Dysmicoccus mackenziei Beardsley

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

McKenzie mealybug

Field characters

No information available except that it occurs on the foliage of bromeliads.

Validation characters

At least 1 discoidal pore near eye; anal-lobe cerarii with 2 conical setae; translucent pores present on hind coxa, trochanter, femur, and tibia; abdominal cerarii usually with more than 2 conical setae; without cluster of oral-collar tubular ducts laterad of anterior spiracle; ventral multilocular pores restricted to posterior 3 abdominal segments; oral-rim tubular ducts absent; cerarii with auxiliary setae; 17 pairs of cerarii.

Comparison

Dysmicoccus mackenziei is similar to D. sylvarum Williams & Granara de Willink by having translucent pores on all hind leg segments except the tibia and tarsus, most abdominal cerarii with more than 2 conical setae, ventral multilocular pores restricted to segments VI, VII, VIII, and 17 pairs of cerarii. Dysmicoccus mackenziei can be distinguished (characters of D. sylvarum given in parentheses) by having discoidal pores near the eye (absent), 2 conical setae in the anal lobe cerarius (more than 2), few translucent pores on the leg segments (many). Some specimens of D. mackenziei that have more than 2 conical setae in the second cerarius are difficult to separate from D. sylvarum.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted at U. S. ports-of-entry 23 times between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from Belize (bromeliad, orchid, Tillandsia); Costa Rica (bromeliad); Ecuador (Tillandsia); Guatemala (Ananas, Tillandsia); Honduras (bromeliad, Tillandsia); Jamaica (bromeliad, Heliconia); Mexico (orchid, Tillandsia); Nicaragua (bromeliad); Panama (bromeliad). ScaleNet lists hosts in 7 plant families. It is most commonly intercepted on bromeliads. ScaleNet distribution records for D. mackenziei include various countries in the Nearctic and Neotropical zoogeographic regions, in addition to Sri Lanka in the Oriental region, and Italy and Sicily in the Palaearctic region. Several species of Dysmicoccus other than D. boninsis (Kuwana), D. brevipes (Cockerell), D. grassii (Leonardi), D. lepelleyi (Betrem), D.mackenziei, D. neobrevipes Beardsley, D. orchidum Williams, D. sylvarum Williams and Dysmicoccus sp. nr. texensis have been taken in quarantine including: D. amnicola Williams & Watson (The Philippines, on Pandanus); D. finitimus Williams (Taiwan, on Cocos); D. hambletoni Williams and Granara de Willink (Ecuador, on Xanthosoma); D. hypogaeus Williams (Australia, on Chamelaucium and Leucospermum); D. joannesiae Costa Lima (Ecuador, on Inga); D. lansii Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium); D. probrevipes (Morrison)(Central and South America, on Coffea, Cordia, and Triplaris); D. queenslandianus Williams (Australia, on Allocasuarina); and D. viatorius Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium, Nephelium).

Important references

Beards1965c; McKenz1967; WilliaGr1992; Granar2009.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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