Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana)

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

Gray sugarcane mealybug

Field characters

Body elongate or elongate oval; body gray; legs yellowish brown; covered by white mealy wax, without bare areas on dorsum; dorsal abdomen covered by filamentous ovisac; with 4 to 6 short lateral filaments, posterior pair longest and thickest. Usually present in leaf sheaths of sugar cane or other grass host. Oviparous, eggs yellow.

Validation characters

Cerarii reduced to 8 or fewer pairs; dorsal oral collars abundant on abdomen, also present on thorax; with 2 conical setae in each cerarius; cerarii with auxiliary setae; translucent pores on hind coxa or hind coxa and tibia; dorsal setae filamentous.

Comparison

Dysmicoccus boninsis differs from other species of the genus by having a reduced number of cerarii and abundant dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 13 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, China, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, India, Jamaica and Mexico. We also have examined specimens taken in quarantine from Australia (Saccharum); Bahamas (Cocos, Saccharum); Bermuda (Saccharum); Cape Verde Islands (Saccharum); China (Saccharum); Cuba (Saccharum); Dominica (BVI) (Saccharum); Domincan Republic (Saccharum); Ecuador (aroid leaf); Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)(Cymbopogon); Haiti (Saccharum); Jamaica (Saccharum, Vativeria); Mexico (Chrysanthemum, lemon grass, sugarcane); Montserrat (lemon grass); Portugal (Madeira Island)(sugarcane); Puerto Rico (Sorghum); Spain (Saccharum); St. Thomas (U. S. Virgin Islands) (Saccharum); Trinidad and Tobago (Cymbopogon). It is commonly collected on sugar cane and is taken in quarantine from nearly any warm part of the world where sugar cane is grown. ScaleNet lists the species from 10 families of host plants, predominantly species of grasses. In recent years many interceptions have come from the Caribbean area on sugar cane. ScaleNet distribution records for D. boninsis include all zoogeographical regions. Several species of Dysmicoccus other than D. boninsis, D. brevipes (Cockerell), D. grassii (Leonardi), D. lepelleyi (Betrem), D. mackenziei Beardsley, D. neobrevipes Beardsley, D. orchidum Williams, D. sylvarum Williams & Granara de Willink, D. wistariae Green and Dysmicoccus sp. nr. texensis have been taken in quarantine including: D. amnicola Williams & Watson (The Philippines, on Pandanus); D. finitimus Williams (Taiwan, on Cocos); D. hambletoni Williams and Granara de Willink (Ecuador, on Xanthosoma); D. hypogaeus Williams (Australia, on Chamelauciumon and Leucospermum); D. joannesiae Costa Lima (Ecuador, on Inga); D. lansii Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium); D. probrevipes (Morrison)(Central and South America, on Coffea, Cordia); D. queenslandianus Williams (Australia, on Allocasuarina); and D. viatorius Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium, Nephelium).

Important references

WilliaWa1988a; WilliaGr1992

Scalenet catalog and citation list

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