Species: Phenacoccus solani Ferris - Catalog

or Close Window
if opened from the key.
Common name: Solanum mealybug

Field Characters: Body oval; slightly rounded in lateral view; body color variable from light yellow to brown; legs red; covered by white, mealy wax; some specimens with medial wax crest; with faint submedial bare areas on abdomen of some specimens, these areas forming 1 pair of longitudinal lines on dorsum; ovisac absent; with 18 pairs of short lateral wax filaments, anterior pairs broken or very small, thim, posterior pairs broad, longest, about 1/8 or less of length of the body. Primarily occurring on subterranean parts of host, but occasionally on foliage. Surface of lateral filaments rough.

Click on images for more details
Phenacoccus solani thumb thumbnail image of jpg image of Phenacoccus solani drawing
Validation characters: Without quinquelocular pores; without dorsal multilocular pores or oral-collar tubular ducts; ventral multilocular pores normally present on segments IV to VIII; normally with 8-segmented antennae; circulus usually small, oval or round; translucent pores on hind tibia only; denticle on claw.

Comparison: Phenacoccus solani is very similar to P. solenopsis Tinsley by lacking quinquelocular pores, dorsal multilocular pores, and dorsal oral-collar tubular ducts. Phenacoccus solani differs by having multilocular pores from segment IV to VIII; 8-segmented antennae; a small circulus; and translucent pores on tibia only, whereas Phenacoccus solenopsis has multiloculars restricted to segment VI, VII, and VIII; 9-segmented antennae; a large flaccid circulus; and translucent pores on apex of hind femur and on tibia.

U.S. quarantine notes: This species is polyphagous found on at least 24 host families. It occurs in all zoogeographic areas but is most common in the new world. It has been taken in quarantine from the Bahamas, China, Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam on numerous hosts. Several species of Phenacoccus other than P. franseriae, P. gossypii, P. madeirensis, P. parvus, P. solani, and P. solenopsis have been taken at US ports-of-entry including: P. avenae Borchsenius (Turkey on bulbs), P. azaleae Kuwana (Japan on azalea), P. manihoti Matile-Ferrero (Central Africa and South America on Manihot), and P. pergandei Cockerell (Japan and Korea on Diospyros, Magnolia, Malus, Prunus, Punica,and Rhododendron).

References: Willia2004; WilliaGr1992.

All references mentioning: Phenacoccus solani

Return to Find Image Page! or Return to Species List Page!