Species: Pseudococcus elisae Borchsenius - Catalog

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Common name: Banana mealybug Field Characters: Body oval; slightly rounded in lateral view; light orange to pink; body contents crushed are reddish brown; mealy wax covering body, not thick enough to hide pink body color; without longitudinal lines on dorsum; ovisac ventral only; with 17 lateral wax filaments, becoming progressively longer posteriorly, anterior pair about 1/4 width of body, straight, except posterior pair often curved apically, thin, posterior pair longest, varying from 3/4 to 1 time length of body. Primarily occurring on foliage and fruit of host. Oviparous. Surface of lateral filaments smooth.
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Validation characters: Few dorsal oral-rim tubular ducts on abdomen (with an average of 8 and range of 1-13 ducts); usually without dorsolateral oral-rim tubular duct on segment VII; discoidal pores associated with eye, set in sclerotized rim; translucent pores on hind femur and tibia; ventral oral-collar tubular ducts in clusters between antennae and laterad of front and middle coxae. Comparison: Pseudococcus elisae is very similar to P. jackbeardsleyi Gimpel and Miller by having large numbers of discoidal pores associated with the eye which are embedded in a sclerotized rim. Pseudococcus elisae differs by having an average of 8 and range of 1-13 dorsal oral-rim tubular ducts on abdomen; without dorsolateral oral-rim tubular duct on segment VII; tibia usually shorter or about same length as tarsus of hind pair of legs. Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi has an average of 21 and a range of 14-27 dorsal oral-rim tubular ducts on abdomen; usually has dorsolateral oral-rim tubular duct on segment VII; tibia usually slightly longer than tarsus of hind pair of legs. U.S. quarantine notes: This species is taken at US ports-of-entry primarily on banana although it occasionally has been collected on a number of other hosts. It is restricted to the Neotropical zoogeographic region. Several species of Pseudococcus other than P. aurantiacus, P. baliteus, P. calceolariae, P. comstocki, P. cryptus, P. elisae, P. jackbeardsleyi, P. landoi, P. longispinus, P. maritimus, P. odermatti, and P. viburni have been taken at US ports-of-entry including: P. agavis MacGregor (Mexico on Agave); P. apodemus Williams (Philippines on Fortunella and Mangifera); P. apomicrocirculus Gimpel and Miller (Mexico on orchids); P. apoplanus Williams (India on orchids); P. aurantiacus Williams (Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand on Garcinia, Lansium, and Nephelium); P. concavocerarii James (Somalia on Euphorbia); P. dendrobiorum Williams (Australia, India, Indonesia, Maylasia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand, on orchids); P. donrileyii Gimpel and Miller (Mexico on Citrus); P. importatus McKenzie (Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Trinidad, and Venezuela on orchids); P. microcirculus McKenzie (Antigua, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Britain, British West Indies, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad, and Venezuela on orchids); P. nakaharai Gimpel and Miller (Mexico on cactus); P. neomaritimus Beardsley (Mexico on Citrus, Psidium, and Punica); P. neomicrocirculus Gimpel and Miller (Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Venezuela on orchids); P. orchidicola Takahashi (Kwajalein, Marshall, Samoa, Tonga on Alocasia, Dendrobium, and Pandanus); P. philippinicus Williams (Philippines on Garcinia, Lansium, Melicoccus, and Nephelium); P. sociabilis (Brazil on Annona, Cattleya, Carica, Hedera, Hippeastrum, Dahlia, Oncidium, Solanum, and Zygopetalum); Pseudococcus solenedyos Gimpel and Miller (Mexico on Mangifera, Psidium, Punica, Spondias, and Tamarindus); P. solomonensis Williams (Micronesia and Palau on Musa and Piper). References: GimpelMi1996. All references mentioning: Pseudococcus elisae
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