Hawaiian Pseudococcidae (Hemiptera): A Group That Perkins Missed
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1997-10
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University of Hawaii Press
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Abstract
Among the 16 or so recognized families of Coccoidea, only Pseudococcidae
and the small, specialized Halimococcidae are represented in the endemic
Hawaiian fauna. Why other large coccoid families failed to establish there is
unknown. The endemic Pseudococcidae of Hawai'i currently include 31 described
species in 13 genera. Ten genera are endemic. Around 40 undescribed endemic
mealybug species belonging to both described and undescribed genera also are
known. Perkins apparently collected no endemic mealybugs. Kirkaldy in Fauna
Hawaiiensis listed the "Family Coccidae" (= Coccoidea) as absent from the endemic
Hawaiian fauna. At least five or six, possibly more, prehistoric colonizations of
Hawai'i by mealybugs were required to produce the existing fauna. Most of the
endemic genera are so highly specialized that their relationships to extra-Hawaiian
forms are obscure. However, some endemic species of Pseudococcus appear to be
closely related to species in Australia and the Pacific islands. This conclusion is based
primarily on similarities in male genitalia and secondarily on female morphology.
Endemic Hawaiian mealybugs are often cryptic, occupying habitats such as plant
galls, rolled leaves, under bark, and leaf sheaths of grasses. Those that occupy more
exposed locations on foliage or twigs usually are cryptically colored or armed with
large spines. These specialized habitats and morphologies appear to have evolved
in response to pressure from predators.
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Beardsley JW. 1997. Hawaiian Pseudococcidae (Hemiptera): a group that Perkins missed. Pac Sci 51(4): 377-379.
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