Species: Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell) - Catalog

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Common name: Pink sugarcane mealybug

Field Characters: Body elongate oval, often quite large (7mm); convex in lateral view; body pink; mealy wax thin, allowing body color through; without longitudinal bare areas on dorsum; ovisac ventral; lateral wax filaments normally absent, 1 short pair may be visible in newly matured adult females. Occurring in leaf sheats of grass host.

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Validation characters: Circulus hour-glass shaped; small discoidal pores surrounding hind coxae; cerarii restricted to anal lobes; posterior abdominal segments each with single, long seta protruding from each body margin; multilocular pores present on dorsum and venter.

Comparison: Saccharicoccus sacchari differs from all other mealybugs by having a conspicuous hour-glass shaped circulus, small discoidal pores on derm surrounding hind coxae, 1 pair of cerarii, and 1 long seta on each body margin of each posterior abdominal segment.

U.S. quarantine notes: This species is most commonly taken from the leaf sheaths of sugar cane from nearly all areas of the world where sugarcane is grown. It also is reported on several other species of Poaceae. Saccharicoccus is a monotypic genus and does not resemble any other mealybug species.

References: Willia2004; WilliaGr1992.

All references mentioning: Saccharicoccus sacchari

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