Resumen
- The family Rhizoecidae Williams, 1969 (Hodgson 2012) is composed of 244 species of mealybugs distributed in 18 genera (Ben-Dov et al. 2013). According to Hambleton (1946) all species in the Rhizoecidae are hypogeal in habit. The soil-inhabiting mealybugs that feed on the roots of plants, although less well-known than those that feed above ground, damage a wide variety of commercially grown, subtropical ornamental plants (Hambleton 1976). In the USA, the following species of Rhizoecus K¨unckel d’Herculais, 1878, have been considered the most damaging: R. falcifer Kunckel d’Herculais; R. kondonis Kuwana [a junior synonym of Ripersiella kondonis (Kuwana)]; Rhizoecus americanus (Hambleton); Rhizoecus simplex (Hambleton); Rhizoecus floridanus Hambleton and Rhizoecus pritchardi McKenzie [a junior synomym of Rhizoecus dianthi Green] (Hambleton 1976). According to Hambleton (1976)