Phenacoccus franseriae Ferris

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

Franseria mealybug

Field characters

Body oval; somewhat flattened dorsoventally; body green; legs red; covered by thin, white, mealy wax, probably with dark submedial bare spots on intersegmental areas of thorax and abdomen on dorsum, these areas forming 1 pair of dark longitudinal lines on dorsum; dorsal ovisac covering entire dorsum; with 18 pairs of lateral wax filaments, posterior pairs longest about 1/4 or less of length of the body. Primarily occurring on foliage of host. Specimens in alcohol with 1 pair of dorsosubmedial dark lines on thorax and abdomen. Surface of lateral filaments rough.

Validation characters

Dorsomedial cerarii on midline of abdominal segments VI and VII; multilocular pores on dorsum of abdomen, absent from thorax and head; dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts scattered over surface; quinquelocular pores abundant on ventral surface; 18 pairs of cerarii; denticle on claw; antennae 9-segmented.

Comparison

Phenacoccus franseriae is very similar to P. gossypii Townsend and Cockerell and P. madeirensis by having dorsal multilocular pores and oral-collar tubular ducts; cerarii on medial or mediolateral areas of dorsum; numerous quinquelocular pores; mushroom-shaped circulus. Phenacoccus franseriae differs by having dorsomedial cerarii on abdominal segments VI and VII whereas P. gossypii and P. madeirensis lack cerarii in this area but have them on the anterior abdominal segments and on the thorax and head. Phenacoccus franseriae differs from P. gossypii by lacking dorsal multilocular disk pores on the thorax whereas these are present on P. gossypii.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 423 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico. It has only recently been taken in quarantine. It is most frequently intercepted on herbs from Mexico. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from Mexico (Ocimum, Salvia). ScaleNet lists the species from Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae and Zygophyllaceae, and distribution records include Mexico alone. Several species of Phenacoccus other than P. defectus Ferris, P. franseriae, P. gossypii Townsend & Cockerell, P. hakeae Williams, P. helianthi (Cockerell), P. madeirensis Green, P. parvus Morrison, P. solani Ferris, P. solenopsis Tinsley and P. stelli (Brain) have been taken at U. S. ports-of-entry including: P. alleni McKenzie (Mexico, on Artemisia); P. avenae Borchsenius (Turkey, on Stachys); P. azaleae Kuwana (Japan, on azalea); P. graminicola Leonardi (New Zealand, on Feijoa); P. hurdi McKenzie (Mexico, on Dendranthema and Capsicum); P. indicus Avasthi & Shafee (Thailand, on Euphorbia); P. multicerarii Granara de Willink (Mexico, on unknown host); P. manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Central Africa and South America, on Manihot); P. nephelii Takahashi (Thailand, on Garcinia; Vietnam, on Nephelium); P. pergandei Cockerell (Japan and Korea, on Diospyros, Magnolia, Malus, Prunus, Punica, and Rhododendron); and P. persimplex Borchsenius (Kazakhstan, on Malus).

Important references

Ferris1950b; WilliaGr1992.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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