Aleuroclava rubi Lin & Wang 2026, sp. nov.

Aleuroclava rubi Lin & Wang sp. nov. Figs 1, 4–6 Type material. Holotype puparium: China, • Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Thousand Island Lake, 29°41'56"N, 118°55'18"E, alt. 428 m, 1 puparium on slide, 12.vi.2024, leg. Qing-Song Lin, on Rubus lambertianus, deposited in ZAFU. Paratypes: 13 puparia on 4 slides with same collection data as the holotype. Description. Puparium. Yellow in life, empty pupal case white, oval shaped, slightly narrowed posteriorly (Fig. 1 B, 1 C), 0.554 –0.586 mm long, 0.344 –0.368 mm wide. There is no obvious wax secretion on the dorsal surface and margin. Margin. Faintly crenulate, with 11–14 crenulations in 0.1 mm. Thoracic tracheal opening in the shape of a cleft (shaped like a shallow bowl with a wide base) with smooth inner margins, not pore-like (Figs 4 C, 5 B). Caudal furrow without tuberculate, but with some indistinct transverse folds on it (Figs 4 E, 5 C). Dorsum. Submargin faintly separated from dorsal by a fold. Longitudinal and transverse molting suture both reaching submargin (Fig. 5 A). Cephalic and first abdominal segment setae extremely long and tuberculate and set on tubercles. Abdominal segments I to VII with median tubercle, small or absent in I / VI (Figs 4 D, 5 A). Median length of pro-, meso- and metathorax: 90.8, 56.6 and 47.1 µm, respectively. Length of abdominal segments as measured along the midline as follows: abdominal segments I – V each 23.2 µm; abdominal segment VI 18.9 µm; abdominal segments VII – VIII each 16.3 µm. Distance between posterior end of vasiform orifice and caudal opening measured 60.4 µm long. Vasiform orifice. Cordate, with a cleft along the posterior margin medially (Fig. 4 E), 52.2 µm long, 48.1 µm wide; operculum subcordate, 29.0 µm long, 27.6 µm wide, almost covering the orifice; lingula concealed and with setae (Figs 4 E, 6 D). Venter. The narrow submarginal area is faintly indicated on the ventral margin. Thoracic and caudal tracheal folds indistinct, thoracic tracheal cleft present. Antennae 48.1 µm long. Anterior abdominal spiracle present. Chaetotaxy. Anterior marginal setae 21.6 µm long. Posterior marginal setae 25.1 µm long Cephalic setae 392.2 µm long (apical joint 277.8 µm and basal joint 114.4 µm). First abdominal setae 288.3 µm long (apical joint 186.2 µm and basal joint 102.1 µm). Eighth abdominal setae lateral to vasiform orifice, 4.5 µm long. Caudal setae 120.2 µm long. Host plant. Rubus lambertianus (Rosales, Rosaceae). Distribution. China (Zhejiang). Biology. Specimens were found with approximately 10–20 puparia per leaf on the undersurface. No ants were observed attending the whitefly. Etymology. The species is named for Rubus, the genus of its host plant. Remarks. The puparium of the new species closely resembles that of Aleuroclava srilankaensis (David, 1993), but differs by having a median tubercle on abdominal segments II – V and VII (vs. II – IV in A. srilankaensis), and a distinct thoracic tracheal opening (absent in A. srilankaensis). Type specimens of A. srilankaensis were not available to the authors for examination, and has it also not been recorded in China.