The genus Cuernavaca (Hemiptera: Dictyopharidae), associated with Pontederiaceae in South America, with redescription and new records of C. inexacta (Walker)
Author
Lenicov, Ana María Marino de Remes
Author
Hernádez, María Cristina
Author
Sosa, Alejandro Joaquín
Author
Oleiro, Marina Inés
text
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia
2020
2020-02-06
60
1
9
journal article
10.11606/1807-0205/2020.60.11
c4647d89-ea08-437d-b0cf-72116f1a3d90
1807-0205
3727984
Cuernavaca
Kirkaldy, 1913
Morphological and phylogenetic studies given by
Emeljanov, 2011
and
Song
et al.,
2018
, respectively, show that
Cuernavaca
and
Taosa
are closely related.
Cuernavaca
may be separated from the latter by the following characters: head relatively short, frons broad not visible in dorsal view, tegmina membranous with a second rank of postnodal closed cell on membrane; female with ovipositor elongate, anterior connective lamina of gonapophysis VIII with 12 or more small, longitudinally arranged teeth, gonoplacs extremely elongate and narrow with with a bunch of long setae near apex on ventral lobe.
The three species presently included in this genus can be distinguished by the following key.
Key to species of
Cuernavaca
(Modified from
Remes Lenicov & Hernández,
2010: 334)
1. Uniformly green with a pair of small dark spots on each side of mesonotum; male with gonostyles shorter than anal segment, suboval; females with strongly elongated anal segment, 5 times its width; long and straight gonapophyses VIII with a row of strong bifurcate teeth on dorsal margin (
Remes Lenicov & Hernández,2010
:
Figs.1-3
, p.335-337).................................
C.longula
(Remes Lenicov)
— Green with orange to dark brown marks on basal frons; male with gonostyles equal to longer than anal segment,elongate;females with relatively short anal segment 1.5 times its width; short and sinuate gonapophyses VIII, not surpassing anal segment, with conical dorsal teeth in two rows...............................................................................2
2. Frons with broad longitudinal orange band on submedian carinae in basal half; vertex longer that broad across base;gonostyles elongate, gradually narrowing to the obtusely pointed apex, dorsal margin angular on basal half, upper tooth longer than the basal tooth, with straightly forward position; endosomal processes of phalobase lanceolate and apically acute (
Fig. 1E
); gonapophyses VIII with two subparallel and subequal row of acute teeth(
Fig.1F
).......................... ..............................................................................
C.inexacta
(Walker)
— Frons with longitudinal orange band, blackish at base; vertex broader than long across base; gonostyles elongate, dorsal margin concavely sloping toward apex,ending in a small blunt lobe;upper tooth curved forward;endosomal processes of phalobase regularly slender tapering toward apex; gonapophyses VIII with two unequal rows of teeth (
Fennah,1945
: pl.12,p.293, 297).........................
C.herbida
(Walker)
Plant associations
Cuernavaca inexacta
:
There were records of potential host plants (sugarcane, water hyacinth) but the specimens’ identification was not clearly stated (
Bennett & Zwolfer, 1968
;
Center
et al.,
2002
;
Crutwell, 1973
;
Fennah, 1945
). In our studies, it was found on
P.crassipes
,
P.cordata
,
P. rotundifolia
and
P. subovata
,
which represent new host records.
Cuernavaca longula
:
It was described as the first
Dictyopharinae
species associated to
P. crassipes
from
Argentina
and studied as a candidate of biocontrol of this weed because of its narrow host range in the
Pontederia
spp. (Pontederiaceae)
(
Hernández
et al.,
2011a
;
Remes Lenicov & Hernández, 2010
).
Cuernavaca herbida
:
The only known host plant association is with Liberian coffee in
Trinidad
(
Fennah, 1945
).
Field observations
Representatives of the genus collected on
P.crassipes
in several sites in
Peru
and
Argentina
, show that
C. inexacta
and
C. longula
occupy similar ecological habitats, although
C. inexacta
was more abundant in the wetlands of the Peruvian Amazon than in the Paraná-Paraguay fluvial wetlands system.
The Argentine
wetlands drain into the Rio de La Plata river basin that is the southern border of the native range of the
Pontederiaceae
species and also of the
Cuernavaca
species.