Valid Names Results

Lachnodius eucalypti (Maskell, 1892) (Eriococcidae: Lachnodius)

Nomenclatural History

• Dactylopius eucalypti Maskell 1892: 35. Type data: AUSTRALIA: South Australia, on Eucalyptus amygdalina, by Crawford. Lectotype, female, Type depository: Canberra: Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Entomology, Australia; accepted valid name Notes: Lectotype designated by Hardy, Beardsley & Gullan, 2019: adult female: on slide labelled: “Lachnodius / Dactylopius / eucalypti / adult female / Australia / 1886 W.M.M.” (ANIC). Paralectotypes: one adult male (one slide), antenna and feet of adult male (one slide), three first-instar nymphs (one slide, labelled “Larvae”), same data as lectotype (NZAC); 12 first-instar nymphs: on slide labelled: “Lachnodius / eucalypti (Mask.) / Australia / Mask. Coll. N. 82 / Type” and envelope also with “Cotype Cat. No. 24962 / U. S. National Museum” (USNM); two first-instar nymphs: on slide labelled: “Lachnodius / eucalypti (Mask.) / Australia / Mask. Coll. 206 (USNM). Illustr.
• Lachnodius eucalypti (Maskell, 1892); Maskell 1895b: 400. change of combination

Common Names

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Associates:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• HardyBeGu2019: pp.50-51 ( Adult (F) ) [Species of Lachnodius]

Remarks

• Systematics: Slide-mounted adult female with: marginal fringe with mixture of enlarged setae and hair-like setae; antennae 7-segmented; anal ring with pores and about 20 setae; tubular ducts without cup-like structure; multilocular pores present (Morrison & Morrison, 1922). The adult female of L. eucalypti could be confused most easily with that of L. froggatti sp. n. Each induces pit galls on leaves and may be covered by waxy secretions. The adult female of L. eucalypti differs from that of L. froggatti by having (1) a marginal fringe of alternating sagittate and conical setae (marginal setae of L. froggatti hair-like to capitate); (2) eyes on margin (eyes on venter of L. froggatti); (3) no dorsal macrotubular ducts with setae touching rim of dermal orifice (dorsum of L. froggatti having some macrotubular ducts with a seta touching dermal orifice); and (4) microtubular ducts on ventral surface of head (absent in L. froggatti). Also, in life the secretions covering an adult female of L. froggatt are woolly, in contrast to the clumpy, powdery secretions that cover an adult female of L. eucalypti. (Hardy, et al., 2019)
• Structure: Adult females congregated in masses of white cotton between sheets of bark. Adult females red or yellowish brown. First-instar nymphs yellowish brown, congregated sometimes in very great numbers on the bark of host, mingled with thin white cotton or meal, subcircular in form. Male pupae congregated in sacs of white loose cotton, mixed with those of the females and first instars or sometimes in masses by themselves. Adult male reddish brown (Maskell, 1892). Newly hatched individuals ca. 380–400 μm long; feeding first-instar nymphs removed from leaf galls 550–600 μm long, broadly oval in outline, with venter expanded, balloon-like, to fill gall cavity, dorsum flat. Slide-mounted specimens with medial to submedial dorsal derm bearing small sclerotic spots, mostly 1–2 μm in greatest dimension; marginal setae mostly falcate (incorrectly described as ‘flabellate’ by Morrison & Morrison) except posterior three pairs lanceolate but often with apex jagged or notched, each marginal seta 15–30 μm long. Pair of elongate caudal setae ca. 65 μm long. (Hardy, et al., 2019)
• Biology: The female attaches herself to the upper surface of the leaf, causing a circular depression in the center of a reddish blotch in the tissue of the leaf. The scale fits into this pit, the dorsal surface raised a little above the rim showing transverse markings covered with fine dull white cottony secretion (Froggatt, 1917). Adult females of L. eucalypti were collected while ovipositing on the bark of trunks and major branches of host trees. Oviposition was intermittent between then and mid-February 1972. Individual females appeared to complete oviposition within a short period of two or three days. The eggs were pink and laid in a single layer that formed a long, flat ribbon, 4–6 eggs wide, the top and sides of which were enclosed by a waxy secretion. Individual ovisacs were sometimes more than 5 cm long, straight or curved, and contained on the order of several hundred eggs. The newly-eclosed first-instar nymphs migrated from the oviposition sites to the foliage, where they settled on the upper surfaces of young leaves. Feeding by each nymph resulted in a shallow pit gall on the leaf surface, which enclosed the nymph and grew along with it. The dorsal surface of settled first-instar and second-instar nymphs was nearly flat, smooth, and shiny, without evident waxy secretio ns. In second-instar females the legs are poorly developed and apparently non-functional. Male nymphs, which can be distinguished from females in the second instar by the presence of fully developed legs, developed in leaf galls similar to those of females. Females remained in their galls after molting to the third (adult) instar, and continued to feed for an undetermined period, until fully developed. They then abandoned their galls and migrated to the bark to oviposit.
• General Remarks: Original description and illustration by Maskell (1892); subsequent description and illustration by Morrison & Morrison (1922). Redescription and illustration in Hardy, et al, 2019. The form that Ferris illustrated under the name Lachnodius eucalypti is certainly not that species, but may be L. lectularius. (Hardy, et al., 2019) Hodgson, 2020 described and illustrated the adult male as Lachnodius ?eucalypti.

Illustrations

Citations