Probable Site of Sex Pheromone Emission in Female Vine and Obscure Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae)

Abstract

In laboratory bioassays, male Pseudococcus viburni (Signoret) and Planococcus ficus Signoret were attracted to body sections of females that included the metathoracic legs. Extracts of the metathoracic legs of female P. ficus were much more attractive to males than extracts of the other legs, and males exhibited copulatory behavior towards these extracts. Scanning electron microscopy showed the presence of translucent pores on the coxae of mature but not immature females. Collectively, the data suggest that the female-produced sex pheromones of these species are released from the metathoracic legs, probably from the translucent pores.

Three new species of Puto giant mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha: Putoidae) from Mexico and Guatemala, with keys to New World adult females and World adult males

“…In Eriococcidae, where adults have translucent pores, the translucent pores are also present in females of the final immature instar (second instar) (Granara de Willink & Díaz 2007, Miller & Stocks 2022. For at least some Pseudococcidae, translucent pores in third-instar females are absent from species where adult females have them (Wakgari & Giliomee 2004, 2005Waterworth et al 2012) though immatures are poorly known across Coccomorpha and this character state has probably not been considered in many descriptions.…”

Scientific and technological developments in mating disruption of scale insects

“…In armoured scales, pheromones are produced in glands located in the pygidium and released through the rectum and anus (Moreno et al 1972;Gullan & Kosztarab 1997). In the case of mealybugs, Williams (1985) suggested that the pheromone source could be the translucent pores on the hind legs of adult females, and more recently this hypothesis was tested experimentally and confirmed by Waterworth et al (2012).…”