 (D0272C). Paratypes: Argentina • 1 adult female; same data as holotype; UMEC (D0272E) • 1 adult female; same data as holotype; UMEC (D0272F) • 4 adult females; Jujuy, Humahuaca, camino a Aparzo; 23.20S, 65,10W; 13.II.2002; L. E. Claps, P. Zamudio, L. Diaz-Briz, & P. Cabrera leg.; USNM, L. E. Claps catalog #23-02 (D0264D) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; USNM (D0264C) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; USNM (D0264E) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; USNM (D0264F) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; USNM (D0264G) • 3 adult females; Jujuy, 30 km N Humahuaca; 22.97S, 65.39W; 12.II.2002; L. E. Claps, P. Zamudio, L. Diaz-Briz, & P. Cabrera leg.; UMEC, L. E. Claps catalog #6-02 (D0276F) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; UMEC (D0276E) • 4 adult females; Jujuy, Humahuaca, entrada a Juella; 23.525S, 65.396W; 14.II.2002; L. E. Claps, P. Zamudio, L. Diaz-Briz, & P. Cabrera leg.; IFML, L. E. Claps catalog #26-02 (D0291D) • 1 adult female; same data as previous; IFML (D0291C).

Description

(N = 20). Adult female presumed to secrete scale cover, not pupillarial. Appearance in life not recorded. Slide-mounted adult female 860-1720 (median 1130, holotype 1020) μm long, 730-1440 (median 960, holotype 860) μm wide; broadest near mesothorax. Body outline turbinate. Prosoma becoming sclerotized at full maturity (length> 1400 μm); derm otherwise membranous except for pygidium, which has characteristic dorsal sclerotized areas; sclerotization of these areas unusually heavy, such that paraphyses and basal scleroses of lobes difficult to discern clearly on some specimens. Antennae simple, each with 1 long seta, distance between antennae 130-410 (median 230) μm. Without disc pores near spiracles. Lobes: With 4 pairs of well-developed pygidial lobes, L1-L3 apically rounded and L4 truncate or pointed, notches absent from lobes; L1 slightly wider than long, median lobes separated by narrow space 0.15 times width of L1, with basal sclerosis about 1/2 width of L1 arising from mesal edge; L2 and L3 similar in size and shape, shorter and broader than L1; L4 somewhat variable in shape, truncate or with sloping edges. Paraphyses: Short and clavate, scarcely longer than L1; absent between L1, paraphysis formula 2-2-3 or 2-2-4; 1 interlobular paraphysis near outer corner of L1, 1 attached to inner corner of L2, 1 in interlobular space between L2 and L3, 1 attached to inner and outer corners of L3, 1 narrow paraphysis attached to inner corner of L4 and 2-3 narrow paraphyses in interlobular space between L3 and L4, these often fused into a single complex mass and difficult to count; several paraphysis-like sclerotizations surrounding macroduct orifices present beyond L4. Plates: Apparently absent. Ducts: Dorsal pygidial macroducts of 1-barred type, nearly uniform in size, with minute orifices and long slender ducts, most arranged in distinct furrows between sclerotized areas arising from interlobular spaces; 1 submarginal macroduct orifice immediately anterior to each L1, with ducts extending beyond posterior margin of anal opening; 17-36 (median 29) duct orifices in furrow of first space, originating between L1 and L2 and extending in elongate cluster anteriorly 90% of distance to anus or farther, anterior end of cluster usually directly laterad of anus, each duct about 120-130 μm in length; 18-53 (median 35) in furrow of second space, originating between L2 and L3 and extending anteriorly to a point laterad or anterolaterad of anus; 7-14 (median 9) on sclerotized area arising from L3; 15-30 (median 19) in furrow of third space, originating between L3 and L4 and extending anteriorly to a point anterolaterad of anus; duct orifices in furrows of second and third spaces each surrounded by sclerotized ring; submedial clusters of dorsal macroducts present on each pre-pygidial abdominal segment, shorter and narrower than pygidial ducts. Ventral pygidial microducts similar to dorsal macroducts in size and shape and similarly arranged in rows on segments V-VII, 23-51 (median 35) on each side; ventral duct orifices on segment V each surrounded by conspicuous sclerotized ring, degree of sclerotization decreasing towards anterolateral corner of segment; microducts also distributed along head, thorax, and pre-pygidial margins, as well as rows extending from marginal area toward each spiracle. Anal opening: Oval, 14-31 (median 20) μm long, positioned 4-9 (median 6) anal lengths (102-144 μm, median 129 μm) from base of L1, near midpoint of pygidium. Perivulvar pores : Absent or present; 0-11 (median 0, holotype 1) pores in total, distributed as one loose cluster on only one side of the body (5 of 7 individuals with pores present) or as one loose cluster on each side of the body.

DNA sequences.

