Pseudococcus aurantiacus Williams

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

Orange-colored mealybug

Field characters

The only information available is that the body is yellowish-orange.

Validation characters

Dorsal oral rims greatly reduced in number, varying from 3 to 6, all located on thorax and head; ventral oral-rims restricted to thorax with 1 associated with each spiracle; dorsal setae long, almost as long as ventral setae; translucent pores on hind coxa, femur, and tibia; dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts nearly always present near cerarii; ventral oral-collar tubular ducts numerous, forming broad band on thorax and head; without discoidal near eye.

Comparison

Pseudococcus aurantiacus is very similar to P. cryptus but differs by having 1 ventral oral rim near each spiracle, no ventral oral rims on the anterior abdominal segments, and a broad band of oral collars on the margin of the thorax. P. cryptus has more than 1 ventral oral rim near each spiracle, a few ventral oral rims on the anterior abdominal segments, and a narrow band of oral collars on the margin of the thorax.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 44 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is taken at U. S. ports-of-entry on many hosts; the most common are tropical fruit. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from China (Garcinia); Malaysia (Lansium); Thailand (Garcinia, Nephelium); Vietnam (Garcinia). ScaleNet lists the species from 10 families of host plants, and distribution records suggest that it is restricted to southern Asia in the Oriental zoogeographic region. Several species of Pseudococcus other than P. aurantiacus, P. baliteus Lit, P. calceolariae (Maskell), P. comstocki (Kuwana), P. cryptus Hempel , P. dendrobiorum Williams, P. elisae Borchsenius, P. jackbeardsleyi Gimpel & Miller, P. landoi (Balachowsky), P. longispinus (Targioni Tozzetti), P. lycopodii Beardsley, P. maritimus (Ehrhorn), P. microcirculus McKenzie, P. nakaharai Gimpel & Miller , P. odermatti Miller & Williams, P. philippinicus Williams, P. pithecellobii Gimpel & Miller, P. soleneydos Miller & Gimpel and P. viburni (Signoret) have been taken at U. S. ports-of-entry including: P. agavis MacGregor (Mexico, on Agave); P. apodemus Williams (The Philippines, on Fortunella and Mangifera); P. apomicrocirculus Gimpel and Miller (Mexico, on orchids); P. apoplanus Williams (India, on orchids); P. chenopodii Williams (Australia, on Brunia); P. concavocerarii James (Somalia, on Euphorbia); P. donrileyi Gimpel and Miller (Mexico, on Citrus; Puerto Rico, on Melicoccus); P. eucalypticus Williams (Australia, on Eucalyptus and Chamelaucium); P. gilbertensis Beardsley (Guam, on Dracaena; The Philippines, on Citrus); P. importatus McKenzie (Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, The Philippines, South Africa, Trinidad, and Venezuela, on orchids); P. neomaritimus Beardsley (Mexico, on Citrus, Psidium, and Punica); P. neomicrocirculus Gimpel and Miller (Costa Rica, Guatemala and Venezuela, on orchids); P. orchidicola Takahashi (Kwajalein, Marshall, Samoa, and Tonga, on Alocasia, Dendrobium and Pandanus); P. peregrinabundus Borchsenius (Ecuador, on Musa); P. saccharicola Takahashi (Vietnam, on Saccharum); P. sociabilis (Brazil, on Annona, Cattleya, Carica, Hedera, Hippeastrum, Dahlia, Oncidium, Solanum and Zygopetalum); and P. solomonensis Williams (Micronesia and Palau, on Musa and Piper).

Important references

Willia2004.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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