Description of female nymphal instars and adult female of Kermes echinatus Balachowsky (Hemiptera, Coccoidea, Kermesidae) based on specimens from Crete and mainland Greece, with a discussion on geographical variation
Author
Porcelli, Francesco
Author
Pellizzari, Giuseppina
text
Zootaxa
2014
3878
1
61
74
journal article
36772
10.11646/zootaxa.3878.1.5
99d7f645-f608-49ab-bdff-aa84ad5ec08b
1175-5326
287343
AD19A2D9-7174-4631-A4C8-6B6FDD627D62
Comments on
K. echinatus
,
K. vermilio
and
K. hermonensis
.
As
previously reported
K. echinatus
,
K. vermilio
and
K. hermonensis
share several morphological characters (table 1).
Comparative morphology of adult females.
Adult female
K. echinatus
and
K
.
vermili
o have neither segmented legs, nor vestigial tubercles. Adult females of
K. hermonensis
and other described Palearctic and Nearctic
Kermes
species have segmented legs, even if somewhat reduced (
Leonardi, 1920
;
Balachowsky, 1950
;
Borchsenius, 1960
;
Bullington & Kosztarab, 1985
; Liu, 1995;
Liu & Shi, 1995
; Spodek
et al
., 2012; Spodek & Ben-Dov, 2014).
The adult females of
K. echinatus
and
K. vermilio
are clearly separable on the basis of several morphological characters (
Table 1
). In
K. vermilio
,
the number of marginal spine-like setae increases from 1st -instar (58–72) to adult female (146–266), whereas in
K. echinatus
, the number of marginal spine-like setae is markedly lower than in
K. vermilio
and remains about the same in all instars (52–68). The reduction in the number of antennal segments in
K. echinatus
and
K. vermilio
is attained in two different ways, taking into account that the first-instar nymphs have 6-segmented antennae. In
K. vermili
o, the second-instar female has 5-segmented antennae, the third-instar female has 2- or 3-segmented antennae, whereas the adult female has monomerous antennae, each at least 2 times longer than wide. The reduction in the number of segments therefore occurs in a progressive way. However, in
K
.
echinatus
, the second-instar female has 1–3-segmented antennae whereas both the third-instar female and adult female have short, tubercle-like antennae. Here, the reduction in the number of segments occurs abruptly between the first- and second-instar females. With regard to the legs, those of the third-instar
K. vermili
o are tubercle-like whereas only the anterior legs are reduced to a tubercle in the third-instar
K
.
echinatus
; all other legs are absent or indistinct.
In
K. hermonensis
, the number of marginal spine-like setae varies slightly among the different instars, attaining a maximum of 74–80 spines in the third-instar; antennae are 6 segmented in all the instars even if the segmentation is indistinct in some specimens; legs are 3 segmented starting from second-instar female onwards (Spodek & Ben-
Dov, 2014
).
Marotta & Tranfaglia (2001) first reported and described a pair of frontal lobes near the antennae in second- and third-instar females, second-instar male and prepupa of
K. vermilio
. Frontal lobes were also observed by us in the corresponding
K. echinatus
instars but were noted only in second-instar males of
K. echinatus
by Spodek & Ben-Dov (2014). According to the same authors, frontal lobes are present also in
K. hermonensis
second-instar male.
As
reported by Marotta & Tranfaglia (2001), the frontal lobes are much more recognizable in newly-moulted specimens and under phase contrast.
Host plants and distribution.
Both
K. echinatus
and
K. vermilio
live on evergreen oaks:
K. echinatus
was collected in
Israel
on
Q. calliprinos
(Spodek & Ben-Dov, 2012; 2014), whilst in continental
Greece
, it was collected on
Q. ilex
(
Stathas
et al
., 2013
)
and in Crete off
Q. coccifera
by us.
K. echinatus
was previously only known from
Israel
but these recent records from Athens and Kalamata on mainland
Greece
(
Stathas
et al
., 2013
) and from Aradena (Crete) extend the known distribution suggesting that it could be distributed over the same geographical areas as its host plants.
K. vermilio
has been recorded on
Quercus rotundifolia
(=
Q. ballota
),
Q. coccifera
,
Q. ilex
,
and
Q. suber
; it is widely distributed in Mediterranean countries (Ben-Dov
et al
., 2014).
K. hermonensis
, just described in
Israel
off
Q. look
and
Q. ithaburensis
by Spodek and Ben-Dov (2014), has now been recorded in
Turkey
off
Q. infectoria
(Bora
et al
., 2014)
.
FIGURE 1.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
: first instar nymph.
FIGURE 2.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
: second instar nymph, female.
FIGURE 3.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
: third instar nymph, female.
FIGURE 4.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
: adult female.
PLATE 1.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
a
)
In vivo
just moulted third-instar female nymph on twig of
Quercus coccifera
L., Aradena, Crete,
April 7, 2010
;
b
) crawler, slide mounted whole body in latero-ventral view;
c
) crawler, marginal spines of metathorax and part of abdomen, to show the two rows of larger (white arrow) and smaller (black arrow) spines;
d
) occipital and lateral ventral view of a crawler body margin to show spines;
e
) second-instar female nymph, side view; black arrows point to dorsum;
f
) right-side view of second-instar female nymph to show frontal lobe length (black arrow) in comparison with the length of antenna (white arrow);
g
) frontal lobe of second-instar female nymph, from venter.
PLATE 2.
Kermes echinatus
Balachowsky
h
) third-instar female nymph, dorso-ventrally slide-mounted whole body;
i
,
j
,
k
) abdominal margin respectively of second- and third-instar female nymph and adult female, dorso-ventrally slide-mounted. Excess dorsal cuticle borders the body margin marked by marginal spines (white arrows);
l
) adult female thorax margin;
m
) adult female ventral bi-trilocular pores (black arrows);
n
) adult female, abdominal ventral multilocular pores;
o
,
p
,
q
) adult female tubular ducts;
r
) adult female, dorso-ventrally slide-mounted whole body;
s
) adult female antenna.