Eulecanium tiliae

Eulecanium tiliae (Linnaeus) (Fig. 25, Plate 2G, distribution map Fig. 90F) Coccus tiliae Linnaeus, 1758: 456. Eulecanium tiliae (L.); Fernald 1903: 197. Eulecanium ibericum Hadzibejli, 1960: 316. Eulecanium gyrcanicum Hadzibejli, 1967: 719. Field characteristics: Adult female body short, broadly oval, strongly convex; dead female dark brown. Does not produce an ovisac. Microscopic diagnosis: Slide-mounted adult female body broadly oval; without stigmatic clefts; anal cleft relatively shallow. Dorsum. Derm entirely membranous in young female, but becoming highly sclerotized at maturity. Setae finely spinose, scattered throughout. Pores of 1 type, circular, with a granulate surface, present throughout. Preopercular pores and duct tubercles absent. Tubular ducts present throughout, each with a short, broad outer ductule, a thin inner ductule and a small terminal gland. Anal plates together quadrate, each plate with posterolateral margin distinctly convex on some specimens; each plate with 3 or 4 apical or subapical setae and 1 or 2 setae along inner margin (not illustrated). Anal opening surrounded by a strongly sclerotized area. Anal ring bearing 6–8 setae. Margin. Marginal setae of 2 types: (i) stout, straight, bluntly spinose setae on lateral margins, numbering 5–11 on each side between anterior and posterior stigmatic areas; and (ii) long flagellate setae fewer, present at anterior and posterior ends of body and occasionally elsewhere, not extending onto anal cleft margins. Spiracular setae numbering 2 or 3 in each stigmatic area, all subequal in size and shape. Venter. Derm completely membranous. Pregenital disc-pores mostly each with 10 loculi; abundant around anogenital fold and extending posteriorly to margin of anal cleft; and across all preceding abdominal segments and meso- and metathorax; a large group also present mesad to each procoxa and usually with 1–3 mesad to each antenna. Spiracular disc-pores each with 5 loculi, present in a narrow band between margin and spiracle. Ventral microducts restricted to a narrow band mesad of submarginal band of tubular ducts. Ventral tubular ducts of 2 types: (i) a duct with a long outer ductule, present in a broad marginal band round entire margin; (ii) a smaller duct, present medially on all abdominal and thoracic segments. Three pregenital segments each with a pair of long setae; smaller setae present on other abdominal segments; and with a pair of small and a pair of larger setae between antennae. Legs rather variable, sometimes poorly developed, with tibia and tarsus fused, sometimes more developed with tibia and tarsus separate but without a tibio-tarsal articulatory sclerosis (as in Fig. 25); each claw usually bent at approximately right-angles to tarsus; tarsal and claw digitules well developed with small swollen apices. Antennae each with 5 or 6 segments. Distribution: Eulecanium tiliae is known from 45 countries in the Nearctic, Oriental and Palaearctic regions (García Morales et al. 2016); in Iran, it is found in Esfahan, Fars, Kerman, Kermanshah, Khorasan –e Jounobi, and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces (Bodenheimer 1944b). Host-plants: The species has been recorded on host-plants in 35 genera belonging to 17 families, but likes Rosaceous hosts (García Morales et al. 2016). In Iran, it has been recorded on Pistacia khinjuk (Anacardiaceae), Cydonia oblonga and Malus domestica (Rosaceae) (Moghaddam 2013). Economic importance: The species is widely distributed in most parts of Iran, including western areas, and is a potential threat to many kinds of fruit trees. Natural enemies: Numerous natural enemies of E. tiliae have been recorded from Iran, including the parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera): Coccophagus lycimnia (Walker) and C. piceae Erdos (Aphelinidae); Blastothrix brittanica Girault, B. ilicicola Mercet, B. sericea (Dalman), Metaphycus punctipes (Dalman) and Microterys lunatus (Dalman) (Encyrtidae); and Pachyneuron muscarum (Förster) (Pteromalidae) (Davoodi et al. 2004; Lotfalizadeh & Gharali 2008; Ebrahimi 2014).