Taiwansaissetia formicarii (Green)

Family

Coccidae

Field characters

According to the original description (Green1896) adult female grayish brown or rusty brown, marginal areas light brown. Body broadly oval to round, median area raised, convex, hemispherical in lateral view. Ventral surface concave, forming cavity for crawlers.

Validation characters

Stigmatic areas often with 4 enlarged setae, sometimes with 3, central seta slightly larger than lateral setae; stigmatic setae differentiated from other marginal setae; dorsal setae filamentous; ventral tubular ducts in medial area of thorax between legs; dorsal submarginal tubular ducts absent; older specimens with derm areolations. Other characters: Claw with or without a small denticle; claw digitules unequal in size; 3 pairs of prevulvar setae (posterior pair often obscured by anal plates); without submarginal tubercles; marginal setae slender, pointed apically; anal plates with posterior margin longer than anterior margin; each anal plate with 2 or 3 apical setae, with 1 subdiscal seta; with 3 subapical setae on each plate; anal fold with 4 fringe setae; without tibio-tarsal sclerosis; antennae 7- or 8-segmented; multilocular pores with 7-10 loculi; multiloculars restricted to vulvar area with 1 or 2 scattered elsewhere; preoperucular pores abundant and conspicuous in some specimens, absent in others.

Comparison

Taiwansaissetia formicarii is unique among the species treated here with 3 or usually 4 differentiated stigmatic setae, filamentous dorsal setae, tubular ducts restricted to areas between the legs, and a convex body form.

U.S. quarantine notes

Current concepts of this species most likely involve a complex of entities including diverse material intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry. This species was intercepted 13 times at U.S. ports-of-entry between 2002 and 2012, with specimens originating from Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. We also have exaimed older quarantine specimens from Thailand on Mangifera. ScaleNet includes hosts in over 30 plant families from Afrotropical (Madagascar) and Oriental zoogeographic regions. Taiwansaissetia contains only 1 species.

Important references

Ferris1936; Green1896; Hodgso1994a; TaoWoCh1983.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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