Kerria maduraiensis Ahmad & Ramamurthy, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ahmad, Ayashaa
name: Sharma, K. K.
name: Vidyarthi, A. S.
name: Ramani, R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Kerriidae
Kerria
Kerria maduraiensis

description: Kerria maduraiensis Ahmad & Ramamurthy sp. nov.
(Figs 2, 5, 25–40)
Holotype: India: Tamil Nadu, Madurai, 09.viii.2011, coll. K. K. Sharma, Albizia saman (Fabaceae), 1 slide (1 adƤ) (NPC). Paratypes: Data same as holotype, 2 slides (6 adƤ) (NPC); 1 slide (4 adƤ) (IINRG-R); 1 slide (3 adƤ) (ANIC) and 1 slide (3 adƤ) (BME).
Adult female
Unmounted material (Figs 2, 5). Lac test dark brown. Tests occur in aggregations; live mature females globular and crimson. Unmounted cleaned female shown in Figure 5.
Mounted material (Figs 25–40). Body globular, 1.22–3.96 mm long, 1.04–2.57 mm wide at apex, 1.24–3.55 mm wide at middle and 0.75–2.02 mm wide at base (n=10).
Dorsum: Brachia sessile, club-shaped and slightly sclerotized, 270–630 µm long and 250–450 µm wide. Brachial plate circular, diameter 225–285 µm; brachial crater shallow, central, sub-circular, 140–190 µm wide, with a defined rim, dimples small, obscure, 5 or 6 in number. Anterior spiracle 275–335 µm long and 150–210 µm wide, 85–400 µm away from brachial crater. Ratio of distance of anterior spiracles from crater rim to width of brachial plate 1:0.34–1.60. Ratio of length of anterior spiracle to width of brachial plate 1:1.02–1.42. Dorsal spine well developed 260–380 µm long and 90–125 µm wide at base; pedicel small, slender, slightly sclerotized, 100–180 µm long; spine 125–205 µm long and slightly sclerotized with 2 or 3 spinosities at its base. Ratio of length of pedicel to spine 1:0.57–1.40. Ratio of total length of dorsal spine to width of brachial plate 1:1.04–1.55. Anal tubercle elongated, well developed; pre-anal plate membranous, 170–700 µm long, 270–550 µm wide; supraanal plate heavily sclerotized, hispid near apex, 190–570 µm long, 220–400 µm wide, ratio of length of supra-anal plate to width of plate 1:0.66–1.43. Ratio of length of supra-anal plate to length of brachia 1:0.61–0.94. Anal fringe plates short, fringe maximum length 45–90 µm. Anal ring 6 sectored with 10 setae. Dorsal duct clusters present as a row of ducts on both sides between dorsal spine and base of anal tubercle, each cluster with 8–15 tubular ducts along with dorsal setae and a few spermatoid ducts.
Venter: Antennae 35–55 µm long, 3 segmented, segmentation obscure, apical segment slightly pointed, with 4 long fleshy and 2 short hairy setae. Clypeolabral shield 280–320 µm long, 130–180 µm wide. Labium 2 segmented. Pre-oral lobes elongated, membranous, present along sides of the clypeolabral shield. Post-oral lobes each 140–220 µm long, membranous, dome-shaped. Legs present and vestigial, represented by a small onesegmented leg with rudimentary claws. Posterior spiracles, each 75–90 µm long, smaller than anterior spiracles, without any sclerotized plate; with 40–56 spiracular pores present along one side of spiracle. Marginal duct clusters distinct, 6 in number, each cluster arranged in a convoluted line consisting of 39–42 ducts without any surrounding sclerotization. Perivulvar pore clusters: 8 or 9 on each side of anal tubercle, irregular in shape, each pore with 5–11 loculi. Ventral duct clusters irregular in shape; totalling 3 pairs: first pair anterior to mouthparts, second pair anterolateral to mouthparts and third pair postero-lateral to posterior spiracle. Star pores: 2–7 present near mouthparts.
Comments. Kerria maduraiensis is similar to Kerria fici fici (Green) in having: (i) a hispid supra-anal plate, (ii) a short brachia, (iii) a long dorsal spine with a short pedicel, and (iv) long antennae. However, it differs in having (character states for K. fici fici in brackets): (i) a larger body, 1.22–3.96 mm long (1.08–1.6 mm long); (ii) the supra-anal plate elongated (abbreviated); (iii) 5 or 6 dimples on the brachial plate (4 or 5); (iv) distance between the anterior spiracle and brachial plate 85–400 µm (17–86 µm); (v) anterior spiracle large 275–335 µm (155–241 µm); and (vi) antennal apex with 4 long and 2 short setae (2 long and 2 short setae).
Kerria maduraiensis also resembles Kerria fici jhansiensis (Misra) in having: (i) sessile brachia and (ii) dorsal spine nearly twice the diameter of the brachial crater, but the new species differs in having (character states for K. jhansiensis in brackets): (i) 5 or 6 dimples on the brachial plate (6–8); (ii) 8 or 9 perivulvar pore clusters on each side at the base of the anal tubercle (10); (iii) each marginal duct cluster with 39–42 ducts (more than 45), and (iv) antennae 3 segmented (2 segmented).
Etymology. This species is named after its locality of collection, i.e., Madurai.
description: Published as part of Ahmad, Ayashaa, Sharma, K. K., Vidyarthi, A. S. & Ramani, R., 2013, Three new species of Kerria (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Tachardiidae), a redesciption of K. yunnanensis Ou & Hong, and a revised key to species of Kerria, pp. 518-532 in Zootaxa 3620 (4) on pages 523-526, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3620.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/215576