New Genera, New Species, and New Combinations in Western Nearctic Phylini (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae)
Author
WEIRAUCH, CHRISTIAN E.
text
American Museum Novitates
2006
2006-07-31
3521
1
1
44
http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1206%2F0003-0082(2006)3521%5B1%3ANGNSAN%5D2.0.CO%3B2
journal article
10.1206/0003-0082(2006)3521[1:NGNSAN]2.0.CO;2
0003-0082
5384117
Insulaphylus
,
new genus
Figures 1
,
2
,
4
,
6–9
,
11
TYPE
SPECIES:
Insulaphylus cruz
,
new species
.
DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from other
Phylini
by the following combination of characters: Medium to rather large size, elongate ovoid body shape, pale reddish to reddish brown coloration, pronotum and scutellum pale with irregular small dark spots, hemelytra without spots (fig. 1), vesica Sshaped and slender, with one apical blade, secondary gonopore of medium size, gonopore sclerite very long and slender, Y-shaped (fig. 4). Habitus somewhat similar to
Quernocoris
,
new genus
, but distinguished by having spots on the mesoscutum and scutellum and by the structure of male genitalia.
DESCRIPTION:
Male
: Moderate to rather large size (3.32–4.33), elongate ovoid, and moderately stout in lateral view. COLOR- ATION (fig. 1): General coloration pale, light brown and reddish, pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with numerous small dark spots, pronotal callus often yellowish and lined with brown, anterior crescent-shaped portion of cuneus hyaline, remaining portion pale.
Head
: Vertex pale to light reddish with five paired transverse fasciae brown and additional brown mark on the interior margin of the eye, clypeus pale or light reddish with paired longitudinal stripes, subapical area castaneous, and apex white, labrum brown, mandibular plate pale or light reddish, maxillary plate and gena, including area surrounding antennal fossa brown, buccula whitish, gula brown with large lateral yellowish mark; antennal segment 1 whitish or yellowish with a basal and a subapical ring brown, segment 2 yellowish, with white ring at base, followed by an area suffused with brown, and apex suffused with brown, segments 3 and 4 brownish; labial segments 1 to 3 yellowish white, segment 4 suffused with brown.
Thorax
: Pronotum, mesoscutum, and scutellum pale, sprinkled with small dark marks, sometimes suffused with grey, orange, brown, or red, and sometimes with a whitish longitudinal line, with callus yellowish lined with brown, pleura brown, often with margin of procoxal cavity and dorsal margin of propleuron, dorsal rim of mesepisternum and posterior rim of mesepimeron and evaporatory area lighter brown, whitish, or yellowish, with peritreme sometimes orange.
Legs
: Pale yellowish with extreme base of coxae and tibia distally suffused with brown, base of tibiae often and distal tarsomere usually brown, dark marks on femur and tibial spines with dark base.
Hemelytra
: Corium including clavus yellowish, suffused with red and brown toward the costal fracture, cuneus proximally transparent or whitish with the remaining parts reddish.
Abdomen
: Venter, pygophore, parameres, and phallotheca brown, ventral connexival laterotergites usually with yellow marks, pygophore yellowish and brown. SURFACE AND VESTITURE (fig. 9C): Dorsum weakly shining, with rather dense, subadpressed setae of moderate length and stoutness, some (black asterisk) stouter than others (white asterisk), with stout and more erect black setae on head and pronotum, bases of setae usually associated with dark roundish marks on pronotum and scutellum. STRUCTURE:
Head
(figs. 2C, 4): Triangular in dorsal aspect, vertex wide, slightly convex and almost straight behind, clypeus moderately produced, maxillary plate slightly sunken, buccula short, buccal cavity large and ovoid, gula short; eyes a little more than 3/4 of height of head, of moderate size, emarginate posterior to antennal fossa, posterolateral margin contiguous with anterolateral margin of pronotum; antennal segment 1 short and relatively slender, segment 2 long, more slender than segment 1, diameter slightly increasing toward apex, segments 3 and 4 combined shorter than segment 2; apex of labium reaching base of metacoxa.
