Argenta Granara de Willink 2023, new genus

Argenta Granara de Willink, new genus

Description. Pyriform. Antennae unsegmented; legs absent. Marginal bands of eight-shaped pores missing. Dermis membranous, but segments posterior to vulva slightly sclerotized on venter and dorsum, forming a caudal process. Dorsum with scattered eight-shaped pores, with tubular ducts; anal lobes absent; anal ring without setae or pores. Venter with submarginal eight-shaped pores; spiracles surrounded by quinquelocular pores; with few short setae.

Comments. Among the recorded genera of Asterolecaniidae in North and South America, none resemble Argenta. This genus shares the presence of eight-shaped pores at the base of a duct with the genera Sclerosococcus, Mycetococcus, and Pollinia. Argenta has tubular ducts with short arms which are absent in the other three genera. It resembles Mycetococcus through the presence of a sclerotized caudal process. Mycetococcus differs from Argenta by possessing a strongly sclerotized caudal process with numerous thick setae on both dorsum and venter, while Argenta possesses a slightly sclerotized caudal process with few thin setae. Although the genera Asterolecanium Targioni-Tozzetti, Palmaspis Bodenheimer, and Planchonia Signoret also have tubular ducts with short arms, they differ from Argenta through the lack of eight-shaped pores at the base of a duct. In the Oriental region, the monotypic genus Amorphococcus Green presents characters similar to Argenta. Both genera form galls on host plants; with a pyriform body shape; antennae one-segmented; with tubular ducts; multilocular pores present near spiracles and absent on ventral abdomen. Differences include: (Amorphococcus characters in parentheses, taken from Lambdin and Kosztarab 1975): i) anal tube with anal plates with one seta each, absent (present); ii) group of setae close to vulva absent (present); iii) eight-shaped pores at the base of a wide duct, present (absent); iv) spiracles with quinquelocular pores only.

Etymology. The generic name alludes to the silvery color of the wax that covers the insect in the gallery under the bark of the host. It is considered to be of feminine grammatical gender.