Archaeococcoid scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) from the tropical high mountains of the Andean Cordillera, South America

The diversity of the archaeococcoid scale insect fauna in the Cordillera of the Andes, particularly the paramos, was studied in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The paramos is an ecosystem in the tropical high mountains, where the temperature alternates between freezing at night and thawing during the day. Within this habitat, two new genera and several new species and new country records were discovered and are described and illustrated below. Thus, at 4200 m in the Cordillera de Merida, Venezuela, a new monophlebid genus, Corandesia Foldi n. gen., is erected for C. kozari Foldi n. sp. (Monophlebidae) based on the adult female. The genus Paramoandesia Foldi n. gen. (Monophlebidae) is erected for P. colombiensis Foldi n. sp. from 4200 m in Colombia, based on the adult female and male and for P. ecuadorensis Foldi n. sp. from 4100 m in Ecuador, based on the adult females. These three new species were found on Espeletia spp. (Asteraceae) in the paramos and, although living in the typically harsh environmental conditions of this habitat, do not appear to have developed special protective structures, although they have probably developed physiological adaptations and appear to exploit the protection afforded by the microhabitat at the base of large, dense leaves of their host plant. In addition, at 2000 m near Merida, another monophlebid, Crypticerya abrahami (Newstead) was collected, previously only known from Guyana, and redescribed here based on the adult female and first-instar nymph. The adult and preadult females of Mimosicerya williamsi Foldi n. sp. (Coelostomidiidae) from 2500 m in Venezuela are described and illustrated. In addition, Platycoelostoma rauppi Foldi n. sp. (Callipappidae), a hypogeal species found on the roots of alfalfa in the mountains around Cusco, Peru, is described based on the adult female. This is the first record of a member of the Callipapidae from South America, as Platycoelostoma Morrison was previously believed to be restricted to Australia and to New Zealand. A taxonomic key to genera based on the adult females of Coelostomidiidae in the Neotropics is provided and, also keys to the adult females of species of Mimosicerya Cockerell (Coelostomidiidae), Paramoandesia (Monophlebidae) and to Platycoelostoma (Callipappidae).