Valid Names Results

Sphaerococcus Maskell, 1892 (Pseudococcidae)

Sphaerococcus Maskell 1892: 39. Type species: Sphaerococcus casuarinae Maskell by monotypy . accepted valid name
Sphaerococcus Maskell 1892: 1-64. . questionable identification Notes: This is listed as a questionable identification by Maskell, 1892.
Syphaerococcus Lindinger 1958: 371;. by present designation . misspelling of genus name

Systematics: Subfamily: Pseudococcinae (Choi & Lee, 2022)
The genus Sphaerococcus Maskell is part of the family Pseudococcidae and should contain only two species, i.e. S. casuarinae Maskell (the type species) and S. durus De Lotto (Ben-Dov 1994). However, it is used in the Eriococcidae to accomodate several eriococcid species that currently are not placed in a described genus. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has conserved (ICZN, 2009) the usage of the family-group name PSEUDOCOCCINI Cockerell, 1905 (type genus Pseudococcus Westwood, 1840) for the mealybugs, a speciose group including many pests of agriculture, by giving it precedence over the senior family-group name SPHAEROCOCCINI Cockerell, 1899 (type genus Sphaerococcus Maskell, 1892).
General Remarks: Good definition and characters given by Ferris (1918b), Afifi & Kosztarab (1967), De Lotto (1969), Williams (1985) and by Hendricks & Kosztarab (1999).