Slaterocoris flavipes

Schwartz, Michael D., 2011, Revision And Phylogenetic Analysis Of The North American Genus Slaterocoris Wagner With New Synonymy, The Description Of Five New Species And A New Genus From Mexico, And A Review Of The Genus Scalponotatus Kelton (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (354), pp. 1-290 : 212-213

Slaterocoris flavipes species group

DIAGNOSIS: Among Slaterocoris species with a small right paramere and undivided dorsal lobe of the endosomal spicule, the members of this group have a narrow anterior region and round basal lobe of the right paramere and the endosomal spicule with a smooth distal region of the ventral lobe and a rolled dorsal lobe. COLORATION: Black with variable coloration on appendages. VESTITURE: Variable simple setae; either dense, suberect, moderately long, and silvery, or sparse, reclining, short, and dark. STRUCTURE: Body conformation variable, sometimes sexes dimorphic with hemelytron of male elongate; frons smooth. MALE GENITALIA: Pygophore: Tergal process short projecting from right side, point directed toward midline. Phallotheca: Left lateral surface slightly compressed (fig. 44A, B). Endosomal spicule: Ventral lobe with apex of uniform thickness throughout apical region and distal portion smooth; dorsal lobe entire and rolled or slightly twisted along axis of lobe; dorsal lobe with portion dorsal to basal region with variable length. Right paramere: Small, apical region narrowed, basal lobe rounded, not prominent. Left paramere: Distal portion shorter than basal portion, junction between basal and distal region abruptly attenuate; ventral surface with diameter equal throughout (fig. 43A). FEMALE GENITALIA: First gonapophyses: Left overlapping right, in ventral view, left side greater than right at overlap. Left first gonapophyses: Dorsal surface concave with wide apex. Interramal sclerite: Ventromedial region overlapping ventromedial plate. Interramal lobe: Ventral projection short with concave anterior surface.

DISCUSSION: The flavipes group is the only species group not recovered from all the analyses. It is reported from two of the three most parsimonious cladograms in the 40-taxa analysis (figs. 1B, 2 ), the successive approximations weighting of these cladograms, as well as the 38-taxa analyses employing equal weighted and successive approximations weighting (fig. 1D). Genitalic characters (34-1, 35-0, 36-1, 47-2, 59-3) support the node containing the flavipes group.

One of the three most parsimonious cladograms presented a polyphyletic arrangement for the four species of the flavipes group (fig. 1A). Characters for color of antennal segments I and II (2); color of femur (5); vestiture length (8), coloration (9), density (10), and angle (11); and the curvature of the female costal margin (15) took precedence over the genitalic features, resulting in S. sheridani and S. sparsus being separated from S. flavipes and S. longipennis . The sistergroup relationship for S. sheridani and S. sparsus is also supported by the notched medial margin of the anterior wall (57-4; cf. fig. 47B), unique to these two species, and a short point on the dorsomedial margin of the interramal lobe (68-3; cf. fig. 47D), a homoplasious character state.

Slaterocoris robustus is placed as the sister to the flavipes group in some cladograms (fig. 1B, D). This relationship is based on the shared narrow apical region of the right paramere found in all five species. However, I exclude S. robustus from the flavipes group because the endosomal spicule of this species does not have the same structure of the dorsal and ventral lobes (34-1, 35-1, 36-1; cf. figs. 42, 44, 45) as in the endosoma of the members of the flavipes group.

The male genitalia have particularly uniform structure in this species group. The length of distal portion of the left paramere is slightly shorter and the junction between the paramere body to the distal portion is more sharply attenuate (47-2, cf. fig. 43A) than in other Slaterocoris species. Variation in the right paramere seems to be limited to the length of the body and the presence of a medial lobe. Unique morphology of the right paramere is found in S. sheridani which has a conspicuous and variable medial process (43), being entire (fig. 46A–E), or bifurcate (fig. 46F, I–K) and the paramere length is somewhat narrower, with an extended region distal to the medial process (fig. 46A–L). Variation of the endosomal spicule is limited to the length of the dorsal portion of the dorsal lobe; it is somewhat shorter in S. longipennis (fig. 44C–H) than in the other three species (figs. 42, 45). In the species of the flavipes group the costal margin of the female is more arcuate than in the females of the apache group.

The females of S. flavipes , S. longipennis , and S. pilosus (of the apache group) can be roughly similar in size, coloration, and vestiture. Identification of each species is facilitated by characters of associated males; however, details of female coloration and vestiture can also distinguish the species as follows. Slaterocoris flavipes is distinguished from S. pilosus by the infuscate apical portion of segment II, the somewhat infuscate tarsomeres I and II, and the more dense and coarse vestiture. The latter species has the apex of antennal segment II discretely black, tarsomeres I and II clearly pale, and the vestiture moderately dense and fine. Female S. flavipes is distinguished from S. longipennis by the somewhat shorter and more reclined dorsal vestiture, antennal segment I and II are usually pale, the length of the setae on antennal segment II are shorter than the diameter of the segment, and the pale portions of the femora can be extensively pale orange-brown. In S. longipennis the vestiture is longer, erect, and wavy, antennal segment I and II are black with the length of the setae longer than the diameter of segment II, and the femora are almost entirely black with only the apices paler yellow.

Figures

Fig. 2. One of three most parsimonious cladograms found in 40-taxa analysis for Slaterocoris and outgroups.