Species: Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green) - Catalog

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Common name: Pink hibiscus mealybug Field Characters: Body elongate oval; body red-brown to orange-pink; legs white or light yellow; covered by white mealy wax, without bare areas on dorsum; ovisac covers dorsal surface; with 2 or 3 pair of inconspicuous lateral wax filaments, often not visible. Occurring on all above-ground parts of plant. Oviparous, eggs pink. Specimens turning black in 70% alcohol.
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Validation characters: Oral-rim tubular ducts numerous over dorsum, often with more than 30 on some abdominal segments; oral rims with distinctively shaped rim, outer edge of rim indefinite unlike most oral rims that have a definite edge; with 3 to 6 indefinite pairs of cerarii, composed of 1 or 2 conical setae and little or no concentration of basal trilocular pores; dorsal oral collars scattered over surface; anal bar present but often inconspicuous; antennae 9-segmented. Comparison: Maconellicoccus hirsutus is most similar to M. multipori (Takahashi) and M. ramchensis Williams. It differs from both by having dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts and from the former by having a circulus. Maconellicoccus multipori lacks dorsal oral- collar tubular ducts and a circulus and M. ramchensis lacks dorsal oral-collars but has a circulus. U.S. quarantine notes: This species occurs on a wide diversity of host plants including more than 200 plant genera; it is commonly collected on hibiscus. It is taken in quarantine from many warm parts of the world and currently is expanding its distribution in the New World. Two species of Maconellicoccus have been taken at US ports-of-entry including: M. multipori (Malaysia and Thailand on Alectryon, Durio, Garcinia, Nephelium, and Piper), and M. ramchensis (Thailand on Durio). References: Miller2001; Willia1996b; Willia2004. All references mentioning: Maconellicoccus hirsutus
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