Calliphara regalis ( FABRICIUS 1775 )

Gerry Cassis & Loren Vanags, 2006, Jewel Bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae), Denisia 19, pp. 275-398 : 343-345

Calliphara regalis ( FABRICIUS 1775) ( Figs 1a , 19d , 20 , 22 , 23 )

Cimex regalis FABRICIUS 1775: 697 (n.sp.); FABRICIUS 1781: 339 (description); FABRICIUS 1794: 80 (description); DONOVAN 1805: pl. 3 fig. 3 (habitus) Tetyra regalis : FABRICIUS 1803: 28 (new combination); GERMAR 1839: 127 (description) CallipHara regalis : GERMAR 1839: 127 (new combination); STÅL 1866: 153 (description); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 24 (catalogue); DISTANT 1899: 38 (list; synonymy); VAN DUZEE 1905: 189 (diagnosis); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 32 (list); KIRKALDY 1909: 297 (catalogue); SCHOUTEDEN 1933: 46 (Indonesia); MCDONALD 1961: 182, figs 33-38 (male genitalia); MCDONALD 1963a: 30 (male genitalia); BLACK 1968: 573 (Melanesia); MCDONALD & CASSIS 1984: 563 (description); CASSIS & GROSS 2002: 589 (catalogue) CalipHara ( CHrysocoris) imperialis : STÅL 1873: 18 (subgeneric arrangement) Callidea eximia VOLLENHOVEN 1863: 20 (n.sp.); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 24 (catalogue); DISTANT 1899: 38 (synonymy); KIRKALDY 1909: 298 (catalogue); LYAL 1979: 173 (synonymy) TetrartHria sobria WALKER 1867: 21 (n.sp.); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 25 (catalogue); KIRKALDY 1909: 297 (synonym of CallipHara praslinia ); LYAL 1979: 173 (synonymy) Callidea erytHrospila WALKER 1867: 33 (n.sp.); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 23 (as CallipHara billardierii ?ssp.); DISTANT 1899: 38 (synonymy); KIRKALDY 1909: 298 (catalogue; synonymy); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 32 (synonymy) Callidea semirufa WALKER 1867: 34 (n.sp.); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 23 (as CallipHara billardierii ?ssp.); DISTANT 1899: 38 (synonymy); KIRKALDY 1909: 297 (catalogue; synonymy); DISTANT 1899: 38 (synonymy); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 32 (synonymy) Callidea biplaga WALKER 1867: 35 (n.sp.); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 23 (as CallipHara billardierii ?ssp.); DISTANT 1899: 38 (synonymy); KIRKALDY 1909: 297 (catalogue; synonymy); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 32 (synonymy)

Diagnosis: CallipHara regalis is recognised by the following characters: dorsum orange, with head and tip of scutellum iridescent dark-green ( Figs 1a , 19d ); base of femora orange, remainder orange-fuscous; pregenital abdominal venter mostly orange, sometimes with trichobothrial area dusty; abdominal SIV-VII minutely spinose; CAI(D) lobate ( Figs 22c, d ); CAI(V) elongate, outwardly arcuate ( Figs 22c, d ); CAII(M) with distal bifid lobal sclerite ( Figs 22c, d ); CAIII elongate, digitiform ( Figs 22c, d ); and, vesica short, with apical hood ( Figs 21c, d ).

Description: Body large, males 16-17 mm, females 17-19 mm.

Colouration. (Australian morph) Body bicoloured ( Figs 1a , 19d ); dorsum mostly golden-orange with head fuscous iridescent green and tip of scutellum with a round fuscous subdistal spot; antennae black; labium mostly orange-black, LIV fuscous. Legs: coxae, trochanters and proximal 4/5 of femora orange-red, apex of femora, tibiae and tarsi orange-fuscous. Thoracic pleura mostly golden-orange, with irregular fuscous markings. Pregenital Abdomen: venter mostly orange, with SII/III boundary and areas bounding trichobothria fuscous. Female Terminalia: with fuscous highlighting. Male Genitalia: pygophore fuscous-iridiscent green; with lateral margins orange; terminalia black with iridescent green hue.

Texture. Pronotum and scutellum with moderate distribution of fine punctures, less densely distributed on callosite region and anterior callus of scutellum; propleuron and metepimeron with sparse distribution of deep punctures; abdominal venter weakly rugulose, more rugopunctate laterally.

Vestiture. Dorsum glabrous; abdominal venter with sparse distribution of pale, semierect, pale setae.

Structure. Head: eyes large, greater than 1/3 length of Head. Antennae: AII(a) short, little more than 1/2 of AI; Labium: reaching posterior margin of metacoxae to abdominal sterna II. Pregenital Abdomen: posterior angles of SIV-VII minutely spinose. Male Genitalia: ventral margin of male pygophore rounded, genital opening of pygophore with dorsal and ventral patches of setae ( Figs 20f , 22a ); parameres with small medial tumescence, setose ( Fig. 22b ); ejaculatory apparatus small, ventral conducting canal short, with two pairs of convolutions ( Figs 22c, d ); ejaculatory reservoir short, heavily sclerotized ( Figs 22c, d ); CAI(D) lobate, weakly sclerotized medially, CAI(V) elongate, outwardly arcuate, heavily sclerotized ( Figs 22c, d ); CAII(L) with large, membraneous lobe; CAII(M) with distal bifid lobal sclerite ( Figs 22c, d ); CAIII greatly elongate, digitiform lobal sclerite ( Figs 22c, d ); vesica short, secondary gonopore positioned just post-thecal margin, with a greatly enlarged, hooded apical process ( Fig. 22d ). Female Terminalia: paratergites VIII large, subtriangular, medially separated; paratergites IX smaller, subelliptoid; gonocoxae I large, subtriangular, flap-like. Spermatheca: reservoir elliptoid.

