Species: Paracoccus marginatus Williams and Granara de Willink - Catalog

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Common name: Papaya mealybug

Field Characters: Body elongate oval; somewhat flattened dorsoventally; body yellow; legs light yellow; mealy wax covering body, not thick enough to hide yellow body, without bare areas on dorsum; ovisac ventral only; with 15 to 17 lateral wax filaments, posterior pair of filaments conspicuously longer, filaments anterior of posterior pair small, inconspicuous, posterior pair about 1/8 length of body. Primarily occurring on foliage of host. Oviparous, eggs cream or light yellow. Body turns black in 70% alcohol.

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Validation characters: Oral-rim tubular ducts restricted to margin and submargin on dorsum; translucent pores restricted to hind coxa, unusually large and abundant; ventral oral-rim tubular ducts present; ventral multilocular pores absent from lateral areas of abdomen; anal bar present; usually with 18 pairs of cerarii; dorsal setae generally equal to or shorter than conical cerarian setae.

Comparison: Paracoccus marginatus is unique among species of Paracoccus by having the oral-rim tubular ducts restricted to the body margin and by lacking translucent pores on the hind tibia.

U.S. quarantine notes: This species is commonly taken on papaya and hibiscus but is not limited to these hosts. It is most frequently taken in quarantine from Mexico but it also is reported from Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands. Several species of Paracoccus other than P. marginatus and P. interceptus Lit have been intercepted at US ports-of-entry including: P. burnerae (Brain) (Madagascar on Polypodium); P. hamoni Williams and Granara de Willink (Mexico on Cephalocereus), P. circuliprivis Ezzat and McConnell (Mexico on Thomsoniella); P. ferrisi Ezzat and McConnell (Mexico, El Salvador, and Costa Rica on Capsicum, Catalpa, Coriandrum, Crataegus, Cydonia, Diospyros, Fernaldia, Gardenia, Lantana, Malus, and Punica), P. herreni Williams and Granara de Willink (El Salvador and Mexico on Fernaldia and Punica); P. invectus Williams (Thailand and India on orchids including Dendrobium); P. lycopersici Ezzat and McConnell (Mexico on Lycopersicon); P. mexicanus Ezzat and McConnell (Mexico on Acacia and Sedum); and P. solani Ezzat and McConnell (Mexico on Erigeron).

References: MillerMi2002; WilliaGr1992; Willia2004.

All references mentioning: Paracoccus marginatus

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