Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell)

Family

Pseudococcidae

Common name

Pineapple mealybug

Field characters

Body oval or rotund; pink or pink-orange; legs yellowish brown; body covered by thin layer of white mealy wax allowing body color to be visible, without bare areas on dorsum; dorsal ovisac absent, a few filamentous strands on venter; with 17 pairs of conspicuous lateral wax filaments, often slightly curved, posterior pairs longest, one-third to one-half as long as body, anterior filaments shorter than posterior pairs. Occurring on all parts of plant, usually in protected area. Ovoviviparous, eggs pink.

Validation characters

Setae on dorsomedial area of segment VIII longer than on segments VII and VI; discoidal pores present near eye; ventral multilocular pores restricted to segments VI, VII, and VIII; translucent pores on hind femur and tibia; 2, 3, or even 4 conical setae in abdominal cerarii; without ventral oral collars in cluster laterad of front coxa; concentration of discoidal pores in dorsomedial area of abdominal segment VIII, 17 pairs of cerarii.

Comparison

Dysmicoccus brevipes is most similar to D. neobrevipes by having discoidal pores near the eyes, ventral multiloculars normally restricted to segments VI, VII, and VIII, translucent pores on hind femur and tibia, and no ventral oral collars laterad of front coxae. Dysmicoccus neobrevipes differs by having dorsal setae on dorsomedial area of segment VIII about same length as those on segments VII and VI.

U.S. quarantine notes

This species was intercepted 4,383 times at U. S. ports-of-entry between 1995 and 2012, with specimens originating from American Samoa, Anguila, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Aruba, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Belize, Bolivia, The British Virgin Islands, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, French Polynesia, Ghana, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Iran, Jamaica, Japan, Laos, Liberia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mexico, Mozambique, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Peru, The Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Tortola, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, The United Arab Emirates, The U.S. Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Vietnam. It is one of the most commonly intercepted mealybugs at U. S. ports-of-entry. It is polyphagous (found on more than 50 plant families), but is often detected on pineapple and other tropical fruits; therefore we have not included older quarantine records. ScaleNet lists the species on more than 60 families of host plants. It is known from all zoogeographic regions of the world but requires a relatively mild tropical or subtropical climate. Several species of Dysmicoccus other than D. boninsis (Kuwana), D. brevipes, D. grassii (Leonardi), D. lepelleyi (Betrem), D. mackenziei Beardsley, D. neobrevipes Beardsley, D. orchidum Williams, D. sylvarum Williams & Granara de Willink, D. wistariae Green and Dysmicoccus sp. nr. texensis have been taken in quarantine including: D. amnicola Williams & Watson (The Philippines, on Pandanus); D. finitimus Williams (Taiwan, on Cocos); D. hambletoni Williams and Granara de Willink (Ecuador, on Xanthosoma); D. hypogaeus Williams (Australia, on Chamelaucium and Leucospermum); D. joannesiae Costa Lima (Ecuador, on Inga); D. lansii Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium); D. probrevipes (Morrison)(Central and South America, on Coffea, Cordia, and Triplaris); D. queenslandianus Williams (Australia, on Allocasuarina); and D. viatorius Williams (The Philippines, on Lansium, Nephelium).

Important references

WilliaWa1988a; Willia2004; WilliaGr1992.

Scalenet catalog and citation list

Click here for a Catalog.