Sphaerolecanium prunastri
Creators: name: Moghaddam, Masumeh
name: Watson, Gillian W.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Coccidae
Sphaerolecanium
Sphaerolecanium prunastri

description: Sphaerolecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe)
(Fig. 43, Plate 3F, distribution map Fig. 93N)
Coccus prunastri Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1834: 211. Lecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe); Signoret 1873a: 423. Eulecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe); Fernald 1903: 193. Sphaerolecanium prunastri (Boyer de Fonscolombe); Šulc 1908: 36.
Field characteristics: Live adult female almost circular, strongly convex, lateral sides nearly vertical, slightly widened toward lower surface, dark brown to almost black, shiny but very finely punctate (Kosztarab & Kozár 1988).
Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body more-or-less broadly oval; stigmatic clefts not developed. Anal cleft quite short.
Dorsum. Derm membranous on young female; older specimens develop area of crescentic sclerotization anterior to anal plates. Setae of 2 types: (i) setose setae, scattered throughout; and (ii) much longer, flagellate setae, abundant along mid-dorsal ridge within band of preopercular pores. Preopercular pores of 2 sizes: (i) large, convex, with densely sclerotized rims, abundant within band of large setae along midline from anterior of anal plates to level of antennal bases; and (ii) similar but somewhat smaller pores, present just laterad of band of larger pores. Small discoidal pores very sparsely scattered over dorsum. Tubular ducts and duct tubercles absent. Anal plates together quadrate, each with 4 subapical and 1 apical seta. Anal ring bearing 8 setae.
Margin. Marginal setae bluntly spinose, some with split apices, present in a band 1‒3 setae wide; those on head longest; each side with 19‒29 setae between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas. Stigmatic setae in Iranian specimens undifferentiated from marginal setae, but sometimes specimens from elsewhere with 3 slightly differentiated stigmatic setae (slightly shorter and broader than marginal setae) present in each stigmatic area.
Venter. Derm membranous. Pregenital disc-pores each with 5 or 6 loculi, present around anogenital fold, less frequent across preceding abdominal segments; 1−3 pores also present laterad to each metacoxa. Spiracular disc-pores, each with 1, 3 or 5 loculi, present in broad bands between each spiracle and margin. Microducts numerous on submargin and medially on head and thorax, but absent medially on abdomen. Tubular ducts absent. Three pregenital segments each with a pair of long setae; also 1 long pair and 1 shorter pair of setae between antennal bases; other setae relatively long, scattered. Antennae each with 6 or 7 segments, exact number depending on whether pseudo-articulations present. Legs well developed, each without free articulation between tibia and tarsus or tibio-tarsal sclerosis; claw without denticle; claw digitules dissimilar; tarsal digitules longer than claw digitules but finer. Prothoracic legs with tibia surface undulant (in Iranian specimens).
Distribution: Sphaerolecanium prunastri is known from 34 countries in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions (García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it is found in Azarbaijan -e Sharghi, Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, Esfahan, Kerman, Yazd and Zanjan provinces (Moghaddam 2013).
Host-plants: The species has been recorded on host-plants in nine genera belonging to five families: Aizoaceae, Moraceae, Poaceae, Rhamnaceae and Rosaceae (García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been found on Amygdalus communis, A. reutri, A. scoparia and Prunus sp. (Rosaceae) (Moghaddam 2013).
Economic importance: There are reports of S. prunastri causing damage to fruit trees, especially in the west of Iran.
Natural enemies: The following parasitoid wasps have been recorded attacking S. prunatri in Iran: Coccobius annulicornis (Ratzeburg) and C. lycimnia Walker (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae); and Blastothrix brittanica Girault, Cerapterocerus mirabilis Westwood, Metaphycus zebratus (Fonscolombe), Microterys hortulanus Erdos and Zaomma lambinus (Walker) (Encyrtidae) (Davoodi et al. 2004; Ebrahimi 2014; Lotfalizadeh et al. 2014).
Comments: The Iranian specimens of S. prunastri differ from described specimens in some literature sources (Hodgson 1994) as follows (character values in other literature sources given in parenthesis): (i) pregenital disc-pores each with 5 or 6 loculi (6 loculi only); (ii) spiracular disc-pores each with 1, 3 or 5 loculi (5 loculi); (iii) marginal setae of 3 types: cylindrical with blunted at apex, some with divided apices, and some setose (all bluntly spinose).
description: Published as part of Moghaddam, Masumeh & Watson, Gillian W., 2024, The Scale Insects Of Iran (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) Part 3 The Soft Scales (Coccidae) And Other Families, pp. 1-202 in Zootaxa 5542 (1) on pages 100-101, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5542.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14385386