Plagiognathus tenellus Knight, 1929b: 73

SCHUH, RANDALL T., 2001, Revision Of New World Plagiognathus Fieber, With Comments On The Palearctic Fauna And The Description Of A New Genus (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2001 (266), pp. 1-267 : 229

Plagiognathus tenellus Knight, 1929b: 73 (n. sp.).

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by its moderate size, uniformly orangish yellow coloration of body and appendages (fig. 13), dark tibial spines without dark spots at bases, and tibiae pale at articulation with femora. Vesica (fig. 33) short, compact, sigmoid, with relatively short apical spines at angle to body of vesica; anterior vesical spine cylindrical, longer than posterior (fig. 33); no flange. Pale coloration of the body and antennae most similar to flavidus (fig. 7), guttatipes (fig. 8), and shepherdiae (fig. 13). Distinguished from all of those species by their having tibial spines with black spots at bases and the tibiae being dark at the femoral articulation.

REDESCRIPTION: Male: Medium­sized, relatively broad, but elongate, nearly parallelsided; total length 3.70–3.94, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 2.51–2.66, width across pronotum 1.20–1.29. COLORATION (fig. 13): Uniformly orangish yellow, including antennae (fig. 19), legs, and membrane; dorsal tibial spines without dark spots at bases, although tibial spines dark; tibiae pale at articulation with femora. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsum weakly granular, smooth, moderately shining. Vestiture of dorsum composed of reclining pale, shining, simple setae. Dorsal tibial spines long. STRUCTURE: Lateral corial margins nearly straight and parallel; frons weakly tumid, clypeus not visible from above; anteocular distance equal to diameter of antennal segment 1; head projecting below level of eye by 0.3 times diameter of antennal segment 1; labium reaching to about apex of middle coxae. GENITALIA (fig. 33): Vesica, including apical spines, sigmoid in shape, body of vesica relatively short, compact, broad, and stout, base of vesica falling somewhat below base of secondary gonopore; apical spines of moderate length, angled relatively to body of vesica, anterior spine cylindrical and somewhat longer than posterior; no flange.

Female: Body more strongly ovoid than in male. Total length 3.74, length apex clypeus– cuneal fracture 2.53, width across pronotum 1.26.

HOST: Philadephus rugosus (Hydrangeaceae) (Knight, 1929b).

DISTRIBUTION: Arizona and Colorado.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: USA.— Arizona: Cochise Co. : Chiricahua Mountains , 6200 ft, June 20, 1928, A. A. Nichol, Philadelphus rugosus (Hyrdrangeaceae) , paratypes: 43, 2♀ (USNM). Coconino Co.: Grand Canyon, top of Bright Angel Trail, August 2, 1917, H. H. Knight, paratypes: 23, 2♀ (USNM) ; holotype male (USNM). Colorado: Montezuma Co. : Mancos , August 13, 1925, C. J. Drake, (USNM) ; 1♀ (USNM).