A Neotropical complex of Ripersiella species (Hemiptera, Coccomorpha, Rhizoecidae) collected from the nests of Acropyga ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Author Schneider, Scott A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9679-8437 United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA scott.schneider@ars.usda.gov Author LaPolla, John S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7602-1527 Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD, 21252, USA text ZooKeys 2022 2022-09-29 1123 1 30 http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1123.90141 journal article http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1123.90141 1313-2970-1123-1 B80C686A001C4A729E8A7DED3FEE9515 5378DBF1DEED5922910377DB1774B3B4 Ripersiella andensis (Hambleton) Fig. 1 Neorhizoecus andensis Hambleton, 1946: 41. Rhizoecus andensis (Hambleton); Hambleton 1977 : 369. Ripersiella andensis ? Ripersiella andensis (Hambleton); Kozar and Konczne Benedicty 2003 : 235. Material examined. Lectotype . Colombia • 1 adult ♀ ; Bogota ; 22.ii.1935 ; L.M. Murillo ; on roots of Coffea arabica L.; USNM . Paralectotypes . Colombia • 2 adult ♀♀ ; same slide as lectotype ; USNM • 3 adult ♀♀ ; same data as lectotype; USNM . Other material . Colombia • 4 adult ♀♀ ; locality (?); 1955; D. Rios Castana ; on coffee; USNM • 3 adult ♀♀ ; locality (?); iv.1956 ; S.G. Flanders; on coffee; USNM • 22 adult ♀♀ ; Chinchina Cald.; 18.xii.1975 ; R. Cardenas; USNM. Figure 1. Ripersiella andensis (Hambleton). Adult female, full body view, re-illustrated by SAS from Williams and Granara de Willink (1992) and Kozar and Konczne Benedicty (2007) . Description. Adult female ( N = 6). Appearance in life not recorded, extent of wax production unknown. General. Mounted on microscope slide, body broadly oval and membranous, 0.78-1.06 (0.98) mm long, widest near abdominal segments II-III, 0.41-0.58 (0.52) mm wide. Abdomen smoothly tapering toward apex; abdominal segment VIII 170-213 (180) μm wide at base. Anal lobes poorly developed with several flagellate setae on venter and dorsum, ranging from 15-33 μm long. Body setae flagellate, 10-22 μm on head, 9-15 μm on thorax, 11-17 μm on abdominal segments. Trilocular pores abundant and distributed among body setae; bitubular cerores absent; oral collar tubular ducts absent. Microtrichia present on abdominal segments. Eyes absent. Venter . Cephalic plate absent. Labium with 3 segments; 70 μm long and 46 μm at widest point. Antennae geniculate, 5-segmented, closely situated near midline on ventral submargin of head; overall length 126-134 (132) μm ; length of segment I: 27-38 (34) μm ; segment II: 14-17 (16) μm ; segment III: 14-16 (15) μm ; segment IV: 13-18 (14) μm ; segment V: 52-53 (53) μm ; apical antennal segment with 1 spine-like and 4 falcate stout sensory setae; few flagellate setae on each antennal segment, 14-35 μm long; sensorium present on second antennal segment. Legs well developed; overall length of hind leg 235-241 (238) μm ; length of hind coxa 28-34 (34) μm ; hind trochanter + femur 91-95 (91) μm ; hind tibia + tarsus 88-91 (91) μm ; hind claw 22-25 (22) μm ; each claw with short setose digitule 2-3 μm long; flagellate setae present on each segment, around 19 μm long. Circulus absent. Multilocular disc pores in irregular rows or groups on segments VI-VIII, pores with 6-8 loculi in the outer ring. Dorsum . Anal ring on dorsal surface near posterior margin, 48-52 μm in diameter; with oval cells, some cells bearing spicules; with three pairs of setae 33-39 μm long. Posterior pair of dorsal ostioles present, diameter of orifice measured along longitudinal axis approximately 45 μm ; anterior pair present but much smaller than posterior pair and poorly developed, diameter of orifice approximately 10 μm . Multilocular disc pores absent. Diagnosis. The following newly described species are similar in appearance to R. andensis : R. campensis , R. montanae , and R. pediandensis . Consult the respective diagnosis sections under each species below for a discussion on how to distinguish them from R. andensis . Another new species, R. telalia , can easily be distinguished by the presence of well-developed anterior ostioles, which are present in R. andensis but are strongly reduced and may appear to be absent. Comments. Ripersiella andensis may associate with Acropyga exsanguis and A. smithii ( Caballero et al. 2019 ); however, confirmation of their direct association is lacking, and Schneider and LaPolla (2020) considered their reported trophobiosis to be speculative. Given that there is a complex of species resembling R. andensis living in association with Acropyga , it seems likely that they do associate, and this simply requires confirmation. It would be useful to clearly establish whether there are both free-living and ant-associated populations as well.