Planococcus ficus Signoret

Planococcus ficus (Signoret)

(Fig. 36)

Dactylopius ficus Signoret, 1875a: 315. Dactylopius subterraneus Hempel, 1901: 388. Pseudococcus citrioides Ferris, 1922: 208.

DIAGNOSIS. Body of adult female oval. Antennae 8 segmented. Legs well developed; with translucent pores on hind coxa, tibia, and sometimes on femur. Cerarii numbering 18 pairs, each bearing 2 conical setae, these becoming more slender and with more flagellate tips towards anterior end of body. Circulus quadrate, divided by an intersegmental line. Ostioles well developed. Dorsal and ventral setae long and flagellate. Multilocular disc pores present on venter only, posterior to vulva, and in more or less single rows across posterior edges of abdominal segments III–VII; occasionally also present on abdominal segment II, at anterior edges of abdominal segments V–VII, and on margins, sometimes as far forward as abdominal segment II; others may be present or absent on medial area of thorax. Trilocular pores evenly distributed on dorsum and venter. Discoidal pores sparse on both dorsum and venter. Dorsal oral collar ducts present next to some cerarii; ventral ducts present across abdominal segments and medially and marginally on thorax, and sometimes on head.

DISTRIBUTION. Afrotropical, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oriental, Palaearctic: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Libya, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. In Iran, P. f i c u s occurs in Elborz, Fars, Gilan, Ghom, Khorasan, Khouzestan, Markazi and Tehran. It is known from 17 plant families worldwide (Ben-Dov et al., 2012).

MATERIAL EXAMINED. Elborz: Karaj, Rajai Shahr, 3 adult Ƥ, on Ficus carica (Ficaeae), 1.xi.2003 (Rastegar). Fars: Estahban, 5 adult Ƥ, on F. carica, 1.vi.2003 (Zibaii); Shiraz, 1 adult Ƥ, on Vitis californica (Vitaceae), 31.v.1998, (Unknown). Ghom: Ghom, Salariyeh, 1 adult Ƥ, on Punica granatum (Lythraceae), 28.viii.2000, (Unknown). Khorasan –e Razavi: Neyshabour, 4 adult Ƥ, on V. californica, (Unknown). Khouzestan: Ahvaz, on V. californica, 10.v.1990; Baghmalek, 7 adult Ƥ, on V. californica (Asadeh). Markazi: Saveh, 2 adult Ƥ, on P. granatum, 31.vii.2000, (Unknown). Tehran: Tehran, Evin, 3 adult Ƥ, on Cucurbita sp. (Cucurbitaceae), 22.ix.2009 (F. Parsi).

COMMENTS. The vine mealybug, P. ficus, is polyphagous on a wide range of host plants, and has been found in most grape production areas throughout the world. The damage by this mealybug has increased on grape in some parts of Iran, especially in Fars, during recent years. This mealybug has 5 generations between April and November. After the fifth generation, all stages of P. ficus have been recorded as overwintering on the roots of grape from late November to the following March in Jahrom, Fars (Fallazadeh et al. 2009b). The natural enemies of P. f i c u s were studied in Fars, and some parasitoids and predators associated with P. fi cu s were recorded (Fallahzadeh et al. 2011). In this study the parasitoids Anagyrus agraensis Saraswat, A. dactylopii (Howard), A. mirzai Agarwal & Alam, A. pseudococci (Girault) (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae), Leptomastix dactylopii (Howard), L. flava Mercet (Hym.: Encyrtidae), and Chartocerus kurdjumovi (Nikol’skaya) (Hymenoptera Signiphoridae); and secondary parasitoids Prochiloneurus bolivari Mercet (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Pachyneuron muscarum (L.) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) were introduced. The plant families Cucurbitaceae and Lythraceae are new record for P. f ic u s.

The accompanying illustraton is taken from Cox (1989) with kind permission from the Keeper of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London.