Chaetococcus bambusae (Maskell)

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

Giant bamboo mealybug

Field characters

Body broadly oval, dorsoventrally flattened, anterior end rounded, posterior end truncate; yellow brown to dark brown; body margin surrounded by white wax; without an ovisac or lateral filaments. Occurring at nodes at base of leaf sheaths of bamboo.

Validation characters

Legs absent, with exception of plate-like remnant posterior of hind spiracle; plate-like remnant with numerous nipple-shaped discoidal pores; without cerarii; spiracle with cluster of trilocular pores near atrium; multilocular pores restricted to venter of segments VII and VIII; lateral margins of posterior 3 abdominal segments protruding; oral-collar tubular ducts usually restricted to area between antennae, sometimes present laterally on anterior thorax; antennae 2- segmented; anal ring invaginated in tube.

Comparison

Chaetococcus bambusae is similar to Chaetococcus phragmitis (Marchal) in lacking legs, having a cluster of nipple-shaped discoidal pores posterior of hind spiracles, and lacking cerarii. Chaetococcus bambusae differs (characters of C. phragmitis are given in parentheses) by having multilocular pores restricted to posterior 2 abdominal segments (present around entire body margin) and by having oral-collar tubular ducts restricted to body margins of head and anterior thorax (present around entire body margin).

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry11 times between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from China, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from China (bamboo, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Lingnania); India (Bambusa); Hawaii (Bambusa); Indonesia (Java) (Gigantochloa); (Sumatra)(Gigantochloa); Jamaica (Bambusa);Puerto Rico (Bambusa); Saipan (bamboo); Sri Lanka (Bambusa); St. Thomas (USVI)(Bambusa). ScaleNet lists hosts in the Poaceae (bamboo family). It is most commonly intercepted on bamboo. ScaleNet distribution records for C. bambusae include the Afrotropical, Australasian, Neotropical, Oriental, and Palaearctic zoogeographic regions, and Florida (The United States of America) in the Nearctic region. No other species of Chaetococcus other than C. bambusae have been taken in quarantine at U. S. ports-of-entry.

Important references

Porcel1992; HendriKo1999; Willia2004a.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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