Valid Names Results

Symeria pyriformis (Maskell, 1879) (Diaspididae: Symeria)

Nomenclatural History

• Mytilaspis pyriformis Maskell 1879: 194-195. Type data: NEW ZEALAND: on Dysoxylum spectabile. Lectotype, female, by subsequent designation (DeitzTo1980,42). Type depository: Christchurch: Canterbury Museum, New Zealand; accepted valid name Notes: Lectotype one of three adult females on an original slide labeled "Mytilaspis pyriformis/from Freycinetia/puparium and/three females/July 1877 W.M.M." and "Lectotype/Mytilaspis/pyriformis/Maskell, 1879/desig. Deitz & Tocker 1979." Material also in BMNH, NZAC and USNM (Deitz & Tocker, 1980). Illustr.
• Lepidosaphes pyriformis (Maskell, 1879); Fernald 1903b: 313. change of combination
• Pinnaspis nitidus Brittin 1915: 151-152. Type data: NEW ZEALAND: South Island, Oamaru, on Pittosporum sp. and Astelia sp.. Syntypes, female, Type depository: Auckland: New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Landcare Research, New Zealand; junior synonym (discovered by Green1916d, 51). Illustr.
• Triaspidis pyriformis (Maskell, 1879); MacGillivray 1921: 277. change of combination
• Lepidosaphes marshalli Laing 1925a: 64-65. Type data: NEW ZEALAND: Wellington, Day's Bay, on Freycinetia banksi, by G.A.K. Marshall. Lectotype, female, by subsequent designation (Willia1985c,138). Type depository: London: The Natural History Museum, England, UK; junior synonym (discovered by Willia1985c, 138). Illustr.
• Symeria epiphytidis; Green 1929: 380. misidentification (discovered by Ferris1936, 89).
• Eulepidosaphes marshalli (Laing, 1925); Borchsenius & Williams 1963: 363. change of combination
• Eulepidosaphes marshali (Laing, 1925); Borchsenius 1966: 38. misspelling of species epithet
• Symeria zealandica Morrison & Morrison 1966: 190. nomen nudum
• Eulepidosaphes pyriformis (Maskell, 1879); Deitz & Tocker 1980: 42. change of combination
• Symeria pyriformis (Maskell, 1879); Henderson 2011: 190,199-201. change of combination
• Symeria phyllocladi Henderson 2011: 195, 205. Type data: NEW ZEALAND: Auckland, Waitakere Ra, Destruction Gully Track, in galls on Phyllocladus trichomanoidea cladodes, 4/21/2002, by N.A. Martin. Holotype, female, by original designation Type depository: Auckland: New Zealand Arthropod Collection, Landcare Research, New Zealand; junior synonym (discovered by NormarOkMo2019, 63). Notes: Paratypes. As above, the remaining 2 females on the holotype slide, [1]: 2 F; also with same collection data, #02-086b–c, [2]: 1 F (very young), 1 M (pre-emergent) (NZAC). Illustr.

Common Names

• pukatea pear-shaped scale Miller1925

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 33 | Genera: 49

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• Hender2011: pp.190 ( Adult (F) ) [Key to Symeria adult females in combination with 1st-instars/ 1st-exuvia]
• Hender2011: pp.190 ( Adult (F) ) [Key to Symeria adult females in combination with 1s-tinstars/1st-exuvia] Key as: Symeria phyllocladi
• MacGil1921: pp.277 ( Adult (F) ) [Key to species of Triaspidis] Key as: Triaspidis pyriformis

Remarks

• Systematics: Green (1929) established the genus Symeria for the species identified by him as Mytilaspis epiphytidis Maskell 1885a. Morrison & Morrison (1966) determined that the original Maskell lot contained more than one species and that Green's description was not of epiphytidis. They proposed the new name Symeria zealandica. However, Morrison & Morrison did not describe zealandica sufficiently to qualify as a valid name under the rules of Zoological Nomenclature so it is treated as a nomen nudum. Rosa Henderson (2011) examined type material designated by Deitz & Tocker (1980): NEW ZEALAND "Mytilaspis pyriformis, From Freycinetia, Puparium and three females, July 1877, W.M.M.", [1]: 1 F + scale cover glued to 2nd label; stained & remounted on 1 new slide by RC Henderson, 2001. Barcode NZAC02000110 (NZAC) and determined the current synonymy and nomenclature. S. phyllocladi was originally described as closest to S. pyriformis but can be separated by the line of submedian-submarginal ducts on pygidium VII and by its host preference for Phyllocladus spp. (Henderson, 2011) Normark, et al. (2019) decided that that S. phyllocladi represented a host-induced phenotype of S. pyriformis and regarded it as a synonym. of that species
• Structure: Scale cover normally pyriform (pear-shaped), except the width is constrained when on stems or narrow leaves; colour variable from light brown when on underside of leaves to orange-brown or medium brown when on upperside of leaves, to very dark brown when on stems or leaf midribs of some tree species. With an exceptional amount of fluffy wax produced by 1st-instar nymphs when on rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum). Female body generally pale with lemon yellow pygidium and pale eggs, or on various host plants such as podocarps the body is pinkish with pinkish eggs; body colour not related to colour of scale cover. (Henderson, 2011) Sometimes S. phyllocladi scales were found on cladode surfaces, as well as within galls. Scale covers pale and narrow when inquiline in galls, and often the detached covers of several females plus some exuvia form a loose plug at the gall entrance, while naked females lie near the base of the gall. More than 1 generation of S. phyllocladi was observed in a gall with males and females developing there. (Henderson, 2011)
• Biology: "Because this species is polyphagous it could easily be dispersed around the Isles of Scilly (Williams, 1985c).
• General Remarks: Detailed description and illustration by Williams (1985c). Detailed description and illustrations in Henderson, 2011.

Illustrations

Citations