Species Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell, 1895)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Dactylopius sacchari Cockerell, T.D.A. 1895. A new mealy-bug on sugar cane. Journal of the Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club 2: 195 [195].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) USNEC ♀, TRINIDAD: St Ann's.
• Dactylopius sacchari brasiliensis Gorkum, N. van 1913. Dactylopius sacchari Brasiliensis. Boletín de Estación Experimental Canna Assuc. Escada 1: 29-31 [29].
• Trionymus praegrandis James, H.C. 1936. New mealybugs from east Africa. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London 85: 197-216 [200].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• 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 [223] (Trionymus praegrandis James, 1936)
• Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp. [584] (synonymy of Dactylopius sacchari brasiliensis van Gorkum, 1913)

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Ecological Descriptors

Sap-feeder.

ID Keys

(Beardsley, J.W., 1960) [212] (male apterous & alate; Hawaii); (Zimmerman, E.C., 1948) [257] (female; Hawaii)

BIOLOGY

Living on stems and under leaf sheaths. Beardsley, J.W. 1962. Notes on the biology of the pink sugar cane mealybug, Saccaricoccus sacchari (Cockerell), in Hawaii (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 18: 55–59 found that it is a facultative biparental species in Hawaii. In the Philippines, Uichango, L.B. & Villanueva, F.E. 1932. Biology of the pink mealybug of sugar cane, Trionymus sacchari (Cockerell), in the Philippines. Philippine Agriculture 21: 205–276 concluded that it may reproduce either bisexually or parthenogenetically. Life history: Egypt (Hafez, M. & Salama, H.S. 1969. Biological studies on the sugar cane mealy bug, Saccharicoccus sacchari Ckll., in Egypt. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique d'Egypte 53: 499–516) and Australia (Rae, D.J. & De'ath, G. 1991. Influence of constant temperature on develoment, survival and fecundity of sugarcane mealybug, Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 39: 105–122). Allsopp, P.G. 1991. Quarantine survey of all sugarcane pests and diseases on the Torres Strait Islands 1989. pp. 83–87 in Egan, B.T. (ed.) Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists. Bundaberg, Queensland. evaluated methods for sampling populations of the pest in Queensland, Australia. Rae & De'ath (1991) studied the influence of constant temperature on development, survival and fecundity in the Philippines. Cooper & Qin (1992) described virus-like particles which were found in field-collected and glasshouse-reared individuals in Australia. However, no information is given on the pathogenity of these particles. Rae, D.J. & Jones, R.E. 1992. Influence of host nitrogen levels on development, survival, size and population dynamics of sugarcane mealybug, Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 40(3): 327–342 studied the influence of host nitrogen on development, survival, size and population dynamics.

STRUCTURE

Colour photograph given by Schmutterer, H. [In cooperation with Ramón Rowland Cruz] 1990. Crop Pests in the Caribbean with Particular Reference to the Dominican Republic [Plagas de las Plantas Cultivadas en el Caribe con Consideración]. Germany : Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Eschborn 640 pp.. Alimentary canal, salivary glands and Malpighian tubules described and illustrated by Yadava, R.L. & Chandel, B.S. 1968. A contribution to the alimentary canal, salivary glands and malpighian tubules of Saccharicoccus sacchari Cockerell (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Zoologische Jahrbuecher Anatomie 85: 597–608.

ECONOMIC AND CONTROL

A common pest of sugarcane in Hawaii. Beardsley, J.W. 1960. Observations on sugar cane mealybugs in Hawaii. Proceedings of the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists. 954–961 pp. studied in Hawaii its dispersal, infestation sites, natural enemies, and the effect of ants and other factors on its populations. Uichango, L.B. & Villanueva, F.E. 1932. Biology of the pink mealybug of sugar cane, Trionymus sacchari (Cockerell), in the Philippines. Philippine Agriculture 21: 205–276 indicated that it has been considered as a possible vector of rice diseases in Cuba and India.

GENERAL

Good description and illustration of the adult female given by Morrison, H. 1920. The nondiaspine Coccidae of the Philippine Islands, with descriptions of apparently new species. The Philippine Journal of Science 17: 147–202, 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.; Avasthi, R.K. & Shafee, S.A. 1987. Indian Pseudococcidae (Homoptera: Coccoidea). Indian Journal of Systematic Entomology 4(1): 1–54, 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., Williams, D.J. & Granara de Willink, M.C. 1992. Mealybugs of Central and South America. London, England : CAB International Institute of Entomology 635 pp. and by Tang, F.T. 1992. [The Pseudococcidae of China]. Taigu, Shanxi, China : Shanxi Agricultural University 768 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 (apterous form), Yadava, R.L. 1966. Feeding habit of the pink sugar cane melaybug Saccharicoccus sacchari Cockerell (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae). Indian Journal of Entomology 28: 106–108; Yadava, R.L. 1968. Sugarcane and its problems. A note on the incidence, economic importance and food plants of Saccharicoccus sacchari Cockerell (Pseudococcidae: Homoptera). Indian Sugar 17: 871–878 and by Afifi, S. 1968. Morphology and taxonomy of the adult males of the families Pseudococcidae and Eriococcidae (Homoptera: Coccoidea). British Museum (Natural History), 2nd Report on Economic Zoology 13: 3–210 (macropterus and apterus forms).

General References

Fullaway, D.T. 1923. Notes on the mealy-bugs of economic importance in Hawaii. Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society 5: 305-321 [308] (Trionymus calceolariae: misidentification)

Tang, F.T. 2001. [Review and supplement of Professor Wu's Catalogue Insectorum Sinensium (Family Coccidae).]. Journal of Shanxi Agricultural University 21(2): 1-5 [3] (Soccharicoccus sacchari: misspelling of genus name)

Common Name References

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. (cited also by ) (Pink Sugarcane Mealybug)

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