Species: Hypogeococcus pungens Granara de Willink - Catalog
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Common name: None

Field Characters: Body rotund to eliptical; rounded in lateral view; body pink to pink-yellow; legs light yellow; dorsal ovisac present in all instars, covering entire dorsum, very filamentous; mealy wax lightly dusted over body, lateral filaments absent. Occurring on all above ground parts of plant, often in clumps at nodes, usually in protected areas. Oviparous, eggs pink, hatch soon after being laid.

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Validation characters: With 3 circuli; without trilocular pores; some dorsal abdominal setae conical and similar in shape and size to cerarian setae; cerarii with more than 3 conical setae; multilocular pores and oral-collar tubular ducts abundant on dorsum.

Comparison: Hypogeococcus pungens is similar to H. festerianus and H. spinosus by having dorsal conical setae, dorsal multilocular pores, and dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts, but differs by having 3 circuli and no conical setae on the head and anterior abdomen. Hypogeococcus festerianus has 1 circulus and conical setae on the head and thorax; H. spinosus has a single circulus but lacks conical setae on the head and thorax.

U.S. quarantine notes: This species has been intercepted on cactus (primarily on roots) from Germany, Peru, and Puerto Rico. It apparently is endemic to South America but has been collected in Europe and the Mediterranean primarily in greenhouses. Several species of Hypogeococcus other than H. pungens have been taken at US ports-of-entry including: H. boharti Miller (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru on orchids), H. gilli Miller (Costa Rica on orchids), H. othnius Miller and McKenzie (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela on orchids and bromeliads), and H. spinosus Ferris (Argentina, Mexico, and Switzerland on cactus).

References: Miller1983DR, WilliaGr1992.

All references mentioning: Hypogeococcus pungens

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