Valid Names Results

Cissococcus fulleri Cockerell, 1902 (Coccidae: Cissococcus)

Nomenclatural History

• Cissococcus fulleri Cockerell 1902a: 23. Type data: SOUTH AFRICA: Umquahumbi Valley, on Cissus cuneifolia.. Syntypes, female, Type depository: London: The Natural History Museum, England, UK; Pretoria: South African National Collection of Insects, South Africa; Washington: United States National Entomological Collection, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, District of Columbia, USA; accepted valid name
• Cissococus fulleri; Hodgson, Millar & Gullan 2011. misspelling of genus name

Common Names

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Associates:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• Hodgso2020: pp.221-223 ( Adult (M) ) [Coccidae species]
• HodgsoMaMi2011: pp.7 ( Adult (F) ) [Key for the seperation of adult females of Cissococcus species and Key for the seperation of galls of adult females of Cissococcus species]

Remarks

• Systematics: Brain (1919) described and illustrated Cissococus fulleri, his description has now been determined to be a misidentification of Cissococcus braini (Hodgson, et al., 2011)
• Structure: The caudal end of the female's body is highly modified to form a sclerotized operculum for the gall aperture (Brain, 1918). Each gall of female develops on stem of host plant. Initially, each gall appears as a small convexity with an apical opening. When fully mature, gall brownish, hairless, globular or cup-shaped, sometimes almost cylindrical, 5-6 mm in diameter, slightly less tall; basal attachment to plant usually broad (at least half diameter of gall); gall surface broken into polygonal, slightly raised brown ‘barky’ areas, each separated by greenish fissures. Top of gall flat and with a small concavity with a small central orifice, about 0.3-0.4 mm in diameter. When cut open, walls thick, fleshy and green. Adult female scale insect lying within a large, approximately round space, with body filling cavity and dorsum placed in gall opening. A short glassy white wax protrusion sometimes present, extending from anal plate area through orifice in gall; the glassy secretion is produced as a filament from each anal-plate seta and each dorsal marginal seta and these filaments combine to form a broad brush-like protrusion. Sometimes 2 or more galls coalesce. (Hodgson, et al., 2011) When removed from gall, body dark burgundy pink. Body slightly dorsoventrally flattened, with a covering of white wax on one, only slightly rounded, surface, which shows strong signs of segmentation and so clearly referable to median areas of venter (i.e. lower venter (see below)). Other, upper surface, more convex, with two converging lines of white wax in shallow grooves extending to small sclerotised dorsum - presumably wax secreted by bands of spiracular disc-pores which extend from spiracles to dorsum. Position of vulva possibly indicated by a small medial indentation on lower venter just anterior to dorsum. (Hodgson, et al., 2011) Third instar nymph gall similar to that of adult female but much smaller. Mature second- and third-instar females are distinctive and can be distinguished from all other immature instars of Cissococcus by their swollen, globular body shape, with a much enlarged venter and antennae on upper venter near dorsum. However, young teneral second-instar females are not swollen and have the venter approximately the same size as the dorsum. These two instars can be separated at all stages by the presence of the enlarged dorsal cone-shaped spines on the second-instar females (also present on second-instar males). Second and third-instar females of C. fulleri can be separated from second-instar males by the absence of dorsal and ventral tubular ducts; and from adult females by the absence of multilocular disc-pores (frequent throughout much of the venter of the adult females) and in having much better developed legs and antennae.(Hodgson, et al., 2011) Second instar females individually enclosed within a woody gall formed on twig; gall small initially but beginning to swell by end of instar. Body becoming rotund/globose when mature, with anterior and lateral parts of venter much larger than dorsum, with result that antennae on upper venter; mouthparts ventral, legs arising ventrally and projecting beyond edges of body. Venter not visible dorsally along posterior margins of body. (Hodgson, et al., 2011) Second instar males tend to settle against midrib on lower surface of young leaves or on petioles, often in groups. Initially mottled reddish-brown marginally, with median to submedian area translucent and marked by pairs of dark red-brown spots arranged segmentally; on mounted specimens, these spots correspond to conical sunken spines. On older individuals, dorsum becomes covered in glassy-wax tubes secreted from each dark spot; these wax tubes often curled and as long as or longer than body length. In addition, margin covered with short, glassy-wax extrusions, probably secreted by the fringe of marginal setae. (Hodgson, et al., 2011) The 1st-instar nymphs of Cissococcus appear to be reasonably typical coccid crawlers. The main unusual characters are: (i) the presence of what appears to be a trilocular pore anteriorly on the venter; and (ii) the presence of a sclerotised bar just anterior to the anal plates, otherwise only known on first-instar nymphs of Cryptostigma. First-instar nymphs differ from other instars in having the very long apical anal plate seta; they also differ from second-instar nymphs in lacking the sunken cone-shaped pores. (Hodgson, et al., 2011)
• Biology: The insect forms large, globular, pear-shaped or urn-shaped galls on the stems, tendrils and leaf stalks of Cissus cuneifolia (Brain, 1918). This species is oviparous (Hodgson, et al., 2011)
• General Remarks: Description and illustration of the adult female given by Hodgson (1994a). The adult female of what was thought to be C. fulleri was redescribed by Hodgson (1994a) but, with the availability of much new material, it now appears that the species illustrated in detail was C. braini Redescription and illustrations of all life stages by Hodgson et al. (2011)

Illustrations

Citations