Dialeurolobus Danzig

Dialeurolobus Danzig

Dialeurolobus Danzig, 1964: 634. Type species: Dialeurolobus pulcher Danzig, 1964, by monotypy and original designation.

The genus Dialeurolobus was described by Danzig (1964) to accommodate a single new species, Dialeurolobus pulcher Danzig, from the Caucasus region of Russia. Currently, the genus contains three species, namely D. erythrinae (Corbett, 1935), D. pulcher Danzig, 1964 and D. rhamni Bink-Moenen, 1992 (Martin & Mound, 2007; Evans, 2007). Aleuromarginatus erythrinae Selvakumaran & David, 1996, was synonymized with D. erythrinae (Corbett) by Martin & Mound (2007). Martin et al. (2000) noted that D. rhamni may prove to be a synonym of D. pulcher.

Species of Dialeurolobus occur in the Middle East, India, the eastern Palaearctic region, Korea and Malaysia. They feed on plant species belonging to the Fabaceae, Lythraceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae and Rutaceae (Martin et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2005; Evans, 2007; Martin & Mound, 2007; Suh & Hodges, 2008). Little appears to have been published on the biologies of these particular whiteflies. The life cycle of D. rhamni, on the deciduous plant Rhamnus lycioides in the Mediterranean area, was studied by Gerling and Ben-Ari (2010). They provided an account of the adaptation of D. rhamni to the life cycle of its host plant, with regard to the overwintering mode of this insect.

The genus Dialeurolobus is not readily definable by a diagnosis to which all its included species conform. In general, the puparia are dark (one species is pale), with a crenate margin, and the transverse moulting sutures may curve strongly forward. Abdominal segment VIII is trilobate, the median length of segment VII is reduced, and there is no submarginal fold or suture around the dorsum. The vasiform orifice is triangular, almost fully occupied by the operculum. First abdominal setae are present or absent, cephalic setae are present and thoracic setae are usually absent. Small combs are usually evident in the thoracic and caudal tracheal areas.

Dialeurolobus is very similar to Aleurolobus Quaintance & Baker, 1914, from which it differs by not having a dorsal submarginal suture (Danzig, 1964). Dialeurolobus, or at least its type species D. pulcher, also closely resembles Zaphanera Corbett, 1926, but differs mainly by having a caudal furrow and triangular vasiform orifice (Martin, 1999). The transverse moulting sutures of D. pulcher and D. rhamni curve strongly forward, which is a characteristic feature of Zaphanera. Like Zaphanera, Dialeurolobus has a crenate margin, no dorsal sbmarginal fold, and there are general similarities in the chaetotaxy of these two genera.