Plagiognathus aquilinus, 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 : 43-44

Plagiognathus aquilinus , new species Figures 6 , 15 , 21

HOLOTYPE: Male : ‘‘[ USA] COLO[rado]., Eagle Co., nr. Vail , June 20, 1981, J. T. Polhemus, Picea sp. (spruce)’’. Deposited in the American Museum of Natural History.

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by large size, generally red­orange coloration of the dorsum and appendages (fig. 6) (except antennal segment 1 completely dark), darkened calli, reclining, black, bristlelike setae on pronotum and anterolateral margins of hemelytra, and reddish recumbent setae on hemelytra. Similar in coloration of dorsum to fulvaceus and mexicanus , but calli at most weakly darkened in those species, fulvaceus without black setae on dorsum, and mexicanus with antennal segment 2 entirely black rather than mostly red­orange. Vesica distinctive, with erect, apical spines slightly decurved before apices (fig. 21).

DESCRIPTION: Male: Relatively large; total length 4.27–5.15, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 2.89–3.39, width across pronotum 1.21–1.38. COLORATION (fig. 6): General coloration of dorsum, including most of venter and appendages, dull reddish; venter slightly darker; membrane weakly fumose with a faint, transverse, fumose marking posterior to cuneus and membrane cells; veins of membrane reddish; antennal segment 1 castaneous except for pale apical annulus, segment 2 infuscate at base (fig. 15), remainder reddish, segments 3 and 4 infuscate; frons and face below base of clypeus variably infuscate; femora with some dark spots; dorsal tibial spines without dark spots at bases; tibiae not darkened at articulation with femora. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsum smooth, mostly dull; hemelytra transversely rugulose. Vestiture of dorsum composed of reclining, black, bristlelike setae on pronotum and anterolateral margins of hemelytra and reddish recumbent setae on hemelytra. STRUCTURE: Relatively broadbodied, flattened; frons weakly tumid, clypeus not visible from above; anteocular distance equal to diameter of antennal segment 1; head projecting below eye by 1.3 times diameter of antennal segment 1; labium reaching to apex of hind coxae. GENITALIA (fig. 21): Vesica, including apical spines more or less sigmoid, body relatively broad, base falling well below base of secondary gonopore; apical spines erect, decurved subapically, anterior spines distinctly shorter than posterior; no flange on vesica.

Female: Shorter and more strongly ovoid than male; coloration similar to male (fig. 6); antennae almost totally pale, in contrast to male (fig. 15). Total length 3.62–3.85, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 2.53–2.70, width across pronotum 1.08–1.24.

ETYMOLOGY: From the Latin, aquilinus , of eagles, in allusion to its occurrence in Eagle County, Colorado.

HOST: Picea sp. (Pinaceae) .

DISTRIBUTION: Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico.

DISCUSSION: I have seen three additional female specimens from ‘‘Flagstaff, Ariz., Mt. Humphreys, August 16, 1967, L. A. Kelton, on Abies concolor ’’ (CNC). They are darker than the holotype and paratypes from Colorado, but are otherwise similar in appearance. In view of the very limited amount of material of aquilinus , and the absence of male genitalia for the Arizona specimens, I do not have confidence in assigning them to aquilinus . The scanty amount of available information on this distinctive taxon, as well as the possibility that more than one species might be involved, suggests that additional collecting on conifers in the southern Rockies and adjacent Arizona may yield additional evidence of diversification in Plagiognathus .

PARATYPES: USA.— Colorado: Clear Creek Co.: Mt. Goliath area, 11,200 ft, August 21, 1986, R. T. Schuh and J. T. Polhemus, Pinus aristata (Pinaceae) , 13, 2♀ (AMNH). Eagle Co.: near Vail, July 20, 1981, J. T. Polhemus, Picea sp. (Pinaceae) , paratypes: 13, 3♀ (AMNH, JTP). New Mexico: Otero Co.: Cloudcroft, 9100 ft, July 5, 1968, L. A. Kelton, 13, (CNC).

Figures

Fig. 6. Habitus figures of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp. (see p. 263 for localities).

Fig. 15. Antennal segments 1 and 2 of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp.

Fig. 21. Male genitalia of Nearctic Plagiognathus spp.