OBSERVATIONS ON AFRICAN MEALY BUGS (HEMIPTERA : COCCOIDEA) By G. DE LOTTO CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .......... 343 DESCRIPTIONS AND RECORDS OF SPECIES ...... 344 LOCATION OF TYPE SERIES ........ 390 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......... 391 REFERENCES ........... 392 INDEX ............ 396 SYNOPSIS Thirty new species of Pseudococcidae from Africa south of the Sahara are described ; Chorizococcus lounsburyi (Brain, 1912), and Phenacoccus graminosus McKenzie, 1960, are redescribed. Several records from new hosts and localities of old species, together with notes on their distribution and generic assignment are given. Seven new genera are described. INTRODUCTION WITH the descriptions of thirty more species, the study of the new Pseudococcidae from Africa south of the Sahara accumulated in the past in the collection of the Scott Agricultural Laboratories, Nairobi, is practically completed. Some ten or twelve species, all very likely new, had to be omitted, however, either because the material available was in too poor a condition or because the structural differences which distinguished them from their closest relatives could not adequately be valued, and further series of specimens must be examined before any satisfactory conclusion can be reached. Though the purpose of this paper is mainly concerned with the identity and distri-bution of the species, a preliminary attempt has been made to review the status and composition of some genera. In order to accommodate certain very peculiar species, seven new monotypical genera have been introduced. Some morphological features exhibited by a few species caused serious classificatory problems, which could not be settled at the present stage of this work. The generic assignment of the species in question is therefore entirely provisional, pending further study. All records of host plants and localities or territories of species already known from the area under review, are new. On the basis of observations carried out so far, a few notes have been included on the distribution of some species, with particular emphasis on those of economic importance. The present work has been financed by the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund.
BioStor
