Montandoniola Poppius, 1909

Pluot-Sigwalt, Dominique, Streito, Jean-Claude & Matocq, Armand, 2009, Is Montandoniola moraguesi (Puton, 1896) a mixture of different species? (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae), Zootaxa 2208, pp. 25-43 : 27-28

Genus Montandoniola Poppius, 1909

Montandoniola Poppius, 1909: 30 (gen. n.).

Teisocoris Hiura, 1959: 1 (gen. n.); Carayon, 1961b: 543 (synonymy).

Montandoniola Poppius : Priesner & Alfieri, 1953: 82 (key); Stichel, 1958–1959: 13, 50 (key, diagnosis); Carayon, 1958: 154 (classification); Carayon, 1961a: 136 (mimetism); Herring, 1967: 393 (key); Carayon, 1972: 346 (classification); Péricart, 1972: 191 (key, redescription); Péricart, 1996: 122 (catalog); Postle et al., 2001: 232 (key, redescription); Bu & Zheng, 2001: 177, 183, 236, 237 (key).

Type species: Montandoniella moraguesi Puton, 1896 , Holotype by monotypy.

Redefinition. Distinguished from the other Oriini by the following set of characters: Body somewhat rectangular; head, thorax, and abdomen black, shining, impunctuate. Head: postocular region not narrowed; antennae usually bicolour with second segment more or less swollen; labium short and strong. Thorax: lateral margins of pronotum strongly convergent; hemelytra dark brown with clear central patch, membrane hyaline with a broad dark patch centrally; hindwings with 2 veins, hamus remote from junction of Cu and m-Cu; metasternum wide, nearly truncated posteriorly, median and hind costae distant; ostiolar peritreme of metapleural scent gland with narrow margins, curved in a wide arc, reaching anterior border of metapleuron; evaporative area entirely punctuated-granulous. Body length: 1.5 to 3.5 mm.

Comments. The genus Montandoniola was described by Poppius (1909) for two species: Montandoniella moraguesi Puton, 1896 (first assigned to the genus Montandoniella Puton, 1888 ) and a new species, Montandoniola longiceps Poppius, 1910 , described later.

In spite of their similar general aspect, the two genera, Montandoniola and Montandoniella , cannot be confused. They belong to distinct anthocorine tribes; Carayon (1958) placed the genus Montandoniola in the tribe Oriini ; the genus Montandoniella – downgraded by Péricart (1972) as a subgenus of Temnostethus – belongs to the tribe Anthocorini .

Carayon (1961b) established the synonymy of Teisocoris Hiura, 1959 (type: Ectemnus pictipennis Esaki ) with the genus Montandoniola Poppius 1909 (type Montandoniola moraguesi Puton ), but he did not establish the synonymy between the related species.

The Montandoniola species form a very homogenous group in their general aspect due to some mimeticism with the thrips, their prey, as already noticed ( Bergroth, 1916; Risbec, 1951; Carayon, 1958; Carayon & Ramade 1962). This mimeticism is more obvious in living specimens ( Risbec, 1951).

In species recognition, some external morphological characters can be of use (body size, colour of antennal segments and legs, shape of the ostiolar peritreme), but the most important diagnostic characters are found at the level of the genitalia. For the male: shape of the pygophore and paramere; see in Fig. 32 : flagellum (f), lame (l) [blade, cone], and denticule (d) [tooth]); for the female: shape, size, and location of the copulatory tube ( Fig. 38 , ct) opening in the intersegmental membrane between sternites VII–VIII.

Biological data: prey, habitats. In contrast to most anthocorids which are generalist predators, the Montandoniola species attack exclusively thrips ( Thysanoptera ), a rare case of oligophagy among anthocorids first emphasized by Carayon (1961a). Numerous thrips species (mostly Phlaeothripidae and some Thripidae ) have been reported, parasitizing Ficus spp. ( Moraceae ) and many other plants (see review in Dobbs & Boyd, 2006).

Members of the genus Montandoniola are usually found in cryptic habitats: inside galls and rolled leaves induced by thrips.

Species composition of the genus and type locality of the species. The genus now contains eight species listed below in chronological order; type locality is indicated in square brackets.

M. moraguesi ( Puton, 1896) [Majorca, Balearic Islands], M. longiceps Poppius, 1910 [Kilimanjaro, East Africa], M. thripodes Bergroth, 1916 , bona species [ Hong Kong], M. pictipennis ( Esaki, 1931) , bona species [Kyushu, Japan], M. sawtellense Postle, Steiner & Goodwin, 2001 [Sawtell: New South Wales, Australia], M. ishikawai Yamada, 2007 [Bali, Indonesia], M. bellatula Yamada, 2007 [Bali, Indonesia], M. confusa Streito & Matocq , sp. nov. [ Guadeloupe, West Indies].

Figures

FIGURES 29 – 37. Comparison of the male genitalia between M. moraguesi, M. thripodes, and M. confusa sp. nov. 29 – 31, pygophore, dorsal view; 32 – 34, paramere, dorsal view; 35 – 37, paramere, lateral view; scale bars: 0.1 mm. d = denticule; f = flagelle; l = lame.

FIGURES 38 – 40. Female copulatory tube, internal ventral view. 38, M. moraguesi; 39, M. pictipennis; 40, M. confusa sp. nov.; scale bar: 0.1 mm. ct = copulatory tube; StVII = sternite VII.