Trialeurodes rex Martin 2001, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Martin, Jon H.
name: Camus, Josephine M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2001
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Aleyrodidae
Trialeurodes
Trialeurodes rex

description: <i>Trialeurodes rex</i> Martin sp. nov. (Fig. 4­5) <i>Trialeurodes sp.</i> Martin, 1988: 82; Mound <i>et al</i>., 1994: 1405; Martin, 1999: 110. PUPARIUM. <i>Habitus</i>. No duplicate dry material available for study, but a field note recorded that puparia bore "sparse mealy­wax", with fine wax “rods” (filaments). They were collected from the lower surfaces of the fronds. <i>Margin.</i> Outline elongate­oval, 0.50­0.63 mm long, 0.27­0.34 mm wide, 1.8 ­2.0 times longer than wide, usually widest at transverse moulting sutures (n= 8). Anterior marginal setae absent; posterior marginal setae long, fine, 48­ 60 m. Margin variably uneven to finely crenate, with more than 25 crenations occupying 0.1 mm of margin; margin not modified at tracheal openings. <i>Dorsum</i>. Chaetotaxy, with typical setal lengths quoted, comprises single pairs of cephalic (44­52 m), 1 st abdominal (36­52 m), 8 th abdominal (48­56 m) and caudal (52­68 m) setae, these setae fine and hair­like; sclerotised setal bases about 8 m in diameter. Longitudinal moulting suture reaches puparial margin; transverse moulting sutures terminate in subdorsum. Dorsal disc generally smooth but punctuated by scattered porettes (not geminate pore / porettes), as shown (Fig. 4). With a submarginal row of uneven­sized glandular papillae which are apically acute, sometimes smaller papillae present mesad of larger ones, in a partial second rank; papillae absent elsewhere. Pro­/ mesothoracic and meso­/metathoracic divisions, transverse moulting sutures, and abdominal division I/II marked rather faintly; remaining abdominal segmentation very clearly marked submedially, occasionally appearing almost rhachisform; abdominal segment VII reduced medially, but distinct. Vasiform orifice cordate, smoothly rounded apically, internally smooth; operculum occupying about two­thirds of orifice. Lingula head with a pair of stout setae, markedly lobulate, reaching or slightly overlapping vasiform orifice boundary, only the basal pair of lobes normally covered by operculum. Surrounding vasiform orifice posterolaterally is a large, U­shaped, structure which comprises poorly defined glandular facets, the caudal setae marking the postero­lateral corners; caudal furrow absent. <i>Ven te r</i>. Cuticle diaphanous and smooth; tracheal folds completely unmarked. Ventral abdominal setae underlying operculum, very fine and hair­like. Base of each middle and hind leg each with a minute seta and sometimes also one or two apparent setal bases. OTHER INSTARS. Other larval instars are unknown. A single adult female is present on one slide ­ see discussion of adults of <i>T. bruneiensis</i>. MATERIAL EXAMINED. Holotype puparium, Indonesia, SULAWESI UTARA, Dumoga ­ Bone NP, forested ridge 10km NW of Toraut, 0° 37 ' 30 "N, 123 ° 51 ' 00"E, 1140m, on unidentified fern, 18 April 1985 (J.H. Martin # 4879) (BMNH). Paratypes: 12 puparia, same data as holotype; 11 puparia, 1 adult female, same data as holotype but different individual fern (JHM # 4869) (BMNH, MZB, USNM). ETYMOLOGY. The ornate glandular patch surrounding the puparial vasiform orifice at once sets this species apart from all other known species of this large whitefly genus, and the name <i>rex</i> (Latin, king) is appropriate. COMMENTS. With the presence of an extraordinary U­shaped glandular patch encompassing all but the anterior edge of the vasiform orifice, this remarkable species is quite unlike any other described, or known undescribed, species of <i>Trialeurodes</i>. However, all other characters clearly indicate that <i>Trialeurodes</i> is the correct generic placement. The absence of leg­base spines, and absence of gelatinous dorsal secretions exclude <i>T. rex</i> from the <i>ricini</i> species­group. It is probable that <i>T. rex</i> belongs to the same group as do <i>T. bruneiensis</i> and <i>T. dicksoniae</i>, the only other known Australasian / Asian fern­feeding species, but the significance of the posterior glandular patch is unknown.
description: Published as part of <i>Martin, Jon H. &amp; Camus, Josephine M., 2001, Whiteflies (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae) colonising ferns (Pteridophyta: Filicopsida), with descriptions of two new Trialeurodes and one new Metabemisia species from south­east Asia, pp. 1-19 in Zootaxa 2</i> on pages 7-8, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4618039
description: {"references": ["Martin, J. H. (1988) Whitefly of northern Sulawesi, including new species from clove and avocado (Homoptera, Aleyrodidae). Indo-Malayan Zoology, 5, 57 - 85.", "Mound, L. A., Martin, J. H. &amp; Polaszek, A. (1994) The insect fauna of Selaginella (Pteridophyta: Lycopsida), with descriptions of three new species. Journal of Natural History, 28, 1403 - 1415.", "Martin, J. H. (1999) The whitefly fauna of Australia (Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae), a taxonomic account and identification guide. Technical Paper, CSIRO Entomology, 38, 1 - 197."]}