Kilifia deltoides De Lotto

Family

Coccidae

Field characters

According to De Lotto (1965a): Young living adults flat, emerald-green in color, with some black or very dark brown minute dots set in irregular radiating rows near the margin of the body; old adults flattish, color evenly dark brown.

Validation characters

Tibio-tarsal spur present, apically acute, about ¼ length of tibia; anal plates with anterolateral margin longer than posterolateral margin, anterolateral margin less than 2 times length of posterolateral margin; hind 2 pairs of legs conspicuously larger than front legs; hind 2 pairs of coxae with unusual cavity laterodistally; anal plates in middle or anterior part of abdomen; without tubular ducts; dorsal setae capitate; marginal setae conspicuously fringed, slightly enlarged. Other characters: Claw without denticle; claw digitules equal; 1 pair of prevulvar setae (often obscured by anal plates); 7 to 16 submarginal tubercles around body margin; stigmatic setae differentiated from other marginal setae, middle seta longer than lateral setae; each anal plate with 4 apical setae, without a subdiscal seta; with 3 subapical setae on each plate; anal fold with 4 fringe setae; with tibio-tarsal sclerosis; antennae 6- or 7-segmented; multilocular pores with 5, 6, or 7 loculi; multiloculars restricted to vulvar area; preopercular pores present in cluster near anal plates.

Comparison

Kilifia deltoides is similar to both K. acuminata and K. americana by having hind 2 pairs of legs conspicuously larger than front legs; hind 2 pairs of coxae with unusual cavity laterodistally; anal plates with anterolateral margin longer than posterolateral margin; anal plates in middle of abdomen; without tubular ducts. Kilifia deltoides differs by having apically acute tibio-tarsal spur greater than ¼ length of tarsus (shorter or absent in K. acuminata and K. americana).

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 3 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Guam, India and The Philippines. Specimens were intercepted on Ixora from Guam. Two older interception records are from The Philippines on Mangifera and Thailand also from Mangifera. ScaleNet includes hosts in 5 plant families and distribution records include Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar in the Afrotropical region, China, Indonesia (Java) and Malaysia (Sarawak) in the Oriental zoogeographic region. No other species of Kilifia other than K. acuminata (Signoret), K. americana Ben-Dov and K. deltoides have been taken at a U. S. port-of-entry.

Important references

DeLott1965a; BenDov1979

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