A study of some species of the genus Stictococcus Cockerell (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Stictococcidae), and a discussion on Stictococcus vayssierei Richard, a species injurious to cassava in Equatorial Africa with a description of a new species from Nigeria
Author
Williams, Douglas J.
Author
Matile-Ferrero, Danièle
Author
Miller, Douglass R.
text
Zootaxa
2010
2527
1
27
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.196462
07b3cfe7-3cf6-42ba-b89c-3c7c26c96c3c
1175-5326
196462
Stictococcus tuberculatus
Laing
Stictococcus formicarius
var.
tuberculata
Laing, 1932
: 61
; Miller
et al.
, 2005: 542.
Comments
.
Laing (1932)
first described this species as a variety of
Stictococcus formicarius
stating that specimens differ from those of
S. formicarius
in the darker colour, being brownish black instead of light castaneous. Furthermore, the dorsum differs from that of
S. formicarius
in being convex and the crenulations on the rim are not so pronounced. Laing also stressed the importance of the presence of two tubercles at the posterior end.
We have examined original slide-mounted specimens and find that they are too poor to illustrate or describe in detail. The dorsal marginal pores are larger than other dorsal pores and the ventral marginal setae are mostly bullet-shaped, as in
S. formicarius
and
S. vayssierei
. There do not appear to be any flower-shaped setae on the dorsum, a major character of
S. formicarius
, and, on at least one specimen, there is an enlarged seta widely fringed at the distal end situated near the anus. Such setae are not present in
S. vayssierei
. Besides, Laing described
Stictococcus formicarius
var.
tuberculata
as living on twigs but
S. vayssierei
is always subterranean. The tubercles mentioned by Laing could be equivalent to dermal depressions but are, apparently, everted and convex instead of concave. There are many similar structures on the dorsum. We now give this so-called variety full specific rank.
Type
data.
Belgian Congo
[
Democratic Republic of the Congo
], Stanleyville [Kisangani], on twigs of
Sterculia tragacantha
[
Sterculiaceae
], 1925.
Type
material
.–
Lectotype
of
Stictococcus formicarius
var.
tuberculata
here designated: adult female, left label, “
Stictococcus formicarius Newst.
,
var. tuberculatus Laing.
TYPE
”. Right label, “Name.
Stictococcus
formi.,
var. tuberculatus
nov. Host.
Sterculia tragacantha
[
Sterculiaceae
], Loc.
Congo Belge
: Stanleyville. Date 1925. Coll. J. Guesquière. No. 833.” (
BMNH
).
Paralectotypes
of
Stictococcus formicarius
var.
tuberculata
:
3 adult
females on 3 slides (same data as
holotype
) (
BMNH
).
This species has not been collected since it was first discovered.
Guesquière (1932)
reported that specimens were deposited in the Musée du
Congo
, but their fate is unknown.