Plagiognathus emarginatae, SCHUH, 2001

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 : 76-77

Plagiognathus emarginatae , new species Figures 7 , 16 , 23

HOLOTYPE: Male : ‘‘ USA: CA[alifornia]: Alpine Co.: N of Ebbetts Pass , Pacific Crest Nat’l Scenic Trail , Toiyabe Nat’l Forest on Rt 4, 8000̍, 5.7.94, M. D. Schwartz, Prunus emarginata (Dougl.) Walpers’ ’. Deposited in the American Museum of Natural History.

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by its relatively large size, elongate, nearly parallel­sided body form, brown to nearly black coloration, and silvery, shining, weakly scalelike vestiture of dorsum intermixed posteriorly on the corium with recumbent, dark, simple setae (fig. 7). Most similar in size, coloration, and body conformation among western species to urticae (fig. 14), but that species having only simple, silvery, unflattened setae on the dorsum. Also possibly confused with totally dark specimens of brunneus , lineatus , and shoshonea , although silvery vestiture in those species uniformly distributed across entire dorsum.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Elongate, nearly parallel­sided, moderately large; total length 4.15–4.47, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 2.98–3.02, width across pronotum 1.25– 1.35. COLORATION (fig. 7): General coloration usually nearly black, never with additional pale markings, although posterior margin of vertex weakly pale and posterior margin of veins of membrane pale with an adjoining small, triangular pale patch at posterior inner angle of cuneus; antennal segment 1 entirely dark, without pale apical annulus, segment 2 dark (fig. 16), segments 3 and 4 weakly infuscate; labium largely castaneous; venter, including metathoracic scent­gland evaporatory area, entirely castaneous; coxae, trochanters, and femora castaneous, or largely so; dorsal tibial spines with black spots at bases; tibiae black at articulation with femora; tibiae sometimes mostly black on proximal one­half of dorsal surface, much of ventral surface pale or nearly so. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsum weakly granular, smooth, weakly shining. Vestiture of dorsum composed of rather densely placed, flattened, weakly scalelike, silvery, shining setae intermixed with dark, simple setae on posterior half of corium. STRUCTURE: Frons weakly bulging and only slightly projecting beyond anterior margin of eyes in dorsal view, clypeus visible from above; anteocular distance 1.6 times diameter of antennal segment 1; head projecting below level of eye by diameter of antennal segment 1; labium reaching to about apex of middle coxae. GENITALIA (fig. 23): Body of vesica vaguely J­shaped, base of vesica falling somewhat below level of secondary gonopore, posterior apical spine relatively short, nearly straight, almost erect relative to body of vesica, anterior spine much longer than posterior and forming nearly a right angle with body of vesica; flange on vesica moderately broad, reaching to about basal one­third of secondary gonopore.

Female: Very similar to male in coloration but body conspicuously ovoid in outline. Total length 3.67–4.10, length apex clypeus– cuneal fracture 2.68–2.96, width across pronotum 1.15–1.26.

ETYMOLOGY: Named for its occurrence on Prunus emarginata .

HOSTS: Prunus emarginata , P. subcordata (Rosaceae) ; Ceanothus velutinus (Rhamnaceae) .

DISTRIBUTION: Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

DISCUSSION: A single male specimen from Sisson, California, July 26, 1918, E. P. Van Duzee (CAS) has scalelike setae similar to those found in the specimens recorded as paratypes for emarginatae . It differs from all other known specimens of this taxon in having the base of the corium and the base of the cuneus white and in having the trochan­ ters and adjoining portions of the coxae and femora pale.

PARATYPES: USA.— California: Alpine Co. : N of Ebbetts Pass, Pacific Crest Natl. Scenic Trail, Toiyabe Natl. Forest, Rt4, July 5, 1994, M. D. Schwartz, Prunus emarginata (Rosaceae) , 13, 6♀ (AMNH, CNC). Just W of Minitor Pass on Rt 89, 2550 m, July 27, 1999, M. D. Schwartz, Ceanothus velutinus (Rhamnaceae) , 13, 5♀ (AMNH, CNC). El Dorado Co.: Kyburz, July 10, 1965, H. H. Knight, 43, 5♀ (USNM). Fresno Co.: Huntington Lake, 7000 ft, July 8, 1919, E. P. Van Duzee, 13, 1♀ (CAS). Modoc Co.: Likely, July 1, 1975, E. Paddock, 13, (CAFA). Siskiyou Co.: Mt. Shasta City Park, Big Springs Creek, June 22, 1985, C. B. Barr, 13, 1♀ (LSU). Tuolumne Co.: Deadman Creek just E of vista point on Rt 108, 2800 m, July 27, 1999, M. D. Schwartz, Prunus subcordata (Rosaceae) , 63, 1♀ (AMNH, CNC).

OTHER SPECIMENS: Sisson, July 26, 1918, E. P. Van Duzee, 1 3 (CAS).

Figures

Fig. 7. Habitus figures of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp. (see p. 263 for localities).

Fig. 16. Antennal segments 1 and 2 of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp.

Fig. 23. Male genitalia of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp.