TERMS OF USE This pdf is provided by Magnolia Press for private/research use. Commercial sale or deposition in a public library or website is prohibited. Zootaxa 2644: 1–24 (2010) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2010 · Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Scale insect fauna (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea) of New Zealand’s pygmy mistletoes (Korthalsella: Viscaceae) with description of three new species: Leucaspis albotecta, L. trilobata (Diaspididae) and Eriococcus korthalsellae (Eriococcidae) ROSA C. HENDERSON1,3, AMIR SULTAN2 & ALASTAIR W. ROBERTSON2 1Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland 1142, New Zealand 2Ecology Group, Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand 3Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The scale insect fauna recorded on the pigmy mistletoe genus Korthalsella (Viscaceae) and New Zealand’s loranthaceous mistletoes is reviewed. Three new species from New Zealand discovered on Korthalsella species during this study are described: the adult female, 2nd-instar male and female nymphs of two pupillarial species Leucaspis albotecta sp. nov. and Leucaspis trilobata sp. nov. (Diaspididae); and the adult female, 2nd-instar male and female nymphs and 1st-instar nymph of Eriococcus korthalsellae sp. nov. (Eriococcidae). A distribution map is provided for the three new species. We report the first records of adventive (exotic) scale insects on Korthalsella species in New Zealand – Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio, Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus, soft brown scale, Saissetia coffeae (Walker), hemispherical scale, S. oleae (Olivier), black scale (Coccidae), and Aspidiotus nerii Bouché, oleander scale, Hemiberlesia lataniae (Signoret), latania scale, H. rapax (Comstock), greedy scale (Diaspididae), while three native scale insects are also first records: Kalasiris perforata (Maskell) (Coccidae), Eriococcus pallidus Maskell (Eriococcidae) and Paracoccus glaucus (Maskell) (Pseudococcidae). Ten scale insect species are listed for New Zealand’s loranthaceous mistletoes. Key words: Coccidae, Diaspididae, Eriococcidae, Pseudococcidae, distribution, host plants, first records Introduction The pygmy mistletoes of New Zealand belong to the genus Korthalsella in the family Viscaceae. Korthalsella is a genus of about 25 species of leafless, aerial hemiparasites. The genus is distributed from Ethiopia, Madagascar and Mascarenes through South and South East Asia to Japan in the north, Australia and New Zealand in the south and the Hawaiian Archipelago, Marquesas and Henderson Island in the east (Molvray et al. 1999; Burrows 1996). New Zealand is home to three species, K. salicornioides, K. clavata and K. lindsayi (Fig. 1). Korthalsella salicornioides occurs throughout the North and South Islands and on Stewart Island and is classified as “naturally uncommon-sparse” in the threatened and uncommon plants list for New Zealand (de Lange et al. 2009). K. salicornioides mainly occurs on Leptospermum scoparium and Kunzea spp. but has also been recorded on the introduced Erica lusitanica and E. vagans (Bannister 1989). Korthalsella clavata occurs throughout the South Island but is rare in the North Island occurring from near Whakamaru in the Central Volcanic Plateau southwards to Cape Turakirae. K. clavata is regarded as a regionally threatened plant in Wellington Conservancy (Department of Conservation 2001). The favoured host of Korthalsella clavata is Coprosma propinqua, but it also occurs on several other Coprosma spp., Aristotelia fruticosa, Discaria toumatou and Melicope simplex. Korthalsella lindsayi occurs throughout the South Island and in the North Island occurs from Pureora in the Western Volcanic Plateau southwards. The main host for K. lindsayi is Accepted by C. Hodgson: 20 Sep. 2010; published: 13 Oct. 2010 1 TERMS OF USE This pdf is provided by Magnolia Press for private/research use. Commercial sale or deposition in a public library or website is prohibited. Melicope simplex while Lophomyrtus obcordata, Coprosma spp., Myrsine australis and M. divaricata are also frequently parasitised. There are 100 named species of felt scales (Eriococcidae) in New Zealand (Hoy 1954, 1958, 1962; Hodgson 1994, Hodgson & Henderson 1996, Henderson 2006, 2007a, 2007b) and 18 named species of Leucaspis (Diaspididae) (Maskell 1879, 1884, 1893; Green 1929; Brittin 1915, 1937; Ferris 1942; de Boer & Valentine 1977). Here we describe two new armoured scale insects (Diaspididae) and one new felt scale insect (Eriococcidae). Aulacaspis vitis (Green), a polyphagous armoured scale, is the only scale insect reported previously from a Korthalsella species. It was recorded on Korthalsella japonica (=K. opuntia) in Pakistan (Baloch