Arma modesta, (Arma)

Roell, Talita, Lemaître, Valérie A., Webb, Michael D. & Campos, Luiz A., 2023, An annotated and illustrated Type Catalogue of the predacious Shieldbugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae) in the Collection of the Natural History Museum, London, Zootaxa 5232 (1), pp. 1-105 : 57

modesta (Arma) Dallas 1851: 101–102. [ Figs 116–119 ]

Original data: “ ♁ ♀ ”; “a. N. America. From Lieut. Redman’s Collection. b. Cincinnati. Presented by G. Lea, Esq. c. Trenton Falls . Presented by E. Doubleday, Esq. d. N. America. From Mr. Children’s Collection. ” [syntypes (male and female; four provenances)]

LECTOTYPE ♁ (designated by Distant 1880: 39): purple-margined lectotype disc; red-margined type disc; “5. ARMA MODESTA ,”; “698”; “a”; “NHMUK 010592326”. Second to fifth right and left antennomeres, left legs, and abdomen missing. The abdomen is inside a vial ( Fig. 116 ).

PARALECTOTYPE ♁: blue-margined paralectotype disc; “Cincinnati / 44 76”; “ Arma modesta Walker’s catal.”; “b”; “NHMUK 010747390”. Double mounted; Fourth and fifth left antennomeres, and right middle leg missing ( Fig. 117 ).

PARALECTOTYPE ♀: blue-margined paralectotype disc; “688”; “a”; “R”; “NHMUK 010747391”. Second to fifth right antennomeres, fourth and fifth left antennomeres, anterior legs, and posterior legs missing ( Fig. 118 ).

PARALECTOTYPE ♀: blue-margined paralectotype disc; “ E. Doubleday. Trenton Falls , New York ”; “ Arma modesta Walker’s catal.”; “41.5.17.87”; “c”; “NHMUK 010747392”. Double mounted. Fourth and fifth right antennomeres, and right hemelytron missing ( Fig. 119 ) .

Current status: Podisus maculiventris (Say, 1831) (synonymised by Phillips 1983: 136; see Thomas 1992: 93; Rider 2012: 324).

Notes: Dallas listed four different provenances. Walker (1867a: 134) listed one specimen per provenance and it is therefore likely that Dallas had, at least four specimens when he described the species. We have found four in the collection but the North American specimen from Children’s collection (“d”) is missing or has not been recognised (these little labels with the first letters of the alphabet are in Dallas’s handwriting and still mark on most of his specimens the provenances listed in his catalogue). Distant (1880: 39) stated: “The specimen figured is from Mexico, and differs from the type in having the pronotal angles more acute.” [emphasis ours]. We accept Distant’s mention of “the type” as a valid lectotype designation before 2000 ( ICZN 1999: Art. 74.5); his marking the specimen by a red-margined “Type” disc as he arranged the 63 Pentatomidae drawers in 1899–1900 ( Hampson 1906: 627) confirms which specimen was meant. Phillips’s (1983) thesis remained unpublished; her new synonymies, however, were validated by Thomas as was her new species Podisus brevispinus , which as Rider (2012: 324) noted, should carry the following authorship: Phillips, 1992. Thomas (1992: 92) also examined and detailed “the type”.

Figures

FIGURES 113–120. Type and non-type specimens deposited in NHMUK. 113, Cantheconidea migratoria; 114–115, Ealda minax; 116–119, Arma modesta; 120, Edessa moesta. Scale bars: 4 mm.