Description of a new species of Aleuroclava Singh, 1931 (Hemiptera, Aleyrodidae) infesting Schima superba from China

Abstract A new whitefly species, Aleuroclava schimae Wang, sp. nov. infesting leaves of Schima superba (Parietales, Theaceae) is described and illustrated from Zhejiang, China. Puparia of the new species are elliptical, broad at the transverse molting suture region and broadly truncate posteriorly. Thoracic and caudal tracheal pores are discernible. In life, the puparia are covered by a thin layer of white wax.


Introduction
The whitefly genus Aleuroclava Singh, 1931 is represented by 124 species worldwide, of which 38 species are from China (Evans 2007;Wang et al. 2014;Wang and Du 2016), including A. schimae sp. nov.. Aleuroclava species occur predominantly in the Oriental and Austro-Oriental Regions and feed on a wide range of host plants (Evans 2007). Wang and Du (2016) provided a diagnostic key to Aleuroclava species including those of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Aleuroclava schimae sp. nov. found densely infesting leaves of Schima superba Gardner & Champ. at Thousand Island Lake (TIL), Gutianshan Nature Reserve, Shuangxikou village, Zhejiang, China is described herein. Morphological characteristics of puparia and immatures of the new species are described with images of habitus, holotype, line drawings and SEM images.
Schima superba (Parietales, Theaceae) is an economically and ecologically important woody tree of China. It is a dominant tree species in the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests of southern China (Zhang et al. 2019), and commercially used for timber, furniture and construction purposes, and also as fire breaks to prevent forest fires (Yang et al. 2017).

Material and methods
Puparia of the new species were collected on leaves of Schima superba from Zhejiang, Thousand Island Lake (hereafter TIL) and Gutianshan Nature Reserve, Shuangxikou village, China. No adult emergence was noticed during rearing of puparia for two weeks. Puparia were mounted following Dubey and David (2012). The terminology for morphological structures follows Bink-Moenen (1983), Martin (1985) and Gill (1990). Habitus images were taken using a digital camera Canon IXUS 105 and a camera DFC 290 (Leica, Wetzlar, Germany) attached to a Leica stereomicroscope M 125 (Leica, Wetzlar, Germany). Puparial measurements and microphotographs were taken using a compound microscope (Carl Zeiss, Gottingen, Germany) from Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University (ZAFU). The scanning electron microscope images were taken by Hitachi TM-1000 Scanning Electron Microscope (Hitachi, Japan) from the Center of Electron Microscopy, Zhejiang University (Life Sciences Division). Adobe Photoshop 7 software was used for figure preparation. The holotype is deposited in the Insect Collections of Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University, Lin'an, China (ZAFU). One paratype will be deposited in the Shanghai Entomological Museum, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SEM-CAS) and the remainder in ZAFU.

Aleuroclava Singh
Diagnosis. Puparia small in size, elliptical or subelliptical. Margin with one row of teeth. Submarginal area not separated from dorsal disc, with papillae-like markings in some species, dorsum generally with tubercles. Thoracic tracheal folds and pores not discernible; caudal furrow and pore distinct. Vasiform orifice generally notched posteriorly; operculum cordate, nearly filling orifice; lingual hidden. Description. Egg (Fig. 8). Fusiform; yellowish, gradually becoming dark brown over time; about 152 µm long, 69 µm wide, found deposited randomly on lower surface of leaves.
Puparium of A. schimae sp. nov. resembles that of A. tianmuensis in body shape, size and colour, but differs in having horizontal posterior end (curved in A. tianmuensis), and in lacking median tubercles on abdominal segments II-VI. It differs from Aleuroclava similis (Takahashi) in colour of puparium, and from A. trivandricus Dubey & Sundararaj in colour and thoracic tracheal pores not deeply inset at the margin. It also differs from A. hikosanensis (Takahashi) from the characteristic of the median area of each abdominal segment.