Ripersiella malschae
Creators: name: Hodgson, Chris
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Pseudococcidae
Ripersiella
Ripersiella malschae

description: Ripersiella malschae (Williams)   
(Fig. 12)  
 Rhizoecus malschae Williams, 2004b: 779.   
 Ripersiella malschae (Williams): Kozár & Konczné Benedicty, 2007: 495.   
 Material examined. Paratype: Sabah, Kinabalu National Park, Poring Hot Springs, 700m, with (the ant) Pseudolasius sp., 28.vii.1998, A. Malsch (BMNH): 1/1 ad ♂ (good).   
 Mounted material: apterous; very small, total body length about 600 µm, greatest width 250 µm; antennae 6 segmented, short, much less than half total body length; flagellar segments square to oblong, third segment unusually long; antennae with only hair-like (hs); fleshy setae (fs) apparently absent or undifferentiated throughout body; hs on body mostly rather short, about 7–8 µm long, present in dense, mainly segmental, bands over dorsum; loculate pores (lp) each about 6–7 µm wide with 3–5 loculi (mainly 4), present intersegmentally on dorsum and perhaps venter; simple pores absent. Without either ocelli or simple eyes; tarsi (ta) 1 segmented; trochanter with 2 pairs of campaniform pores.   
 Head: small, greatest width about 93 µm. Unsclerotised; with an area of dense hs dorsal head setae (dhs) on dorsum and a similar smaller area between antennae on venter (vmcrs); loculate pores (lp) and simple pores absent. Simple eyes and ocelli both absent. Ocular sclerite (ocs) not apparently differentiated. Ventrally without any sign of a ventral midcranial ridge (vmcr) or lateral arms of midcranial ridge (lmcr). Preocular ridge (procr) absent.   
 Antennae: 6 segmented; length about 150 µm long (ratio of total body length to antennal length 1:0.25). Scape (scp): 30 µm long, 26 µm wide, with 4 hs. Pedicel (pdc): length 15 µm, width 19 µm; with 4 hs + a small campaniform pore. Segments III–VI all about 18–22 µm wide and parallel-sided, with narrow intersegmental membranes; lengths of segments (µm): III 43, IV 15, V 15, and VI 42; fs absent; hs short on scape, becoming longer towards apex; approximate number of hs per segment: III 15; IV 7; V 7 + 1 antennal bristle (ab) and VI 15 + 3 ab.   
 Thorax. Each segment with a dense covering of short setae, each about 8 µm long. Loculate pores few, all apparently intersegmental. Venter with a very few, slightly longer setae medially. Loculate pores few, most abundant near spiracles and along margin of prothorax. Mesothoracic furca clear. Pleural ridges well developed. Spiracles: width of peritremes 22–25 µm.   
 Wings and hamulohalteres (h) absent.   
 Legs: metathoracic legs longest. Coxae (cx): I 60; II 66; III 70 µm long; coxa III with about 8 hs. Trochanter (tr) + femur (fm): I 108; II 116; III 133 µm long; trochanter III with about 4 hs; each trochanter with 2 roundly oval sensoria in a line parallel to trochanterofemur articulation, but without strong Y-shaped sclerotised ridges; long trochanter seta not differentiated but seta in this position 7–8 µm long; femur III with about 20 hs. Tibia (ti): I 66; II 70; III 83 µm long; tibia III each with about 28 setae, mainly hs, becoming spur-like ventrally towards distal end; all tibiae with 3 apical spurs (tibs); length of longest 17 µm. Tarsi (ta) 1 segmented; length (µm): I 36; II 36; III 38 µm long (ratio of length of tibia III to length of tarsus III 1:0.46); tarsus III with 5 setae, all spur-like ventrally, with more proximal ventral spur about 18 µm long; tarsal digitules (tdgt) setose, much shorter than length of claw. Claws (c) long and narrow, without a denticle; length: III 27 µm; claw digitules (cdt) extremely short, perhaps 1 µm long.   
 Abdomen: segments I–VIII: tergites (at) and sternites (as) unsclerotised. Loculate pores (lp) absent dorsally but with 1 lp on each side of each segment on venter + a group laterally on each side of segment II. Dorsal setae (ads) short (7–8 µm long), present in dense bands across all segments, including segment VIII; ventral setae (avs) of similar length; with a total of about 8–10 avs in a line across each segment; pleural setae not differentiated from other setae. Each caudal extension on segment VIII (ce VIII) barely differentiated, without long pleural setae; tergite VIII with a pair of ads medially and a pair of lp laterally on each side; sternite without setae or pores.   
 Genital segment: penial sheath (ps) extending some way anteriorly under segments VIII with rounded posterior margin. Length of ps about 182 µm, width 66 µm at widest point; with a finger-like dorsal ridge, about 27 µm wide, pointing posteriorly; ridge with a large anus, about 25 µm wide, near anterior end; also with about 25 setae between anus and apex of ps; ventrally, ps with a broad slit-like opening ventrally, with about 3 pairs of setae near anterior end and 3 more pairs posteriorly; aedeagus (aed) quite short and strongly curved, perhaps 75 µm long, apex not bifid; anteriorly, aed fuses with a short sclerotised basal rod (bra). Apex of ps slightly upturned, with a series of fine concentric ridges; presence of sensilla (psp) on apex unknown.   
 Comment. Along with those of Ripersiella sp. A, and Ri. kondonis, the adult male of Ri. malschae differs significantly from other apterous rhizoecine males seen during this study. In particular, they differ in having: (i) no eyes; (ii) only a single tarsal segment; (iii) trochanter with only 2 pairs of campaniform pores and (iv) no Y-shaped sclerotisation on the trochanter. In addition, Ri. malschae has: (i) abundant short dorsal setae in dense bands across each segment; (ii) loculate pores that appear to be intersegmentally arranged, at least on dorsum; (iii) antennae with an unusually long segment III, and (iv) penial sheath relatively large, with many setae on dorsal ridge. Many of the features found on Ri. kondonis, Ri. malschae and Ripersiella sp. A are extremely similar to those on Pseudorhizoecus proximus, described above. It seems likely that these four species are closely related. This is discussed below.
description: Published as part of Hodgson, Chris, 2012, Comparison of the morphology of the adult males of the rhizoecine, phenacoccine and pseudococcine mealybugs (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea), with the recognition of the family Rhizoecidae Williams 3291, pp. 1-79 in Zootaxa 3291 (1) on pages 39-40, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3291.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5250048