Species Aleuroctarthrus destructor (Mackie, 1912)

Adult male Aleuroctarthrus destructor habitus

© Copyright B.C. McNeil

Aleuroctarthrus destructor puparia habitus. Sample Brisbane Qld

© Copyright B.C. McNeil

Aleuroctarthrus destructor puparium habitus - most wax removed

© Copyright P.S. Gillespie

Museums

Regional Maps

• Aleyrodicus destructor Mackie, D.B. 1912. A new coconut pest. Philippine Agricultural Review 5: 142-143 [142].

  Type data:

   Neotype USNM Q.6776 "type 14766" puparium slide, Manila, Philippines.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Martin, Jon 1999. The Whitefly Fauna of Australia (Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae). A taxonomic account and identification guide. Technical Paper No. 38. Canberra : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 38 pp. 1-197. [17] (Designation of neotype).

  Type host:

   Cocos nucifera L. [ARECACEAE]
• Aleurodes albofloccosa Froggatt, W.W. 1918. Notes on 'Snow Flies', with the description of a new species (Aleurodes albofloccosa). Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 29: 434-436 [436] [junior objective synonym of Aleurodicus destructor Mackie, 1912].

  Type data:

   Lectotype USNM puparium slide, NSW, Tweed River.
  Paralectotype(s) ASCT ASCTHE100294 3 x puparia (1 slide) (total paralectotypes = 22 specimens on 17 slides), NSW, Tweed River [28°18'S 153°27'E]; BMNH puparia slides (total paralectotypes = 22 specimens on 17 slides), NSW, Tweed River; USNM puparia slides (total paralectotypes = 22 specimens on 17 slides), NSW, Tweed River.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Dumbleton, L.J. 1956. The Australian Aleyrodidae (Hemiptera: Homoptera). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 81: 159-183 [160] (of Aleurodes albofloccosa Froggatt)

Generic Combinations

• Aleuroctarthrus destructor (Mackie, 1912). —
  Martin, J.H. 2008. A revision of Aleurodicus Douglas (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae), with two new genera proposed for palaeotropical natives and an identification guide to world genera of Aleurodicinae. Zootaxa 1835: 1-100 [11] (New combination)

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, Vic, WA: Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Wet Tropics (WT)

Other Regions

Torres Strait Islands terrestrial, marine & freshwater

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Adults: sap-feeder (associated flora: Avicennia officinalis L. [AVICENNIACEAE] Mangrove; Lophostemon confertus (R.Br.) Peter G.Wilson & J.T.Waterh. [MYRTACEAE] Brush Box).

Nymphs: sap-feeder (associated flora: Avicennia officinalis L. [AVICENNIACEAE] Mangrove; Lophostemon confertus (R.Br.) Peter G.Wilson & J.T.Waterh. [MYRTACEAE] Brush Box; Syzygium [MYRTACEAE]).

Associated Flora References

Martin, Jon 1999. The Whitefly Fauna of Australia (Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae). A taxonomic account and identification guide. Technical Paper No. 38. Canberra : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 38 pp. 1-197. [17] (Syzygium; Lophostemon confertus; Avicennia officinalis; Lophostemon confertus; Avicennia officinalis)

Diagnosis

From Martin 2008
"PUPARIA (Figs 90-93) – characters of most diagnostic importance are given in bold . As interpreted here, Aleuroctarthrus is defined by the following combination of characters: margin almost smooth, or with very shallow marginal crenulations (Fig. 90); 12 pairs of submarginal setae present (including the nominal caudal pair); 4 pairs of tiny submedian cephalothoracic setae and pair of 8th abdominal setae present ; anterior marginal setae absent; submargin and/or dorsal disc sparsely provided with tiny simple pores of one type only (sometimes appearing loculate and sometimes appearing to have a minute central spine); cephalic pair and 6 abdominal pairs of subdorsal compound pores present, each with an acute axial process (Fig. 92), but these processes often not evident (see discussion, below); all abdominal compound pores very large and subequal in size, much larger than the cephalic pair ; abdominal compound pore pairs located on segments III-VIII (as in Aleurodicus, see Fig. A); two pairs of cicatrices present on thoracic area (scars of third-instar compound pores); with only two large lingular setae (Fig. 91) (sometimes with two very small additional setae visible under 400X magnification); lingular apex excluded beyond vasiform orifice. Ventrally, each leg very large and with an apical claw (Fig. 90); antennae very long, reaching at least to middle legs; underlying abdominal segment VII / VIII boundary (between operculum and fourth abdominal pair of compound pores) is a pair of circular secretory glandular areas (Figs 90, 93), each comprising subcircular cells (often with secreted material somewhat obscuring the structure, and the diaphanous nature of the ventral cuticle often leads to displacement). [2nd-instar with 3 pairs of compound pores, on cephalus, prothorax and last abdominal segment; 3rd-instar with 3 pairs of cicatrices in same positions.]
ADULTS – with eight-segmented antennae; antennae of males not provided with numerous prominent sensoria; abdominal wax plates numbering four in females and three in males , the posterior two pairs in females with stout setae along their anterior edges. Wings clear, unpigmented."

ID Keys

See Martin 2008 for key to genera of Aleurodicinae

Diagnosis References

Martin, J.H. 2008. A revision of Aleurodicus Douglas (Sternorrhyncha, Aleyrodidae), with two new genera proposed for palaeotropical natives and an identification guide to world genera of Aleurodicinae. Zootaxa 1835: 1-100 [51]

Common Name References

Naumann, I. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Australian Insect Names. Common and Scientific Names for Insects and Allied Organisms of Economic and Environmental Importance. Melbourne : CSIRO Publications v 200 pp. [Date published 31/12/1993] [13] (Coconut Whitefly)

History of changes