Several DNA sequences of Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. have been published, including fragments of 3 loci from the holotype (D0272C): large ribosomal subunit (28S, GenBank accession number KY218986.1), elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α, MH915711.1), and carbamoylphosphate synthetase (CAD, MH915986.1). DNA sequences have also been published for the paratypes D0276E (28S, KY218990.1; EF-1α, MH915715.1; CAD, MH915989.1) and D0264C (28S, KY218983.1). Several other members of the type series were ground to powder during DNA preparation; morphological vouchers were not preserved, but DNA sequences were published. These include sequences of 28S (D0264A, DQ145361.2; D0264C, KY218983.1; D0291A, KY219004.1 and DQ145395.2), EF-1α (D0264A, DQ145473.1), and cytochrome oxidase I and II (COI-II, D0276G, MH919222.2). An additional sequence of COI-II purporting to be from a member of the type series of this species, D0264A, was available on GenBank from 2010-2020 under accession number GQ424989.1. This was actually a sequence of a different species, Aonidomytilus espinosai Porter, GQ424988.1, erroneously assigned due to contamination or mislabeling; it has been retracted from GenBank. DNA sequences of the primary bacterial endosymbiont, Uzinura diaspidicola , of M. targionoides sp. nov. have also been published, including a fragment of the small ribosomal subunit (16S) of a paratype (D0264C, KY220091.1) and 2 ground-up specimens of the type series (D0264A, GQ424852.1; D0291A, DQ868844.1), and a fragment of the large ribosomal subunit (23S of D0291B, DQ873256.1).

Informal synonyms.

Specimens from the type series and their endosymbionts have appeared in several published phylogenetic trees, and have been referred to variously as " Melanaspis sp. nov." ( Gruwell et al. 2005), " Melanaspis sp undesc #1" and " Melanaspis sp undesc #4" ( Gruwell et al. 2007; Morse and Normark 2006; Rugman-Jones et al. 2010), " Melanaspis sp. undesc." ( Gruwell et al. 2009), " Melanaspis sp nov 1" ( Andersen et al. 2010), and " Melanaspis ud0276" ( Schneider et al. 2018; Normark et al. 2019).

Remarks.

This species is very similar to the previous one, Melanaspis lilloi sp. nov. The two were considered to belong to a single undescribed species, (" Melanaspis ud0276") by Schneider et al. (2018) and Normark et al. (2019). The diversity of informal designations assigned to members of the two species prior to 2018 were record-keeping artifacts and did not reflect any diversity of evidence-based hypotheses. Careful study of the type series during the preparation of this manuscript revealed slight but consistent morphological differences between what are here regarded as separate species. The two species are also distinguishable by DNA, and appear as separate clusters in published phylogenies ( Morse and Normark 2006; Normark et al. 2019). The pattern is seen most clearly in figure S2 of Normark et al. (2019), and is seen in each of the loci sampled from both species in that study: 2.2% divergence at 28S (compared to 0.14% within M. lilloi sp. nov.), 2.2-2.3% divergence at EF-1α (compared to 0.12-0.35% within each species), and 1.45% divergence at the primary endosymbiont’s 16S locus (compared to 0.18-0.19% within each species). Although the species are morphologically very similar, M. targionoides sp. nov. has more numerous and more sclerotized dorsal ducts, along with sclerotization of the prosoma at full maturity. Specifically, the two species may be distinguished by the following characters. In M. targionoides sp. nov., the elongate cluster of dorsal ducts in the furrow of the first space (arising between L1 and L2) extends anteriorly at least 90% of the distance to the anus, its anterior end usually being directly lateral to the anus; in M. lilloi sp. nov., this cluster of dorsal ducts extends only 60-85% of the distance to the anus, its anterior end always lying posterolateral to the anus. In M. targionoides sp. nov. the furrow of the third space (arising between L3 and L4) has a single or double line of conspicuous subcircular sclerotized duct orifices extending from near the posterior margin to the anterior third of the pygidium; in M. lilloi sp. nov., the furrow of the third space has sclerotized duct openings only in the posterior third of the pygidium, with sometimes a few present further anteriorly along the medial edge of the furrow (lateral edge of the sclerotized area arising from L3) - these are often only partially sclerotized and anteroposteriorly compressed, thus appearing as partial ellipses rather than complete circles. Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. has the prosoma sclerotized at full maturity (body length greater than 1.4 mm); M. lilloi sp. nov. has the prosoma membranous at full maturity. Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. sometimes has perivulvar pores ; M. lilloi sp. nov. lacks perivulvar pores .

Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. and M. lilloi sp. nov. are referrable to Melanaspis based upon the characteristic sclerotization pattern of the dorsal pygidium, and their placement in Melanaspis is supported by molecular evidence ( Morse and Normark 2006; Andersen et al. 2010; Rugman-Jones et al. 2010; Schneider et al. 2018; Normark et al. 2019;). However, they possess a combination of traits often seen in species of Targionia , including the absence of plates, presence of numerous small, slender macroducts arranged in distinct furrows, and simple, rounded pygidial lobes lacking notches. Plates are typically present in species of Melanaspis but can be highly reduced and difficult to view. The simple lobes and short paraphyses found in M. targionoides sp. nov. and M. lilloi sp. nov. are similar in appearance to those of M. enceliae (Ferris), but the number and distribution of macroducts is quite distinct from any other species observed for this genus.

Host plant.

Not recorded.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is an adjective describing the resemblance this species bears to others placed in Targionia by adding the suffix - oides to indicate likeness in form.

Distribution.

Argentina (Jujuy).

Figures

Figure 9. Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. Teneral adult female, full body view, illustrated from the holotype (D 0272 C). Inset at upper left shows sclerotization pattern of a fully mature female, illustrated from a paratype (D 0264 E).

Figure 10. Melanaspis targionoides sp. nov. Adult female, expanded view of pygidium, illustrated from the holotype (D 0272 C).