Species Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell, 1893)

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Species Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell, 1893)

Chanchito Blanca De La Pina, Pineapple Mealybug

Dactylopius brevipes Cockerell, T.D.A. 1893. The West Indian species of Dactylopius. The Entomologist 26: 177-179, 266-268 [267].
Dactylopius (Pseudococcus) ananassae Kuwana, S.I. 1909. Coccidae of Japan, IV. A list of Coccidae from the Bonin Islands (Ogasawarajima), Japan. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 17: 158-164 [162].
Pseudococcus missionum Cockerell, T.D.A. 1910. A new mealy-bug (Coccidae) from South America. The Entomologist 43: 113 [113].
Pseudococcus palauensis Kanda, S. 1933. Two new species of the genus Pseudococcus from Yokohama and the island of Palau. Annotationes Zoologicae Japonenses 14: 133-138 [135].
Pseudococcus cannae Green, E.E. 1934. Note on a Mealybug wrongfully attributed to Pseudococcus bromeliae, Bouché. Stylops 3: 162 [162] [unjustified replacement name for Pseudococcous bromeliae, sensu Green (non Bouché), 1922].
Pseudococcus longirostralis James, H.C. 1936. New mealybugs from east Africa. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 85: 197-216 [207].
Pseudococcus pseudobrevipes Mamet, J.R. 1941. A new mealy bug attacking pineapple plants in Mauritius. Bulletin of Entomological Research 32: 57-59 [58].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

Takahashi, R. 1936. Some Aleyrodidae, Aphididae, Coccidae (Homoptera), and Thysanoptera from Micronesia. Tenthredo. (Acta Entomologica. Takeuchi Entomological Laboratory) 1: 109-120 [109] (synonymy of Pseudococcus palauensis Kanda, 1933)
De Lotto, G. 1957. The Pseudococcidae (Hom.: Coccoidea) described by H.C. James from East Africa. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology (Supplement) 5: 185-232 [197] (synonymy of Pseudococcus longirostralis James, 1936)
Williams, D.J. 1958. Mealybugs (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera) described by W.M. Maskell, R. Newstead, T.D.A. Cockerell and E.E. Green from the Ethiopian region. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 6: 205-236 [213] (synonymy of Pseudococcus cannae Green, 1934)
Beardsley, J.W. 1965. Notes on the pineapple mealybug complex, with descriptions of two new species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 19: 55-68 [58] (synonymy of Pseudococcus pseudobrevipes Mamet, 1941)
Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp. [104] (synonymy of Dactylopius (Pseudococcus) ananassae Kuwana, 1909)
Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp. [141] (synonymy of Pseudococcus missionum Cockerell, 1910)

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

ID Keys

(Tang, F.T., 1992) [193] (female; Palaearctic & Oriental Regions); (Williams, D.J. & Watson, G.W., 1988) [47] (female; tropical South Pacific region); (Avasthi, R.K. & Shafee, S.A., 1987) [15] (female; India); (Avasthi, R.K. & Shafee, S.A., 1986) [435] (female; India); (Williams, D.J., 1985) [108] (female; Australia); (Wang, Z.Q., 1982) [37] (female; China); (Yang, P.L., 1982) [84] (female; China); (De Lotto, G., 1977) [29] (female; South Africa); (Miller, D.R. & McKenzie, H.L., 1973) [505] (female; North America); (Williams, D.J., 1970) [115] (female; world); (McKenzie, H.L., 1967) [157] (female; U.S.A., California); (Beardsley, J.W., 1966) [408] (female; Federated States of Micronesia); (Beardsley, J.W., 1965) [57] (female; Dysmicoccus brevipes complex); (McKenzie, H.L., 1964) [231] (female; North America); (McKenzie, H.L., 1962) [644] (female; North America); (Ezzat, Y.M., 1960) [40] (female; Egypt); (Borchsenius, N.S., 1956) [866] (female; Israel); (Ferris, G.F., 1953) [332] (female; North America); (Ferris, G.F., 1950) [54] (female; North America); (Borchsenius, N.S., 1949) [94] (female; Palaearctic Region); (Zimmerman, E.C., 1948) [176] (female; Hawaii)

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by 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., Balachowsky, A.S. 1957. Observations biologique et systématiques sur la cochenille de l'ananas (Dysmicoccus brevipes Ckll.) à la Martinique. Revue de Pathologie Végétale et d'Entomologie Agricole de France 36: 189–197, Mamet, J.R. 1957. On some Coccoidea from Reunion Island (Homoptera). Memoires de l'Institut Scientifique de Madagascar E 8: 367–386, Beardsley, J.W. 1965. Notes on the pineapple mealybug complex, with descriptions of two new species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 19: 55–68, McKenzie, H.L. 1967. Mealybugs of California with taxonomy, biology, and control of North American species (Homoptera: Cooccoidea: Pseudococcidae). Berkeley : Univ. Calif. Press 526 pp., Ghosh, A.B. & Ghose, S.K. 1984. Descriptions of all female instars of the mealybug, Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell). Records of the Zoological Survey of India 81: 163–173, 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. & 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., 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 of the adult female given by Borchsenius, N.S. 1949. Insects Homoptera. suborders mealybugs and scales (Coccoidea). Family mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Vol. VII. Fauna SSSR. Zoologicheskii Institut Akademii Nauk SSSR 38: 1–382, Beardsley, J.W. 1959. On taxonomy of pineapple mealybugs in Hawaii, with a description of a previously unnamed species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 17: 29–37, Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp., Carnero Hernandez, A. & Perez Guerra, G. 1986. [Coccids of the Canary Islands.] Coccidos (Homoptera: Coccoidea) de las Islas Canarias. Communicaciones Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias, Serie: Protección Vegetal. Madrid 25: 1–85 and by Tang, F.T. 1992. [The Pseudococcidae of China]. Taigu, Shanxi, China : Shanxi Agricultural University 768 pp..

