Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T18:42:08.801Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mealybugs of the genus Rhizoecus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on African violets (Saintpaulia spp.), with a description of a new species from Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

D. J. Williams
D. J. Williams
Affiliation:
Commonwealth Institute of Entomology, c/o British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Four species of hypogeic mealybugs are known to infest African violets (Saintpaulia spp.). These are Rhizoecus americanus (Hambleton), R. cacticans (Hambleton), R. dianthi Green and R. saintpauliae sp. n. The last species has some striking characters and is described here from specimens from S. ionantha in a nursery in Thailand. None of these species is known to occur on plants in their natural habitat, the mountainous areas of Kenya and Tanzania, where the survival of most of the 20 species of Saintpaulia is threatened. Although infestations of R. dianthi on African violets may be severe, the mealybugs only affect these and other potted plants in the extensive horticultural trade. A key is provided to separate the four species.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 75 , Issue 4 , December 1985 , pp. 621 - 624
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ferris, G. F. (1953). Atlas of the scale insects of North America. Volume VI. The Pseudococcidae (Part II).—pp. 279–506. Stanford, California, Stanford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Green, E. E. (1926). Observations on British Coccidae. X.—Entomologist's mon. Mag. 62, 172–183.Google Scholar
Hambleton, E. J. (1946). Studies of hypogeic mealybugs.—Revta Ent., Rio de J. 17, 1–77.Google Scholar
Hambleton, E. J. (1973). Florida mealybugs of the genus Rhizoecus with description of a new species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae).—Proc. ent. Soc. Wash. 75, 62–71.Google Scholar
Johansson, D. R. (1978). Saintpaulias in their natural environment with notes on their present status in Tanzania and Kenya.—Biol. Conserv. 14, 45–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matile-Ferrero, D. (1976). La faune terrestre de l'Île de Sainte-Hélène. 19. Homoptera. 7. Coccoidea.—Annls Mus. r. Afr. cent. Sér. 8vo (Sci. Zool.) no. 215, 292–318.Google Scholar
Mckenzie, H. L. (1960). Taxonomic study of California mealybugs, with descriptions of new species (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae).—Hilgardia 29, 681–770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mckenzie, H. L. (1967). Mealybugs of California with taxonomy, biology, and control of North American species (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae).—525 pp. Berkeley & Los Angeles, Univ. Calif. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otto, N. (1984). A victorious skirmish in the war against Pritchard soil mealybug.—Afr. Violet Mag. 37, 43–44.Google Scholar
Snetsinger, R. (1966). Biology and control of a root-feeding mealybug on Saintpaulia.—J. econ. Ent. 59, 1077–1078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, D. J. & Nakahara, S. (1980). Rhizoecus pritchardi McKenzie, a junior synonym of R. dianthi Green (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae).—Proc. ent. Soc. Wash. 82, 336–337.Google Scholar