''Planococcus'' is a genus of
true bugs
Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to aroun ...
belonging to the family
Pseudococcidae
Mealybugs are insects in the family Pseudococcidae, unarmored scale insects found in moist, warm habitats. Many species are considered pests as they feed on plant juices of greenhouse plants, house plants and subtropical trees and also act as a ...
.
The genus has a
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. Such a taxon, usually a species, is said to exhibit cosmopolitanism or cosmopolitism. The ext ...
.
A number of species are invasive agricultural pests.
Species
* ''
Planococcus aemulor''
* ''
Planococcus angkorensis''
* ''
Planococcus aphelus''
* ''
Planococcus bagmaticus''
* ''
Planococcus bendovi''
* ''
Planococcus boafoensis''
* ''
Planococcus cajani''
* ''
Planococcus citri''
* ''
Planococcus dendrobii''
* ''
Planococcus dioscoreae''
* ''
Planococcus dischidiae''
* ''
Planococcus dubius''
* ''
Planococcus epulus''
* ''
Planococcus ficus
''Planococcus ficus'', commonly known as the vine mealybug, is a species of mealybug, belonging to the family Pseudococcidae, native to tropical and subtropical regions. The vine mealybug is found in Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, the ...
''
* ''
Planococcus flagellatus''
* ''
Planococcus fungicola''
* ''
Planococcus furcisetosus''
* ''
Planococcus halli''
* ''
Planococcus hosnyi Planococcus may refer to:
* ''Planococcus'' (bug), a genus of bugs in the family Pseudococcidae
* ''Planococcus'' (bacterium), a genus of bacteria in the family Planococcaceae
{{Genus disambiguation ...
''
* ''
Planococcus hospitus''
* ''
Planococcus indicus''
* ''
Planococcus japonicus''
* ''
Planococcus kenyae''
* ''
Planococcus kraunhiae''
* ''
Planococcus lilacinus''
* ''
Planococcus litchi''
* ''
Planococcus mali''
* ''
Planococcus martini''
* ''
Planococcus minor''
* ''
Planococcus musae''
* ''
Planococcus nigritulus''
* ''
Planococcus nilgiricus''
* ''
Planococcus orchidi''
* ''
Planococcus philippinensis Planococcus may refer to:
* Planococcus (bug), ''Planococcus'' (bug), a genus of bugs in the family Pseudococcidae
* Planococcus (bacterium), ''Planococcus'' (bacterium), a genus of bacteria in the family Planococcaceae
{{Genus disambiguation ...
''
* ''
Planococcus planococcoides''
* ''
Planococcus principe''
* ''
Planococcus psidii''
* ''
Planococcus radicum''
* ''
Planococcus subterraneus Planococcus may refer to:
* ''Planococcus'' (bug), a genus of bugs in the family Pseudococcidae
* ''Planococcus'' (bacterium), a genus of bacteria in the family Planococcaceae
{{Genus disambiguation ...
''
* ''
Planococcus sulawesi''
* ''
Planococcus taigae''
* ''
Planococcus tanzaniensis''
* ''
Planococcus tiomanensis''
* ''
Planococcus vovae''
* ''
Planococcus zairensis''
Species identification
Identification of mealybug species in the ''Planococcus'' genus has been difficult due to an unusually high amount of intraspecies morphological variation. In the 1980s, entomologist
Jennifer Cox at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
discovered that the offspring of a single female raised on the same host will develop differently based on environmental conditions. She showed that higher temperatures induced smaller specimens overall with fewer pores, shorter appendages, and shorter
setae
In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.
Animal setae
Protostomes
Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
. From Cox's experiments, the greatest number of tubular ducts in adult females was present at intermediate temperatures, whereas the smallest number were present when temperatures were higher or lower. Cox's work showed that the proposed species ''Planococcus citricus'' was in fact a warm temperature variant of ''Planococcus citri''. This created issues in the discrimination of species as these characteristics were among those used by Ezzat & McConnell in their treatment of ''Planococcus'' species in 1956.
In 1989 Cox revised the genus and listed 35 species.
She also created a point-based system to distinguish between ''Planococcus minor'' and ''Planococcus'' ''citri'' based on a matrix of six characters, known as the 'Cox score'. However other morphologically similar species, such as ''Planococcus ficus'' and ''Planococcus halli'', a single diagnostic characteristic was not identified. With the improvements in
genotyping
Genotyping is the process of determining differences in the genetic make-up (genotype) of an individual by examining the individual's DNA sequence using biological assays and comparing it to another individual's sequence or a reference sequence. ...
, efforts to develop different systems to distinguish between cryptic species of ''Planococcus'' are ongoing.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10632934
Pseudococcidae
Sternorrhyncha genera