Adesmiaphylus, Carpintero & Chérot & Henry, 2023

Carpintero, Diego L., Chérot, Frédéric & Henry, Thomas J., 2023, A new genus and two new species of phylinae (Heteroptera: Miridae) from the Andean-Patagonian region of Argentina, Zootaxa 5382 (1), pp. 27-38 : 28-31

Adesmiaphylus n. gen.

Description. Body elongate-oval, stout, wide, slightly more convex in female than in male. Dorsal surface punctate, shiny, with sparse vestiture, nearly glabrous. Head almost vertical, elongate dorsoventrally, short in dorsal view. Vertex sloping toward frons, short in dorsal view, wide, not sulcate medially, posteriorly carinate, the carinae short but raised in frontal view. Frons flat to medially swollen, at least in female. Clypeus convex, vertical, not seen from dorsal view. Juga and lora broad. Eyes wide, sub-pedunculate, contiguous to anterior margin of pronotum, their height in lateral view between two thirds and three fourths of head height. Labium short, barely reaching mesocoxae. Antennal insertion not tuberculate, distinctly separated from eye. Antennal segment I thick, shortest, shorter than vertex width; segment II slightly thinner than segment I, mostly cylindrical, weakly broadened toward apex; segments III and IV slightly thinner than segment II apically, relatively elongate, cylindrical. Pronotum trapezoidal, devoid of true collar, anterior part collar-like, slightly raised, sloping, punctate and laterally narrowly explanate. Pronotal posterior margin medially concave, humeral angles rounded, lateral margins curved, weakly concave and anteriorly carinate. Callosities rounded, medially separated and separated from pronotal lateral margins. Mesoscutum partially covered by base of pronotum. Scutellum almost flat. Metepisternum relatively reduced, evaporatorium almost triangular, peritreme elongate, moderately raised above evaporatorium. Yellowish parts of hemelytra translucent, pattern and coloration being sexually dimorphic, with males more extensively black than females. Both sexes macropterous, the cuneus longer than wide. Membrane and cuneus not deflexed relatively to the corium. Tibiae with short, white setae and very reduced black spicules. Pretarsus with setiform parempodia, claws thin and elongate, slightly curved, with wide pulvilli occupying most of claw length. Inner margin of left paramere anterior process with a curved, pointed, slightly hooked, outer prolongation. Endosoma thin, distinctly S-shaped, strongly coiled at middle, with small and straight, gradually tapering apical process. Secondary gonopore reduced, elongate-oval, subapical, and devoid of sclerites. Seminal (or anterior) sac devoid of sclerite or ring. Vestibulum conspicuous, complex in shape, with a pair of basal micro-sclerites, its base pouch-shaped, the vulva elongate, its apex particularly elongate, taking the form of a so-called “lateral sac”, basally narrowed, medially widened and apically pointed, strongly curved. Parieto-vaginal rings narrow. Posterior margin of each ring almost straight, inner margin rounded, outer margin pointed and partially curved, anterior margin s-shaped. Lateral margins of the roof infolded, partially hiding the rings. Lateral oviducts relatively wide, short, almost centrally located.

Type species. Adesmiaphylus manzanoensis , n. sp.

Etymology. Named after the host plant genus Adesmia DC ( Fabaceae ), in combination with “ Phylus ”, the type genus of the subfamily Phylinae . Gender masculine.

Biology: Host plants. Both new species of Adesmiaphylus live on species of Adesmia DC. ( Fabaceae ). In South America, the genus Adesmia has a high specific richness, with about 240 described species grouped in 43 series and placed in two subgenera ( Ulibarri & Burkart 2000). The subgenus Adesmia Burkart contains the unarmed species comprising 34 series, whereas the subgenus Acanthadesmia Burkart includes the thorned species grouping the remaining nine series. The subgenus Adesmia is distributed in the Andes Mountains and the semi-arid zones of Argentina and Brazil, and Acanthadesmia is distributed mainly along the Andes Mountains. In the genus Adesmia , subgenus Acanthadesmia , the Microphyllae Burkart series contains the largest number of species and having the widest distribution, including A. volckmannii ( Fig. 6 ) and A. pinifolia , on which the new Patagonian phylines were found. Its species are essentially Andean, found from 1,000 to 5,000 m altitude ( Mihoč et al. 2006).

