Valid Names Results

Ripersiella montanae Schneider & LaPolla, 2022 (Rhizoecidae: Ripersiella)

Nomenclatural History

• Rhizoecus new sp. Schneider & LaPolla 2011. unavailable name that is placed
• Ripersiella montanae Schneider & LaPolla 2022: 16. Type data: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: W. of Hondo Valley, 13 m off road (18.7229, -71.7061), elev. 1032 m; associated with Acropyga dubitata, nest under a stone in coffee plantation, on Coffea sp., 7/24/2009; by JS LaPolla, SA Schneider. Holotype, female, by original designation Type depository: Washington: United States National Entomological Collection, U.S. National Museum of Natural History, District of Columbia, USA; accepted valid name Notes: Paratypes. Dominican Republic • 5 adult ♀♀; same data as holotype; USNM Illustr.

Common Names

Ecological Associates

Hosts:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Associates:

Families: 1 | Genera: 1

Geographic Distribution

Keys

• SchneiLa2022: pp.25-26 ( Adult (F) ) [Neotropical Ripersiella lacking bitubular cerores]

Remarks

• Systematics: https://zoobank.org/82F8E9C9-49A4-4436-A8C6-9817CBE46D76

  Ripersiella montanae is similar in appearance to R. campensis. Ripersiella montanae is also similar in appearance to R. andensis but the two species can be distinguished as follows (character states for R. andensis are given in parentheses): having antennal segments II–IV differing in length (subequal in length); having a comparatively short terminal antennal segment, 40 μm long (comparatively long, 53 μm); having hind legs approximately 275 μm long (240 μm); having the hind trochanter+femur shorter than the tibia+tarsus (the reverse); and having anal lobe setae as long as 59 μm (as long as 33 μm). (Schneider & LaPolla, 2022)

• Structure: Adult female body bright white to cream colored and free of obvious waxy secretions, small deposits of wax from trilocular pores visible under SEM, tending to gather in intersegmental regions of the body and appendages. Slide mounted body broadly oval and membranous, 0.91–1.03 (0.99) mm long, widest near abdominal segments III–V, 0.51–0.68 (0.62) mm wide. Abdomen slightly constricted between segments VII and VIII or smoothly tapering. Microtrichia present on abdominal segments; rounded dermal micro-bumps abundant in intersegmental areas and surroundings of appendages. Eyes absent. (Schneider & LaPolla, 2022
• Biology: Ripersiella montanae was discovered from two nests of A. dubitata. Schneider & LaPolla verified direct species-to-species association (trophobiosis) between the scale insects and ants through observation of attendance by worker ants and by the fact that both colonies contained numerous individuals of the same root mealybug species within their nest chambers and no additional species of scale insects were present. This species was only discovered at high elevation (>1000 m) in the mountainous region of western Dominican Republic near the border with Haiti. (Schneider & LaPolla, 2022)
• General Remarks: Detailed description, photograph and illustration in Schneider & LaPolla, 2022.

Illustrations

Citations