Perenotus, Roca-Cusachs, Marcos & Goula, Marta, 2016

Roca-Cusachs, Marcos & Goula, Marta, 2016, New genus and species of ant-like true bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) from the Canary Islands, Zootaxa 4173 (1) : -

Perenotus gen. nov.

Type species. Perenotus gen. nov. malobae sp. nov. Roca-Cusachs & Goula 2016

Etymology. The generic name honours Dr. P. Oromí, Professor of Entomology at the Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, as a recognition of his many and great contributions to the entomological knowledge of the Macaronesia. The genus name is composed by the combination of Dr. Oromí’s Catalan first name (Pere) and the latin adjective—notus (= ”known”). Gender is masculine.

Diagnosis. Perenotus is diagnosed from other Hallodapini genera based on the following characters: General coloration reddish brown. Ventral and dorsal vestiture composed by thin, semierect, scattered setae. No sexual dimorphism. Male and female myrmecomorphic, micropterous. Rostrum long, reaching base of abdomen.

Metatarsal segment (Mt) I shorter than Mt II. Antennal segment (At) III shorter than At II. At II slightly shorter than At III+ At IV, Antennomers cylindrical, robust, all of them equally thick. Head globose, jugae (mandibular plate), and genae (maxillary plate) not inflated. Eyes oval, distant from both anterior margin of pronotum and antennal tubercle. Front and vertex convex, vertex emarginated. Propleural acetabulae bilobate and laterally protruded. Pronotum ring-shaped, dorsally convex. Scutellum triangular slightly longer than wide, with a distinctive conical hump on posterior half, not surpassing dorsal level of head or pronotum. Micropterous hemelytra lacking membrane, with lateral margins slightly convex, posteriorly divergent and curved upwards, with longitudinal pale stripe along the external margin, missing any transversal pale stripes ( Fig. 1 ).

It was already stated by Ribes et al. (2008) and Wyniger (2006) that in dorsal view the gynatrial complex of P. stysi n. comb. show a general appearance like that of Systellonotus discoidalis Horváth, 1894 , S. alpinus Frey- Gessner, 1871, and S. triguttatus (Linnaeus, 1767) . However, in P. s t y s i sclerotized rings are more rounded, lateral oviducts are less voluminous, and the U-shaped antero-medial fold lateral oviducts are more similar to the illustration for Omphalonotus quadriguttatus (Kirschbaum, 1856) found in Wyniger (2006). In Perenotus the most distinctive features are the transversal position of seminal depository, the absence of spermatecal gland, the regularly oval sclerotized rings and the thick U-shaped antero-medial fold.

Discussion. Perenotus gen. nov. belongs to the Macaronesian fauna, which is composed by endemic Palaearctic and Paleotropic fauna. Hallodapini fauna from the Canary Islands may be identified using Wagner (1974).

Our specimens key to couplet 6(9) in Wagner (1974), which includes Alloeomimus Reuter, 1910 , Systellonotus Fieber, 1858 , and part of Hallodapus Fieber, 1858 (the part of Hallodapus species formerly belonging to Plagiorrhama Fieber, 1870, according to Kerzhner & Josifov (1999)). Females of the three genera are either brachypterous or myrmecomorphic, while males are always macropterous. Alloeomimus and Systellonotus have only transverse pale stripes on the hemelytra. Hallodapus species keyed in this point show wide longitudinal irregular pale stripes along the hemelytral external margins. In Hallodapus eyes are big and close to the pronotum, scutellum is flat, and general habitus does not match that of Perenotus . The rest of Palaearctic Hallodapini genera have transverse pale marks in the hemelytra, thus not fitting the Canarian specimens under study, in which those marks are longitudinal. Compared with Perenotus , all myrmecomorphic Hallodapini have much bigger eyes which are close to the pronotum ( Omphalonotus Reuter, 1876 , Laemocoris Reuter, 1879 ), or scutellum is flat ( Omphalonotus , Mimocoris Scott, 1872 , females of Systellonotus and some Hallodapus ). In Alloeomimus , Glaphyrocoris Reuter, 1903 , Linoceraea Horváth, 1913, Laemocoris, Mimocapsus and Ribautocapsus Wagner, 1962 , scutellum is humped as in Perenotus . However, in those genera males (and sometimes also females, as in Alloemimus, Glaphyrocoris ), are macropterous, eyes are much bigger and vertex is marginated except in the case of Alloeomimus and Ribautocapsus .

Schuh (1974) and Linnavuori (1996) provide keys for the identification of African Miridae . Using any of those keys, studied Canarian specimens happen to fall under Skukuza Schuh, 1974 . However, among other differences, in Skukuza the rostrum extends only to the middle coxae, the pronotum is dorsally slightly triangular and the scutellum is flattened, and the male is macropterous. Aspidacanthus Reuter, 1901 and Myombea China & Carvalho, 1951 are African genera with an apical hump on the scutellum, but the hump shape is different from that in Perenotus , head has a distinct neck, rostrum does not reach base of abdomen, pale marks in the hemelytra are not along exterior margin of coria, and male is macropterous.

Generic relationships. Linnavuori (1996) defined several generic groups within African Hallodapini . Perenotus gen. nov. most probably fits within the African Systellonotus generic group, according to the scutellar hump, color pattern, myrmecomorphy, male genitalia, and lack of a stridulatory device.

Distribution. Perenotus gen. nov. is at present only known from the Canary Islands.

Included species. Currently this genus includes two species, Perenotus gen. nov. malobae sp. nov., and Perenotus gen. nov. stysi comb. n. ( Ribes, Pagola-Carte & Heiss 2008).

Ecology. According to the data on the labels, and the authors’ personal field observations, genus Perenotus seems to have a preference for dry lowlands with Euphorbia balsimifera and Euphorbia canariensis associations (Aeonio-Euphorbion canariensis ). In this dry habitat, it is common that ground dwelling species refuge under stones, to protect themselves from hot weather and potential predators.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Perenotus gen. nov. a, P. malobae sp. nov. female holotype dorsal habitus; b, P. malobae sp. nov. female holotype lateral habitus; c, P. s t y s i female paratype dorsal habitus; d, P. s t y s i male dorsal habitus; e, P. s t y s i male lateral habitus; f, P. s t y s i male left paramere in frontal view; g, P. s t y s i male left paramere in dorsal view; h, P. s t y s i male right paramere; i, P. s t y s i male theca. Scale bar 0.5 mm. Photographs: M. Roca-Cusachs.