In the field ( Fig. 7 ), we have observed that both species of Adesmiaphylus are specific to their respective host species. Each plant species was found with large populations of adults and nymphs on them. It is interesting that Adesmiaphylus manzanoensis appears to be restricted to Neuquén Province even though its host, Adesmia volckmanni , overlaps with the host of Adesmiaphylus herczeki ( A. pinifolia ) in Mendoza Province.

Discussion. Adesmiaphylus n. gen. belongs to the subfamily Phylinae based on the male genital structures ( Figs 3 , 5 ), particularly the left paramere, endosoma, and phallotheca structure, by the female genital structures, particularly the complex vestibulum (see Pluot-Sigwalt & Matocq 2006), but also by the setiform parempodia. It differs from the other phyline genera from Argentina and South America by its shiny, non-antlike habitus; the elongate-oval stout body; the complex pronotal shape and structure; the reduced (although easily visible and dense) dorsal punctation; the sparse, short, simple, dorsal vestiture; the carinate vertex; the almost cylindrical first and second antennal segments; the sub-pedunculate eyes, contiguous to the pronotum; the relatively short labium; the fully developed, opaque hemelytra; and the small size (total length less than 3.5 mm). Such a combination of character states excludes all genera of “ Phylini ” sensu lato from South America as outlined in Carvalho (1984) but also all genera and species of the subfamily known to the authors from Andean and Neotropical regions, particularly all taxa from Argentina listed in Carpintero & Carvalho (1993).

Classification of the subfamily and placement of described genera were recently reviewed by Menard et al. (2013) and Schuh & Menard (2013). Nevertheless, many of the tribal and sub-tribal diagnoses remain unsatisfactory. Some taxa are defined only on molecular character states (e.g., Phylini : Oncotylina), and the morphological character states classically used to recognize others are often neither unique in the subfamily nor common to all the members classified in the tribe or subtribe (i.e., potentially autapomorphic for this taxon).

Considering the definitions given by Schuh & Menard (2013), Adesmiaphylus n. gen. cannot be accommodated in the following tribes and subtribes based on the characters given in parentheses:

- Cremnorrhini: Cremnorrhina (by the head shape in dorsal view, not conical),

- Cremnorrhini: Coatocapsina (by the absence of a bifurcate apex on the endosoma),

- Decomiini (by the hemelytral texture and dorsal vestiture),

- Exaeretini (by the shape of secondary gonopore, claw structure and shorter labium),

- Hallodapini (by the absence of a flattened true pronotal collar and the shape of frons and clypeus),

- Leucophoropterini (by the second antennal segment not significantly thicker than the third and fourth segments and the absence of ridges on the phallotheca),

- Nasocorini (by the absence of short, wide hind femora with rows of spicules on the dorsal margin, sericeous or serrated scale-like setae and a gonopore sclerite),

- Phylini : Keltoniina (by the sub-pedunculate eyes and pygophore size, never greater than one-half the total length of the abdomen),

- Pilophorini (by the setiform parempodia),

- Semiini (by the endosoma neither T-shaped nor simple and tubular).

Because molecular data remain unavailable for Adesmiaphylus (as is the case for numerous other phyline genera of the New World) and because the morphological character states of the new genus do not fit any other tribe of the subfamily, we suggest placing Adesmiaphylus provisionally in the nominal tribe Phylini . As indicated by Schuh and Menard (2013), the Palearctic Phylini have been divided into two subtribes, the Oncotylina and Phylina , but neither division can be applied to the Neotropical fauna. Membership to Phylina apparently could be excluded by the shorter labium and the visible pronotal callosities, although such character states undoubtedly are homoplasious and offer little relational information for recognizing this large subtribe.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Male genitalia of Adesmiaphylus manzanoensis n. sp. A. Left paramere. B. Right paramere. C. Theca. D. Endosoma.

FIGURE 5. Male genital structures of Adesmiaphylus spp. A–E. A. herczeki n. sp. A. Left paramere. B. Right paramere. C. Theca. D. Endosoma. E. Apex of endosoma. F. A. manzanoensis n. sp. Apex of endosoma (arrows indicate differences between both species).

FIGURE 6. Hosts of Adesmiaphylus spp. new species: Adesmia volckmannii Phil. in the field (A, B) and in the herbarium (C) and Adesmia pinifolia Gill. ex Hook. & Arn. in herbarium (D).

FIGURE 7. Neighbouring areas of Mendoza, Argentina: Biotopes (A, B) where the host-plant genus Adesmia pinifolia Gill ex Hook & Arn (Fabaceae) and its plant bugs Adesmiaphylus herczeki new species are living.