BIOLOGY

Infests the roots, leaves natural cavities of the host plant. Pataki, E. 1974. Some observations on the moulting of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Folia Entomologica Hungarica 27: 177–182 and Pataki, E. 1975. Observations on the moulting of aphids, scales and mealybugs. Acta Phytopathologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 10: 141–151 described the moulting process.

SYSTEMATICS

Signoret interpreted the species described as Coccus bromeliae by Bouché, P.F. 1833. Naturgeschichte der Schädlichen und Nützlichen Garteninsekten und die bewährtesten Mittel. Berlin : Nicolai 176 pp. [49] as a mealybug, but Lindinger, L. 1932. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Schildläuse. Konowia 11: 177–205 showed it to be a soft scale (Coccidae). In several pre-1900 publications, as well as in Fernald, M.E. 1903. A catalogue of the Coccidae of the world. Bulletin of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College 88: 1–360, the pineapple mealybug has been erroneously named Pseudococcus bromeliae (Bouché). Ben-Dov, Y. & Cox, J.M. 1990. The identity of five species of scale insects (Hem., Homoptera, Coccoidea), living on ornamental plants, originally described by P. F. Bouché. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 126: 79–84 and Ben-Dov, Y. 1993. A systematic catalogue of the soft scale insects of the world (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Coccidae) with data on geographical distribution, host plants, biology and economic importance. Flora & Fauna Handbook, No. 9. Gainesville, FL : Sandhill Crane Press 536 pp. have clarified that Bouche's original description of Coccus bromeliae Bouche (1833: 49, 1834: 20) clearly indicate that his species was a soft scale insect (Coccidae), not a mealybug, as erroneously interpreted by subsequent workers, e.g. Fernald, M.E. 1903. A catalogue of the Coccidae of the world. Bulletin of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College 88: 1–360. This point is specefically pointed out because in several pre-1990 publications, D. brevipes has been misidentified as D. bromeliae. Beardsley, J.W. 1959. On taxonomy of pineapple mealybugs in Hawaii, with a description of a previously unnamed species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 17: 29–37 clarified previous indications, e.g. 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., from Hawaii about the occurrence of more than one species on pineapple, and described the closely related species D. neobrevipes.

STRUCTURE

See colour photograph in Kawai, S. 1980. Scale insects of Japan in colors. Tokyo : National Agricultural Education Association 455 pp.. Parida, B.B. & Moharana, S. 1982. Studies on the chromosome constitution in 42 species of scale insects (Coccoidea: Homoptera) from India. Chromosome Information Service, Tokyo 32: 18–20, Nur, U., Brown, S.W. & Beardsley, J.W. 1987. Evolution of chromosome number in mealybugs (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera). Genetica 74: 53–60 and Moharana, S. 1990. Cytotaxonomy of Coccids (Homoptera: Coccoidea). In, [Unknown] (ed). Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium of Scale Insect Studies, Part II. Cracow, Poland: August 6–12, 1990. Cracow : Agricultural University Press reported chromosome number 2n=10.

ECONOMIC AND CONTROL

A widely-distributed pest of pineapple on which it transmits the Pineapple Mealybug Wilt Disease (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.; Beardsley, J.W. 1965. Notes on the pineapple mealybug complex, with descriptions of two new species (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 19: 55–68; 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.; Beardsley, J.W., Su, T.H., McLewen, F.L. & Gerling, D. 1982. Field investigations on the interrelationships of the big-headed ant, the gray pineapple mealybug and pineapple mealybug wilt disease in Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 24: 51–67. Effective control has been achieved on pineapple in South Africa by controlling populations of the big-headed ant, Pheidole megacephala F. (see Petty, G.J. & Tustin, H. 1993. Ant (Pheidole megacephala F.) – mealybug (Dysmicoccus brevipes Ckll.) relationships in pineapples in South Africa. Acta Horticulturae 334: 387–397; Petty, G.J. & Manicom, B.Q. 1995. Control of the big-headed ant, Pheidole megacephala, in pineapple plantations with the proprietary bait Amdro. Fruits 50: 343–346. Recorded as a vector of the Cocoa Trinidad virus (see Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp.). In Hawaii, it occurs infrequently on sugarcane and is of but minor economic importance (see Beardsley, J.W. 1960. Observations on sugar cane mealybugs in Hawaii. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists. 954–961 pp.).