Valid Names Results

Vrydagha lepesmei Vayssière, 1957 (Monophlebidae: Vrydagha)

Vrydagha lepesmei Vayssière 1957: 1. Type data: ZAIRE [=Congo Belge]: Gandajika, on "cotonnier" [=Gossypium]; collected January 1956, by M. Luc Spaute.. Syntypes, female and first instar, Type depository: Paris: Museum National d'Histoire naturelle, France; accepted valid name

Families: 3 | Genera: 4

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Countries: 1

Structure: Adult female characteristics include 10-segmented antennae; abdominal spiracles quite small, numbering 5 pairs; with 3 elongate oval cicatrices; anal tube with internal ring of pores strongly sclerotized; body setae all flagellate, shorter on dorsum than on venter; with a few longer setae present along margin; and multilocular pores all of one type, each with a single central loculus (Vayssière 1957).
Biology: Collected in Zaire from roots of cotton, associated with ants of the genus Camponotus (Vayssière, 1957).
Economic Importance: In the southern savannas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo its primary host is Imperata cylindrica (Poaceae) but if crops (e.g. Zea mays, Arachis hypogaea and Gossypium sp.) are grown in contaminated soil or in proximity to I. cylindrica their roots can become infested, in association with ants of the genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and possibly the fungus Corticium vagum Berk. & M.A. Curtis (Fungi: Corticiaceae). (Watson, 2022) The scale can cause considerable damage to cotton, weakening and even killing plants (Vayssière 1957).
General Remarks: Good description and illustration of nymphs and the adult female given by Vayssière (1957).