Protopulvinaria longivalvata Green

Family

Coccidae

Field characters

Body broadly oval or pyriform; flat in cross section; body reddish, dark brown in older females; often with sclerotized areas around body margin; anal plates located in middle of dorsum; without an obvious wax covering; ovisac represented by narrow white secretion around body margin. Occurring on leaves and stems; adult females usually on undersides of leaves, immatures often on upper surfaces. Males apparently absent. Eggs laid beneath body of the female, creamy white when laid, turning red.

Validation characters

Marginal setae simple or weakly fringed; dorsal setae small and inconspicuous; usually with 8 submarginal tubercles around body margin; anal plates located between hind coxae, anterolateral margin approximately 5 times longer than posterolateral margin; dorsal surface of older adult females with sclerotized pattern around body margin; tubular ducts abundant, least numerous in medial areas of head and abdomen. Other characters: Claw without denticle; claw digitules equal; 1 pair of prevulvar setae (often obscured by anal plates); stigmatic setae differentiated from other marginal setae, middle seta longer than lateral setae; marginal setae slightly enlarged, weakly fimbriate or apically acute; dorsal setae small, slightly enlarged, capitate or with rounded apex; each anal plate with 3 or 4 apical setae, without a subdiscal seta; with 2 inconspicuous subapical setae on each plate; anal fold with 4 fringe setae; with tibio-tarsal sclerosis; antennae 8-segmented; multilocular pores normally with 7 loculi; multiloculars usually scattered in medial areas of abdomen; preopercular pores inconspicuous, restricted to area anterior of anal plates.

Comparison

Protopulinaria longivalvata is similar to P. pyriformis by having the anal plates in the center of the body and the anterolateral margin of the anal plates conspicuously longer than the posterolateral margin. Protopulvinaria longivalvata differs by having smaller and less divided marginal setae (large and conspicuously divided in P. pyriformis), shorter and less conspicuous dorsal setae (long and conspicuous in P. pyriformis), and usually 8 or fewer submarginal tubercles (usually 10 or more in P. pyriformis).

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 95 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Argentina, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Hawaii, Jamaica, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and Vietnam. We also have examined quarantine material from Barbados (Ixora), Belize (Anthurium, Ixora), Brazil (Ixora), Colombia (Dieffenbachia), Costa Rica (Dracaena, Gardenia, Heliconia), Grenada (Myristica), Guatemala (Schefflera, Malus), Honduras (Gardenia), Jamaica (Cinnamomum, Peperomia), Mexico (Chamaedorea, Gardenia), Panama (Antidesma), The Philippines (Ficus, Lansium), Puerto Rico (Acerola, Gardenia, Malpighia, Piper, Psidium), Tahiti (Gardenia, Jasminum), Thailand (Piper), Trinidad (Codiaeum, Gardenia, Ixora), Venezuela (Cattleya, Gardenia). ScaleNet includes hosts in 13 plant families from all zoogeographic regions except the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. One other species of Protopulvinaria other than P. longivalvata and P. pyriformis Cockerell has been taken at U. S. ports-of-entry, P. fukayai (Kuwana) (Japan, on Fatsia).

Important references

Green1909a; WilliaWa1990.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

Click here for a Catalog.