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

description: Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret)
(Fig. 37, Plate 3C, distribution map Fig. 93I)
Pulvinaria artemisiae Signoret, 1873b: 31. Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae (Signoret); Borchsenius 1952a: 302.
Field characteristics: Live adult female oval to circular, convex; young female bright green with a longitudinal yellow band medially; older specimens with body wrinkled dorsally. Ovisac oval or circular, strongly convex and white.
Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body oval, rather more pointed anteriorly than posteriorly; more-or-less membranous at maturity; lacking stigmatic clefts; with rather shallow anal cleft.
Dorsum. Derm developing sparse areolations at maturity. Setae each broadly spiniform or conical and short, sparsely distributed throughout. Pores of 2 types present, both frequent throughout: (i) a minute pore whose exact structure could not be discerned, but which has a long, fine, inner filament, and (ii) a larger, round, flat pore, which may have a short, wider, inner filament. Preopercular pores circular, each with a granulate surface, present in a sparse group anterior to anal plates. Tubular ducts small and sparsely distributed.Anal plates together quadrate, each plate with 4 setae, 3 of them located on posterior and outer margins. Anal ring bearing 6 setae.
Margin. Marginal setae spinelike, each 1.5−2.0 times longer than a stigmatic seta and with a blunt apex, present in 1 or uneven 2 rows. Stigmatic setae very similar to marginal setae but shorter, with 3 (sometimes 2) in each anterior stigmatic area and usually 2 (but sometimes 3 or 1) in each posterior stigmatic area.
Venter. Derm membranous. With pairs of long setae on posterior 3 abdominal segments anterior to anogenital fold; 2 pairs of setae between antennal bases; also with large, spinose setae frequent in submarginal ring; other setae normal. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 6−8 loculi, numerous around anogenital fold, less frequent across anterior abdominal segments. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in broad bands between each spiracle and margin, and with a few pores present more medially. Microducts each with an oval orifice, present throughout except on posterior abdominal segments. Tubular ducts of 3 types present: (i) a duct with a fairly short outer ductule and a filamentous inner ductule; present in a rather narrow submarginal band, and becoming sparse between antennae; (ii) a duct with a long outer ductule and an equally long and wide inner ductule with a large terminal gland; present medially on head, thorax and more anterior abdominal segments; and (iii) a duct rather similar to those laterally (type (i)), but with a longer outer ductule; present medially on more posterior abdominal segments. Antennae each with 8 segments, third segment usually longest. Legs slender, each with a tibio-tarsal articulation and articulatory sclerosis; claw with a small denticle; claw digitules both fine with small knobs; tarsal digitules similar but longer and without knobs.
Distribution: Rhizopulvinaria artemisiae is known from 32 countries in the Palaearctic region (García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, where it is found in Ardabil, Azarbaijan -e Sharghi, Esfahan, Fars, Khorasan -e Jounobi, Khorasan -e Razavi and Markazi provinces (Moghaddam 2013).
Host-plants: The species is polyphagous, having been recorded on host-plants belonging to 19 families (García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been recorded on Echinops ritro and Artemisia sp. (Asteraceae), Noaea mucronata (Chenopodiaceae), and Astragalus sp. (Fabaceae) (Moghaddam 2013).
Economic importance: Not of any economic importance in Iran.
Natural enemies: None recorded in Iran.
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 88-90, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5542.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14385386