Aleuroclava montanus (Takahashi, 1939)

Figs 11, 12

Taiwanaleyrodes montanus Takahashi, 1939: 80.

Aleuroclava montanus (Takahashi); Manzari and Quicke 2006: 2470; Martin and Mound 2007: 11.

Host plant.

Daphniphyllaceae: Daphniphyllum teijsmanni (Suh 2009); Lauraceae (Takahashi 1939), Camphora officinarum, Sassafras tzumu.

Distribution.

China (Yunnan, Zhejiang, Taiwan [Takahashi 1939]); Korea (Suh 2009).

Material examined.

China • Zhejiang, Hangzhou, 30°07'40"N, 120°01'33"E, alt. 98 m, 15 puparia on 4 slides, 21.xi.2024, leg. Jian-Bo Li, on Sassafras tzumu; China, • Zhejiang, Xinchang, 15 puparia on 4 slides, 14.viii.2024, leg. Qing-Song Lin, on Sassafras tzumu; China, • Yunnan, Kunming, Kunming Botanical Garden, 2 puparia on slide, 15.x.2016, leg. JR Wang, on Michelia cavaleriei; China, • Taiwan, 1 puparium on slide, 17.vii.1994, leg. C. C. Ko, on Camphora officinarum. All deposited in ZAFU.

Remarks.

This is the first discovery of the seasonal dimorphism in Aleuroclava. Summer puparia have a pale cuticle (Fig. 11 A, B), whereas mature overwintering puparia are dark, heavily sclerotized and secrete a dense coating of white wax on the dorsal surface (Fig. 11 H). We found only pale puparia on the same host during the summer of the same year, with no definitive identification, until seasonal dimorphism was discovered in the autumn. The summer form of A. montanus is easily confused with A. meliosmae, and specimens identified as A. meliosmae at NHMUK are actually A. montanus. Aleuroclava meliosmae lacks transverse tubercles along the abdomen segments, and its caudal furrow is narrower (Fig. 12 F). In addition, there is variation in the width of the ventral marginal fold in A. montanus, with our specimens narrower than those from Taiwan (Fig. 12 E). But specimens from Korea that look like ours (Suh 2009) were identified as A. montanus by C. C. Ko.