Formicococcus simplicior
Creators: name: Joshi, Sunil
name: Gupta, Ankita
name: Shashank, P. R.
name: Pai, Sachin G.
name: Mohan, M.
name: Rachana, R. R.
name: Dubey, Vinod Kumar
name: Sandeep, Angalakuditi
name: Deepthy, K. B.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Pseudococcidae
Formicococcus
Formicococcus simplicior

description: Formicococcus simplicior (Green)   
 Tylococcus simplicior Green 1922: 369.   
 Farinococcus simplicior Green 1937: 289; Ben-Dov 1994: 162.   
 Paraputo simplicior Tang 1992: 311.   
 Formicococcus simplicior Williams 2004: 313.   
 Material examined: INDIA, Kerala, Wayanad, Meenangadi, N 11.6596°, E 76.1726°, on Theobroma cacao L. (Malvaceae), 15. ix.2020, Sachin G. Pai coll., 25 ♀♀.   
 Appearance in life (Fig. 1f): The females are attached to the host tenaciously. Adult female broadly oval, strongly convex above and very flat ventrally, coated dorsally with very fine, dense white powdery wax. Margin with a fringe of fine white wax filaments that tend to merge; the filaments become shorter towards head.Appendages transparent pinkish brown. Eggs and early instars pink.   
 Diagnosis of slide-mounted adult female (n=25): Body oval to almost circular (Fig. 8q). Anal lobes well developed (Fig. 8a), ventral surface of each lobe with stout apical seta (Fig. 8b) and an anal lobe bar. Antennae (Fig. c) each with 8 segments.   
 Dorsum: With numerous stout flagellate setae (Fig. 8m). Ostioles well developed (Fig. 8h), with inner edges of lips sclerotized, each lip bearing 4 or 5 setae and a few trilocular pores. Anal ring situated near apex of abdomen. Cerarii basically numbering 18 pairs. Anal lobe cerarii each usually containing 7 or 8 long slender conical setae in a compact group (Fig. 8i), together with a few auxiliary setae and trilocular pores on a membranous area. Penultimate cerarii (Fig. 8j) and more anterior cerarii similar to anal lobe cerarii but cerarian setae often with flagellate tips. Preocular cerarii (Fig. 8k) sometimes absent or, when present, situated very close to frontal cerarii (Fig. 8l) and sometimes merging with them.   
 Venter: With normal flagellate setae (Fig. 8n), thinner but often slightly longer than dorsal setae. Legs well developed, stout (Fig. 8d), claw stout and curved (Fig. 8e). Translucent pores conspicuous, present on anterior and posterior surfaces of hind coxa (Fig. 8f), but not detected on femur or tibia. Circulus present (Fig. 8g). Multilocular disc pores (Fig. 8o) present in bands across medial areas and in submarginal groups on abdominal segment V and posterior segments, including anal lobes. Oral collar tubular ducts (Fig. 8p) minute, sparsely present across medial areas of abdominal segments VI and VII.   
 Comparison: Williams (2004) provided a description and illustration; he reported the presence of translucent pores on the posterior surface of hind tibia, however, none of the specimens examined in this study possessed translucent pores on either surface of the hind tibia. In this study we regard these morphological differences as simple variations within the species.   
 Ecological notes: Formicococcus simplicior was previously known only from Sri Lanka, infesting an indeterminate plant and attended by Oecophylla smaragdina ants (Green 1922; Williams 2004). In the present study it was recorded on economically important T. cacao, which is grown in all the south Indian states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu), so it is likely to spread at least in the southern parts of India. The mealybugs were collected from the carton shelters of an ant, Crematogaster rogenhoferi Mayr (Fig. 6o), on branches of a cacao tree.
description: Published as part of Joshi, Sunil, Gupta, Ankita, Shashank, P. R., Pai, Sachin G., Mohan, M., Rachana, R. R., Dubey, Vinod Kumar, Sandeep, Angalakuditi & Deepthy, K. B., 2022, Recent adventive soft scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Coccidae) and mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Pseudococcidae) in India, pp. 213-232 in Zootaxa 5194 (2) on pages 227-228, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5194.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/7147195