Hodgson, C.J., & Peronti, A.L.B.G. 2012 A revision of the wax scale insects (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Ceroplastinae) of the Afrotropical Region. Zootaxa 3372: 1–265

Notes: This paper reviews all species within the scale insect subfamily Ceroplastinae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Coccoidea: Coccidae) known from the Afrotropical Region (here including the whole of Africa, the Atlantic islands of Azores, Madeira, Canary Is., São Tomé, Principe, and Cape Verde Is., and the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Réunion, Comoros, and Aldabra). At the start of the review, there were 64 species of wax scale insects and subspecies in 4 genera recorded from this area. This paper describes or redescribes 58 species, 9 of them new, and synonymises 18 species. We consider that these species are best placed in 19 species-groups and 2 genera, Ceroplastes Grey and Waxiella De Lotto, based on adult female morphology. Only 1 species and 1 subspecies previously recorded from Africa have not been seen (Waxiella erithraeus (Leonardi) and Waxiella mimosae neghelli (Bellio)). The precise identity of species close to C. rusci (Linnaeus) in Africa still requires further study, probably using molecular analysis as several records are considered to refer to cryptic or sibling species. The records of C. ceriferus (Fabricius) and C. actiniformis Green from Africa are considered to be misidentifications. The new species are: C. balachowskyi Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. danieleae Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. delottoi Hodgson & Peronti, spec. nov., C. elaeis Hodgson & Peronti, spec. nov., C. ghesquierei Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. jos Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. mori Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov., C. neobrachystegiae Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov. and C. newsteadi Hodgson & Peronti spec. nov. The new synonymies are: Ceroplastes longicauda sapii Hall syn. nov of C. longicauda Brain.; Ceroplastes candela Cockerell & King syn. nov. of Gascardia madagascariensis Targioni Tozzetti (now in Ceroplastes); C. combreti Brain syn. nov. of G. madagascariensis; C. uapacae Hall syn. nov. of C. personatus Newstead; C. vinsonioides Newstead syn. nov. of C. personatus; C. fumidus De Lotto syn. nov. of Coccus rusci Linnaeus (now in Ceroplastes); C. hololeucus De Lotto syn. nov. of C. singularis Newstead; C. spicatus Hall syn. nov. of C. eucleae Brain; C. coniformis Newstead syn. nov. of C. theobromae Newstead; C. constricta De Lotto syn. nov. of C. lamborni Newstead;[Ceroplastes egbarum fulleri Cockerell & Cockerell syn. nov. of C. egbara Cockerell (now in Waxiella); Ceroplastes egbarum rhodesiensis Hall syn. nov. ofC. egbara; Ceroplastes martinoi Almeida syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes ugandae Newstead syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes zonatus Newstead syn. nov. of C. egbara; Ceroplastes berliniae Hall syn. nov. of C. subsphaerica Newstead (now in Waxiella); Ceroplastes berlineae enkeldoorni Hall syn. nov. of C. subsphaerica; and Waxiella tamaricis Ben-Dov syn. nov. of C. mimosae Signoret (now in Waxiella). A neotype is designated for Coccus rusci Linnaeus (now Ceroplastes rusci (L.)). The subspecies Ceroplastes africanus senegalensis Marchal is here raised to specific rank and transferred to Waxiella as W. senegalensis (Marchal) stat. nov. Ceroplastes luteolus De Lotto, previously synonymised with C. brevicauda Hall, and C. tenuitectus Green, previously synonymised with C. rusci (L.), are here accepted as good species (stat. rev.). Ceroplastes cirripediformis Comstock is recorded from Africa (South Africa) for the first time. Waxiella uvariae (Marchal) is transferred back to Ceroplastes as C. uvariae Marchal stat. rev. Due to the large number of synonymies introduced here and in order to stabilise the status of some of the species, lectotypes have been designated for the following species: C. afrinanus senegalensis Marchal; C. berliniae Hall; C. berliniae enkeldoorni Hall; C. bipartitus Newstead; C. brevicauda Hall; C. coniformis Newstead; C. egbarumfulleri Cockerell & Cockerell; C. egbarum rhodesiensis Hall; C. elytropappi Brain; C. eucleae Brain; C. eugeniae Hall; C. ficus Newstead; C. galeatus Newstead; C. helichrysi Hall; C. lamborni Newstead; C. longicauda Brain; C. personatus Newstead; C. quadrilineatus Newstead; C. quadrilineatus simplex Brain; C. quadrilineatus royenae Hall; C. singularis Newstead; C. sinoiae Hall; C. tachardiaformis Brain; C. tenuitectus Green; C. toddaliae Hall; C. toddaliae spicatus Hall; C. uapacea Hall; C. uapacea chrysophyllae Hall; C. ugandae Newstead; C. uvariae Marchal; C. vinsonioides Newstead; C. vuilleti Marchal and C. zonatus Newstead. Keys are provided to identify the 19 species-groups recognised from the area here studied and to all species in each species-group. There is a short final discussion, including such topics as the distribution and the relationships of the species found on the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Islands. Maps are provided showing the country distribution of each of the species covered and a list of plant species known as host of Ceroplastinae in the Afrotropical Region is appended.