Pseudococcus lycopodii Beardsley

Family

Pseudococcidae

Field characters

Body oval, gray; body lightly covered by of mealy wax; ovisac probably absent; probably with 14 to 16 pairs of lateral filaments, penultimate pair ½ width of caudal pair, caudal pair about 4/5 length of greatest width of body, others shorter. Occurring at base of awl-shaped leaves of club moss.

Validation characters

Cerarii number 14-16 pairs, some absent on thorax and head; multilocular pores often restricted to vulvar area, sometimes with 1 or 2 on segment VI; dorsal oral-rim tubular ducts few in numbers, sometimes restricted to marginal areas, usually with 2 or 3 in medial or mediolateral areas of thorax; ventral oral rims sometimes absent, often with a few in marginal areas of head and thorax; circulus small or absent; dorsal setae elongate; vulva saccate; auxiliary setae present in cerarii; antennae 7- or 8-segmented.

Comparison

Pseudococcus lycopodii is similar to P. swezeyi Ehrhorn by having few multilocular pores and less than 17 pairs of cerarii. Pseudococcus lycopodii can be distinguished (characters of P. swezeyi given in parentheses) by having a small circulus or circulus absent (large); and few dorsal oral-rim tubular ducts (many).

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry 5 times between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Hawaii. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from Hawaii (Lycopodium). ScaleNet lists Lycopodium as the only host, and all interceptions have been recorded on this host. ScaleNet distribution records for P. lycopodii are also restricted to the Hawaiian Islands. Several species of Pseudococcus other than P. aurantiacus Williams, P. baliteus Lit, P. calceolariae (Maskell), P. comstocki (Kuwana), P. cryptus Hempel , P. dendrobiorum, 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

Beards1959a

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