et al. 1975) and this is the first account of scale insects associated with pygmy mistletoes of New Zealand. The other mistletoes in New Zealand are in the Loranthaceae, and the scale insects recorded from them are listed in Table 1. De Lange (1997) reported an infestation of Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus, soft brown scale, Saissetia oleae (Olivier), black scale, and an Eriococcus sp. on Ileostylus micranthus and the presence of a Ctenochiton sp. and black scale on herbarium specimens of Trilepidea adamsii. The role of such invertebrates, particularly introduced species, in the decline of these mistletoes is largely unknown (de Lange 1997) but de Lange suggested that scale insects are possibly one of the several causes that have led to dramatic decline in the populations of Ileostylus micranthus in the Wellington region and presumed extinction of Trilepidea adamsii (de Lange 1997). TABLE 1. Scale insects associated with Loranthaceous mistletoes of New Zealand. Mistletoe sp Scale insect associates Reference Ileostylus micranthus Eriococcus albatus Hoy Plant and Food 2010, plant name given as Loranthus sp. Eriococcus sp. de Lange 1997 Plumichiton elaeocarpi (Maskell) (black plumed Hodgson & Henderson 2000, plant scale) given as Ileostylus sp., but only one species known in New Zealand *Coccus hesperidum Linnaeus (soft brown scale) de Lange 1997 *Saissetia oleae (Olivier) (black scale) de Lange 1997 Alepis flavida Ctenochiton paraviridis Henderson & Hodgson Hodgson & Henderson 2000 (spotted sixpenny scale) Peraxilla colensoi Ctenochiton paraviridis Henderson & Hodgson Hodgson & Henderson 2000 (spotted sixpenny scale) Peraxilla tetrapetala Eriococcus elytranthae Hoy Henderson & Martin 2006 Tupeia antarctica Coelostomidia zealandica (Maskell) Morales 1991 *Hemiberlesia rapax (Comstock) (greedy scale) Charles & Henderson 2002 Kalasiris perforata (Maskell) (fringed scale) Plant and Food 2010 Trilepidea adamsii Ctenochiton sp. de Lange 1997 *Saissetia oleae (Olivier) (black scale) de Lange 1997 * Adventive species. Material and methods Specimens were collected in 70% ethanol and were slide mounted by methods given in Hodgson and Henderson (2000), with an additional dissection step for the pupillarial female Leucaspis species: these were slit along one side of the ventral margin before heating in 95% ethanol, and the membranous adult females were gently teased out of their pupillaria after heating in 10% KOH. The illustrations were prepared by drawing over montaged images of slide-mounted specimens using the software packages Adobe Illustrator 2 · Zootaxa 2644 © 2010 Magnolia Press HENDERSON ET AL. TERMS OF USE This pdf is provided by Magnolia Press for private/research use. Commercial sale or deposition in a public library or website is prohibited. and Photoshop. The figures are presented as a map in the customary manner, with dorsal features on the left hand half and ventral features on the right hand half, and with detailed vignettes not to scale. Measurements are given as a range. Body measurements for adult female Leucaspis species were taken from their pupillaria. The reviewed records and species descriptions are listed under their respective scale insect family. A distribution map is provided for the three new species. Conventions. Under Material examined, the data given for each new species are those on the slide label, categorised under the area codes of Crosby et al. (1998), followed by the NZAC accession number, the number of slides and specimens studied, including their life stages. For example: #09-073a-e [5]: 3 F, 3 fpl, 2 f2nd, 1 m2nd, 4 1st, 2 exuv1 denotes 5 consecutive slides (a–e) with a total of three adult females, three 2nd- instar female pupillaria, two 2nd-instar female nymphs, one 2nd-instar male nymph, four 1st-instar nymphs and two 1st-exuvia. In the case of the pupillarial Leucaspis species a 2nd-instar pupillarium is associated with each adult female. Herbarium details CHR Allan Herbarium, Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand. MPN Dame Ella Campbell Herbarium, Massey University, Palmerston North. WELT Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. Type depository: New Zealand Arthropod Collection (NZAC), Landcare Research, Auckland. Result and taxonomy Family Coccidae Ceroplastes sinensis Del Guercio (Chinese wax scale) is an adventive species recorded on 14 native plant species from 11 genera in 12 families (including one fern sp.) (Hodgson & Henderson 2000, Morrison 2007, Martin 1999, Plant and Food 2010, Anon. 2009). It also feeds on cultivated/exotic species such as weeping bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis), Citrus sp., flowering gum tree (Corymbia ficifolia), Myoporum insulare, Nematolepis squamea, and pomegranate (Punica granatum) (Bain 2008, Hodgson