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Pityococcus rugulosus lifecycle
4. Second stage quiescent larva
5f. Female cyst (this set)
6f. Quiescent adult female

The images in this set are of different individuals collected during March of 2015 and 2016 from a Pinus edulis (pinyon) tree on Embudito Trl. (No. 192) at 6983 ft elevation in the Sandia Crest 7.5’ quadrangle, Sandia Mountains, Bernalillo Co., NM. They are all imaged live.

The male and female lifecycles diverge at this stage. P. rugulosus second stage quiescent larva females form cysts and continue to develop on their needles, as shown here, while males molt into immature male crawlers and move to and bury themselves in the ground detritus under the tree to pupate.

The ventral-lateral viewis of a cyst whose proboscis has been partially pulled out of the needle. This is due to the molted integument from the previous stage dragging a portion of the proboscis rearward. The extra length needed for this displacement may account for the proboscis' great length. It will continue to be used to feed during this stage and beyond.

Long straight wax fibers secrete radially outward from the cyst toward the end of this phase, at which time the cysts have grown significantly larger. They presumably help keep the larger cyst attached to the needle. The efficacy of doing so is enhanced by the fact that their host Pinus edulis (two needle pinyon) has needles which grow in close pairs, between which the cysts grow (the second needle has been removed for these images). The only other attachment mechanism is the proboscis.

The single specimen shown in the 4'th through 6'th image was shaken free from its branch and into a collection tub the previous year. It was left for a few days at room temperature after collection before being imaged, during which time the fibers had [re]grown. The fibers are very brittle and weak, so any present while the cyst was still on the needle would have been broken off.

This image is from a CombineZP processed stack of 180 images with a 5.6 µm step taken with a Mitutoyo M Plan APO 10×/0.28 ∞/0 mm microscope objective + Nikon 200 mm F4 AIS telephoto lens + Nikon D810 camera (magnification 10×; technique described here).

The main pages for each linked image set documenting a stage of development for this species are linked here: