Valid Names Results

Ceroplastes flavus Kondo & Peronti, 2026 (Coccidae: Ceroplastes)

Nomenclatural History

• Ceroplastes flavus Kondo & Peronti 2026: 535. Type data: COLOMBIA: Valle del Cauca Palmira, Agrosavia, Palmira Research Station, 03/23/2022, on Annona muricata, by Takumasa Kondo. Holotype, female and first instar, by original designation Type depository: Mosquera: Colección Taxonómica Nacional de Insectos “Luis María Murillo”, Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Corpoica, Mosquera, Cundinamarca, Colombia; accepted valid name Notes: Paratypes. Same data as holotype, 1 slide (1 adult female) (CTNI). Same data except, ex Mangifera indica twigs, March 23, 2022, 11 slides [9 (9 adult females) + 1 (1 third-instar nymph) + 1 (14 first-instar nymphs)]; same data except, ex twigs of Mangifera indica, September 1, 2022, 23 slides [12 (13 adult females) + 1 (2 second-instar nymphs) + 10 (105 first-instar nymphs)] Illustr.

Common Names

• Escama cerosa amarilla KondoPe2026
• Yellow wax scale KondoPe2026

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 2 | Genera: 2

Associates:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• KondoPe2026: pp.541-543 ( Adult (F) ) [Ceroplastes species in Colombia]

Remarks

• Systematics: The adult female of Ceroplastes flavus can be diagnosed by the combination of the following features: (i) body of live young insect orange to yellow; (ii) caudal process short; (iii) dorsum with 8 distinct clear areas devoid of pores and setae; (iv) dorsal setae short, variable in shape (spinose, slightly capitate, truncate or abruptly tapering); (v) dorsal microducts simple, predominantly bi- to trilocular (rarely with 4 or 5 loculi); (vi) dorsal tubular ducts and simple pores absent; (vii) preopercular pores numerous, convex and tuberculate; (viii) anal plates together subcircular to subquadrate, each bearing about 4 setae on posterior half of dorsal surface; (ix) anal ring bearing 8 setae; (x) marginal setae relatively few, each sharply spinose with flagellate apex; (xi) ventral submarginal setae setose, more numerous than marginal setae; (xii) stigmatic spines highly numerous (35–82 per cleft), arranged in 4–7 irregular rows; (xiii) perivulvar pores each with 8–12 (mostly 10) loculi, abundant in perivulvar region; (xiv) ventral microducts absent marginally, forming a dense, narrow submarginal band and sparse elsewhere; (xv) ventral tubular ducts usually present in cephalic region (2–26 ducts, occasionally absent) and on abdominal segments, particularly posteriorly; (xvi) antennae each 6 segmented; (xvii) legs well developed but small relative to body size, each with a weak tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis; (xviii) mouthparts well developed and relatively large compared to antennae and legs; and (xix) living close association with ants. Ceroplastes flavus resembles C. boyacensis Mosquera, 1979, from Colombia; C. lucidus Hempel, 1900, recorded from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay; and C. parvus Green, 1935, from Uruguay, in having (i) translucent wax, (ii) anal process short, (iii) stigmatic spines confined to stigmatic clefts, (iv) antennae each with 6 segments, and (v) unequal claw digitules. Ceroplastes flavus mainly differs from these related species by having: (i) a group of 35–82 stigmatic setae in each cleft (a maximum of 48 in C. lucidus and fewer than 35 in C. boyacensis and C. parvus); (ii) dorsal setae short, spinose, slightly capitate, truncate or abruptly tapering (cylindrical with apex rounded or laterally tru
• Structure: Body convex, oval to broadly oval with smooth margins, sometimes narrowing anteriorly and broadening posteriorly; length 2.4–8.5 mm, width 1.8–7.1 mm, and height 1.3–4.4 mm. In life, body of younger pre-reproductive females orange to yellow, in older and dead specimens becoming creamy white to brownish; anal plates and surrounding area (anal tubercle) sclerotized. Wax test thick, hard and brittle, nodular, translucent, with a whitish to pale yellow tinge, becoming thicker with age; body visible through translucent test; wax test of full-grown adult females becoming opaque, yellowish cream to reddish-brown. Anterior, lateral and posterior wax plates developed but only faintly outlined, hardly visible to the naked eye; each marginal plate with nucleus not detected; dorsal plate with a small central boss; stigmatic areas indicated by small areas of white wax (Kondo & Peronti, 2026).
• Biology: Found on the twigs of its host inside ant carton shelters of Azteca sp. (Kondo & Peronti, 2026)
• General Remarks: Detailed description, photographs and illustrations in Kondo & Peronti, 2026.

Illustrations

Citations