Thorax
(figs. 7C, 8C): Pronotum trapeziform, anterior margin straight, lateral margins convex, posterior margin slightly sinuate, anterior and posterior pronotal lobes weakly demarcated, callus slightly developed, metapleural evaporatorium with mushroomlike cuticle area well developed, mushroomlike cuticle anterior to mesothoracic spiracle well developed (fig. 7C).
Legs
: Slender; claws slender, pulvilli low but long, covering more than half of ventral claw surface, parempodia setiform, slender and moderately elongate, unpaired, very short seta medially on the ventrodistal surface of pretarsus represents the dorsal arolium (fig. 8C).
Hemelytra
: Subparallel, cuneus elongate triangular.
Abdomen
: Abdomen reaching to apex of cuneus. GENITALIA (fig. 4):
Pygophore
: Of moderate size and stoutness.
Parameres
: Right paramere typically phyline lanceolate; left paramere with anterior process short and stout, posterior process relatively long and slender with apex distinctly pointing ventrad.
Phallotheca
: Moderately elongate and slender, L-shaped, apex tapering and pointed, with ventral opening slitlike.
Vesica
: S-shaped and slender, with one apical blade, secondary gonopore in apical third, of medium size and ovate, either facing left or caudad, gonopore sclerite present, long slender, and Y-shaped.
Female
(fig. 1): Color pattern similar to male but coloration paler, body shape slightly more ovoid and larger than male, with pronotum wider, eyes smaller, antennal segment 2 more slender, increase in diameter toward the apex more pronounced than in male. GENITALIA (fig. 6): See description of
type
species
Insulaphylus cruz
,
new species
.
ETYMOLOGY: Named for the distribution of the two included species, which are so far known only from the Channel Islands off the coast of southern
California
, combined with the generic name
Phylus
to emphasize its systematic position within
Miridae
. The gen- der of the name is masculine.
DISCUSSION: This new genus of oak-inhabiting
Phylini
is clearly distinguished from other
Phylini
collected on
Quercus
in the western
United States
by the habitus and male genitalic structures. Furthermore, this taxon is so far known only from the Channel Islands.
The two species in the genus
Insulaphylus
do not occur sympatrically on the Channel Islands.
Insulaphylus cruz
is known only from
Santa Cruz
Island, whereas the much smaller and dark-colored
I. meridianus
,
new species
, is so far known only from the two more southerly Islands,
Santa Catalina
and San Clemente (fig. 11). The apparent restriction of
I. meridianus
to the two southernmost Channel Islands represents an interesting biogeographic pattern. Even though the two islands are only
35 km
apart, they share only 27% of their total species inventory of
Lepidoptera (
Powell 1994
)
, with none of the lepidopterans endemic to either island shared by the other. The phyline species described here might be an example of an endemic shared between the two islands.
Additional host-documented specimen records from the Channel Islands and, ideally, records from San Miguel and
Santa
Rosa Islands
as well, would be very valuable in assessing the distribution and host association of species of this apparently island endemic taxon.
In
Lepidoptera
, only 3.3% of the species occurring on the Channel Islands are endemic (
Powell 1994
). Assuming that the currently known distribution of
Insulaphylus
reflects reality, rather than a sampling bias, this genus of
Phylini
represents one of the few known instances of Channel Island endemics.
KEY TO SPECIES OF
INSULAPHYLUS
1. Rather large, total length
3.82–4.33 mm
, pale to reddish brown (fig. 1), male vesica large and stout, basal half not strongly twisted (fig. 4) ..........................................
cruz
,
n.sp.
– Medium size, total length
3.32–3.66 mm
, reddish coloration often dark (fig. 1), male vesica rather small and slender, basal half strongly twisted (fig. 4) .....
meridianus
,
n.sp.