Morphological variability and species borders in the genus Rhizopulvinaria (Homoptera: Coccinea)

The species considered in the genus Rhizopulvinaria were revised on the base of morphological and ecological data. Significant intraspecific morphological variability was shown for Rh. artemisiae s. l. The mode of life and reproductive biology of this species is briefly discussed. The majority of nominal species of Rhizopulvinaria described by different authors are considered to be morphological varieties of a single species Rh. artemisiae Signoret, 1873. Thus, the following species are placed in the synonymy of Rh. artemisiae: Rh. retamae (Hall, 1923), Rh. halli Borchsenius, 1957, Rh. turkestanica (Arkhangelskaya, 1931), Rh. grassei (Balachowsky, 1936), Rh. dianthi (Bodenheimer, 1943), Rh. nevesi (Gómez-Menor Ortega, 1946), Rh. armeniaca Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. grandicula Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. hissarica Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. megriensis Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. minima Borchsenius, Rh. pyrethri Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. spinifera Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. transcaspica Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. turkmenica Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. variabilis Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. virgulata Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. viridis Borchsenius, 1952, Rh. polispina Matesova, 1960, Rh. quadrispina Matesova, 1960, Rh. solitudina Matesova, 1960, Rh. zaisanica Matesova, 1960, Rh. arenaria Canard, 1967, Rh. gracilis Canard, 1967, Rh. maritima Canard, 1967, Rh. saxatilis Canard, 1967, Rh. rhizophila Bazarov, 1963, Rh. saxosa Shmelev, 1971, Rh. zygophylli Bazarov & Shmelev, 1975, Rh. ucrainica Tereznikova, 1981.