Formicococcus robustus (Ezzat & McConnell)

Family

Pseudococcidae

Field characters

No information available.

Validation characters

Cerarii with more than 3 conical setae; cerarii on abdomen without auxiliary setae; circulus present; oral-collar tubular ducts absent from venter of head and thorax; dorsal setae stiff; multilocular disk pores on segments V-VIII; sometime with multilocular pores near body margin; hind coxa about same shape as anterior coxae; anal bar present; translucent pores on hind coxa and tibia.

Comparison

Formicococcus robustus is similar to F. cameronensis (Takahashi) by having more than 3 conical setae in most cerarii including anal lobe pair, cerarii on abdomen without auxiliary setae, circulus present, oral-collar tubular ducts absent from venter of head and thorax, dorsal setae stiff. Formicococcus robustus can be distinguished (characters of F. cameronensis given in parentheses) by having multilocular pores on segments V-VIII (VI-VIII) and having the hind coxa about the same shape as the anterior coxae (hind coxa enlarged).

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry 19 times between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Bangladesh, India, The United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from India (Mangifera); Iran (Annona); Pakistan (Annona, Mangifera). ScaleNet lists hosts in 16 plant families. It is most commonly intercepted on mango. ScaleNet distribution records for F. robustus include Bangladesh, India and Pakistan in the Oriental region, and Iran in the Palaearctic region. Three species of Formicococcus besides F. njalensis, F. polysperes Williams and F. robustus (Ezzat & McConnell) have been taken at U. S. ports-of-entry including: F. acerneus Williams (India, on Mangifera); F. erythrinae Williams (India, on Mangifera); and F. mangiferacola Williams (India, on mango).

Important references

EzzatMc1956; GhoshGh1988LC; Willia2004a.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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