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Species Dysmicoccus boninsis (Kuwana, 1909)

Gray Sugarcane Mealybug

 

Distribution

States

Queensland


Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

 

ID Keys

(Tang, F.T., 1992) [151, 192] (female; Palaearctic & Oriental Regions); (Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W., 1988) [46] (female; tropical South Pacific region); (Williams, D.J., 1985) [108] (female; Australia); (Wang, Z.Q., 1982) [37] (female; China); (Yang, P.L., 1982) [84] (female; China); (Kawai, S., 1980) [102] (female; world); (De Lotto, G., 1977) [29] (female; South Africa); (Miller, D.R. & McKenzie, H.L., 1973) [504] (female; North America); (Williams, D.J., 1970) [115] (female; world); (De Lotto, G., 1967) [22] (female; South Africa); (McKenzie, H.L., 1967) [157] (female; U.S.A., California); (Beardsley, J.W., 1966) [408] (female; Federated States of Micronesia); (McKenzie, H.L., 1964) [230] (female; North America); (McKenzie, H.L., 1962) [644] (female; North America); (Beardsley, J.W., 1960) [212] (male; Hawaii); (Ezzat, Y.M., 1960) [40] (female; Egypt); (Ferris, G.F., 1953) [332] (female; North America); (Ferris, G.F., 1950) [54] (female; North America); (Zimmerman, E.C., 1948) [177] (female; Hawaii)

 

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by Kanda, S. 1943. Two new Pseudococcus (Coccidae) Homoptera from Nippon. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 22: 49–53, Ferris in Zimmerman, E.C. 1948. Homoptera: Sternorrhyncha. pp. 268 in Zimmerman, E.C. (ed). Insects of Hawaii. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press Vol. 5 464 pp., Ferris, G.F. 1950. Atlas of the Scale Insects of North America. (Ser. 5, vol. 5). The Pseudococcidae (Part I). Palo Alto, California : Stanford University Press 278 pp., De Lotto, G. 1967. The mealybugs of South Africa (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), I. Entomology Memoirs, Department of Agricultural Technical Services, Republic of South Africa. Pretoria 12: 1–28 (as Vryburgia graminea), Williams, D.J. 1970. The mealybugs (Homoptera, Coccoidea, Pseudococcidae) of sugar-cane, rice and sorghum. Bulletin of Entomological Research 60: 109–188; Williams, D.J. 1985. Australian Mealybugs. London : British Museum (Natural History) 431 pp.; Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W. 1988. The Scale Insects of the Tropical South Pacific Region. Part 1. The armoured scales (Diaspididae). London : CAB International Institute of Entomology 290 pp.; Liu, T.S. & Tao, C.C. 1988. An unrecorded rice mealybug of Taiwan. Bull Taichung Dist Agric Improve Stn 20: 61–66 and by Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp.. Good description and illustration of the adult male given by Beardsley, J.W. 1960. A preliminary study of the males of some Hawaiian mealybugs (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 17: 199–243. Good description of the adult female given by Ali, S.M. 1970. A catalogue of the Oriental Coccoidea. (Part IV) (Insecta: Homoptera: Coccoidea). Indian Museum Bulletin 5: 71–150, Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp. and by Tang, F.T. 1992. [The Pseudococcidae of China]. Taigu, Shanxi, China : Shanxi Agricultural University 768 pp..

BIOLOGY

Occurring beneath the leaf sheaths of sugarcane. The life cycle in Hawaii requires from 18 to 26 days, see Zimmerman, E.C. 1948. Homoptera: Sternorrhyncha. pp. 268 in Zimmerman, E.C. (ed). Insects of Hawaii. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press Vol. 5 464 pp..

SYSTEMATICS

Beardsley, J.W. 1964. Notes and exhibitions. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 18: 338–340 reported the occurrence of gray and white-coloured forms, which are taxonomically identical. Prior to 1970 it has frequently been misidentified as Pseudococcus calceolariae (Maskell), Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell) and Pseudococcus saccharifolii (Green) (see Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Pseudococcidae. In, Clausen, C.P. (ed). Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds: a World Review. Washington, D.C. : Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp.).

ECONOMIC AND CONTROL

The gray sugarcane mealybug has been recorded from a wide range of grasses, as well as hosts from other families, but reported as a pest of sugarcane. Generally it is a minor pest, but when attended by ants it may kill young shoots (see Bartlett, B.R. 1978. Pseudococcidae. In, Clausen, C.P. (ed). Introduced Parasites and Predators of Arthropod Pests and Weeds: a World Review. Washington, D.C. : Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture 545 pp.). The encyrtid Aphycus terryi (Fullaway) was found an effective parasitoid in Hawaii, from where it was introduced to Southern USA (Bartlett 1978). Beardsley, J.W. 1960. Observations on sugar cane mealybugs in Hawaii. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists. 954–961 pp. noted that it is common on sugarcane in Hawaii and discussed it dispersal, infestation sites and the effect of ants and other factors on its populations.

 

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
05-Jun-2024 COCCOIDEA 04-Jan-2024 MODIFIED Dr Vivian Sandoval (ABRS)
21-Nov-2012 01-May-2014 MODIFIED
29-Jun-2012 29-Jun-2012 MODIFIED
12-Feb-2010 (import)