Measurements. MCDONALD & CASSIS 1984: Table 6 .

Type material examined: Callidea biplaga WALKER : Holotype, ♂, ‘ Aru Isl. ’, 58-48’, ’42 Callidea biplagia ’ ‘ B.M. Hem. Type No. 471’ ( BMNH ; dermestid damage; without lectotype label); Callidea semirufa WALKER : Holotype, ♀, ‘ Waigou’, ‘Saunders 65-13’, ‘ Callidea semirufa WALK. (type) ’, ‘B.M. Hem. Type No. 472’ ( BMNH ; dermestid damage; without lectotype label); Callidea erytHrospila WALKER: Lectotype, ♂, ‘Cer.’, ‘Saunders 65-13’, ‘ Callidea erytHrospila ’, ‘B.M. Hem. Type No. 473’ ( BMNH ; damaged; without lectotype label); TetrartHria sobria WALKER : Holotype, ♀, ‘ New Heb’ , ‘66-12’, ‘ TetrartHria sobria WALK’, ‘B.M. Hem. Type No. 468’ ( BMNH ; damaged; without lectotype label).

Other material examined: Queensland: 1♂, Cairns , July 1954, A Homes ( AM) ; 1♀, Etty Bay, 8 km SE Innisfail, 13-viii-1983, NW Rodd ( AM) ; 1♂, Clump Point, 6 March 1964, IFB Common & MS Upton ( ANIC) ; 1♀, Lloyd Bay, 3 miles N Claudie River, 14-i-1972, DK McAlpine & GA Holloway ( AM) ; 1♂, Palm Island ( AMNH) ; 2♂♂ 1♀, ‘318’ ( AMNH) .

Distribution: CallipHara regalis is widespread outside Australia from Indonesia (as far west as Sumatra) to New Caledonia and Vanuatu in the east. In Australia, it is known from the Torres Strait Islands to the wet tropics of Queensland ( Fig. 23 ).

Host plant and biology: No host plant has been recorded for this species. This species has been found in aggregations on leaves ( Fig. 1a ).

Remarks: LYAL (1979) designated all of the Walker types of the junior synonyms as lectotypes. The lectotype designations were unnecessary as the original descriptions refer to a single specimen, and only a single specimen of each available name was found in the BMNH. In addition, we found that he did not add lectotype labels to the specimens. We formally reject these lectotype designations and regard them as holotypes.

LYAL (1979) placed C. regalis in the CallipHara excellens species-group on the basis of the male pygophoral and aedeagal characters. MCDONALD (1961) described its male genitalia in detail, showing the elongate, digitiform CAI(V) and CAIII. Our dissections from across the range of this species confirm McDonald’s observations. It exhibits remarkable colour variation; in Australia, all the specimens we observed have the dorsum mostly orange, with the head iridescent green and the subapex of the scutellum with a subdistal iridescent fuscousgreen; sometimes the pronotum is darker. In Melanesia, this species is extremely variable, but rarely as in the Australian colour morph, and can be mostly iridescent blue or green, or copper-green, with up to eight black spots on the scutellum. The male aedeagi of all the colour morphs are identical, and the colour variation is extreme if not continuous.

Figures

Fig. 1: Examples of Australian Scutelleridae species and their host plant species (a) adult aggregation of Calliphara regalis (b) Cantao parentum on Mallotus philippensis (c) Choerocoris paganus on Dodonaea viscoca (d) Lampromicra senator on unidentified host plant (e) Scutiphora pedicellata on unidentified host plant (f) Tectocoris diophthalmus on Brachychiton acerifolius.

Fig. 19: Habitus of Australian Calliphara species (a) Calliphara dimidiata cruenta, Oi (b) Calliphara imperialis, Oi (c) Calliphara nobilis, Oi (d) Calliphara regalis, Oi. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 20: Scanning electron micrographs of key characters of Calliphara imperialis (a) Head, dorsal view (b) Head, lateral view (c) Head and thorax, ventral view (d) External efferent system of metathoracic glands, ventral view (e) male pygophore, ventral view (f) male pygophore, dorsal view. Abbreviations: Ea = evaporative area; Go = genital opening; Pe = peritreme; P(r) = right paramere. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 22: Male genitalia of Calliphara regalis (a) pygophore, dorsal view (b) paramere, lateral view (c) aedeagus, lateral view (d) apex of aedeagus, ventral view. Abbreviations: C = crown of paramere; CAI(V) = ventral branch of first conjunctival appendage; CAI(D) = dorsal branch of first conjunctival appendage; CAII(L) = lateral branch of second conjunctival appendage; CAII(M) = medial branch of second conjunctival appendage; CAIII = third conjunctival appendage; DS(D) = ductus seminis distalis; DS(P) = ductus seminis proximalis; Er = ejaculatory reservoir; GO = genital opening; Pt = phallotheca; S = stem of paramere; Sg = secondary gonopore; SP = setose patches of male genital opening; VCC = ventral conducting canal; Vp = distal process of vesica; VM = ventral margin of genital opening.

Fig. 23: Distribution of Australian Calliphara species.

Fig. 21: Colouration of Abdominal Venter in Australian Scutellerinae (a) Calliphara dimidiata cruenta (b) Calliphara imperialis (c) Calliphara nobilis (d) Calliscyta stalii (e) Cantao parentum (f) Lampromicra aerea (g) Lampromicra regia (h) Lampromicra senator (i) Scutiphora pedicellata.