Josephinus, Schwartz, 2011

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 : 59-63

Josephinus , new genus

TYPE SPECIES: Slaterocoris reinhardi Carvalho and Schaffner, 1973 .

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the small ovate body with slightly arcuate costal margin, the strongly declivous hemelytral membrane, and the head with short anteocular portion and posterolateral margin of the eye curved posteriorly and practically adhering to the anterior margin of the pronotum. The body in the male is more compact in Josephinus than in Scalponotatus and Slaterocoris . In lateral view, the hemelytron posterior to the cuneal fracture is more strongly deflexed and, in combination with the short anteocular region of the head, gives Josephinus a more rounded habitus. In comparison to Scalponotatus and Slaterocoris , the overall length of the body and the postcuneal fracture length of the hemelytron are also short. The short anteocular region of the head will serve to distinguish Josephinus species from the shortest Slaterocoris species (e.g., S. digitatus , S. mohri ).

The form of the vertex and frons anterior of the transverse basal carina is different in Josephinus than in the other two genera. In Slaterocoris , the anterior surface of the carina is sharply declivent ventrally directly posterior of the temporal areas; between the temporal areas the surface of the frons is slightly tumid forming a cone-shaped prominence (figs. 6A, 14A, 20A–C, 36C). In Scalponotatus , the declivous edge anterior of the carina more or less reaches across the intertemporal area, giving this region a deeply sunken look. In Josephinus , the region is less sunken, sometimes the entire region anterior of the carina is rounded as opposed to being flattened as in the other two genera. In the male the length of the anteocular portion of the head—measured, in lateral view, from the ventral edge of the eye adjacent to the antennal insertion to the apex of the clypeus—is different among the three genera. Scalponotatus and Slaterocoris have the anteocular region longer than the height of the eye and the eye appears smaller (cf. figs. 3B, 14B, 36A, 59A), whereas in Josephinus (cf. figs. 6B, 9B), the anteocular region is shorter than, or equal to the height of the eye, and the eye is larger.

The dorsal sculpturation of small discrete punctures with underlying shinglelike plates or with plates alone distinguish Josephinus (fig. 6C) from Slaterocoris in which larger, obscure punctures merge with areas of rugosity or reticulation (figs. 14C, 31A, 36B, 59B). Scalponotatus has small discrete punctures on a surface of undulating reticulation. Features of the genitalia unequivocally distinguish Josephinus from Scalponotatus and Slaterocoris . The apex of the left paramere is narrow as in Slaterocoris , not mitten shaped as in Scalponotatus , and the spines of the right paramere are dorsally directed whereas in Slaterocoris they are ventrally directed. The dorsal lobe of the endosomal spicule in Josephinus is short, small, and narrow; in Slaterocoris , it is much larger and frequently bifurcate.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Small, total length 2.50–3.80, width 1.25–1.78, costal margin arcuate. COLORATION: Body predominantly black or with vertex, frons, pronotum, and sometimes hemelytron ranging from orange-yellow to orange-brown; vertex unicolorous pale or pale near dorsal margin eye only; antennal segments I and II, legs including coxa, and venter either concolorous pale or concolorous black; femoral base either concolorous black or concolorous orange, with remainder of femur; femoral apex either narrowly pale or concolorous orange; hind tibia either pale or black; tarsus pale with segment III black. VESTITURE: Ranging from sparsely to densely distributed, short to moderately long, pale, brown or silvery, reclining to suberect, entirely simple setae or simple with some sericeous setae; setae on antennal segments decumbent; reclining setae on abdomen longer and more dense, especially on posterior margin of pygophore. DORSAL SCULPTURATION: Usually with merged punctures forming confluent plates or sometimes with minute discrete punctures (fig. 6C); frons smooth. STRUCTURE: Head hypognathous, posterolateral margin curved posteriorly; clypeus produced dorsal to mandibular plate; frons curved; vertex, anterior of transverse basal carina, slightly sunken with vertex/eye contour smooth, in anterior view; vertex clearly wider than length of antennal segment I; labium reaching apex of mesocoxa; width of pronotum greater than length of antennal segment II; hemelytron with strongly deflected cuneus; metepisternal spiracle variable, either slitlike with elongate evaporative area on tergum (fig. 6D) or elongate with small evaporative area (fig. 9D); external metepisternal scent gland area with ostiole flattened and elevated and evaporative area wide, triangular, and spanning width of metepisternum, peritreme, and evaporative surface with evaporative bodies (figs. 6C, 9D); pretarsus with spicules on base of claw, claw strongly curved; pulvillus moderately small, not extending beyond medial curve of claw; parempodium fleshy, apically convergent (figs. 6E, 9E). GENITALIA: Pygophore: Produced on ventral plane; tergal process either absent or situated medially, short, not bifurcate, broad basally; ventral margin of aperture not cleft; subgenital plate merging with ventral margin of aperture; right paramere insertion produced slightly dorsal to left. Phallotheca: Cone-shaped, with aperture large, open dorsally, extending on right side; distal portion convoluted, left lateral surface not compressed; sometimes distally with ventral out pocketing. Endosomal spicule: Membrane either attached directly to base or on recurved, basal process; spicule divided, with distally bifurcate ventral lobe and variable length dorsal lobe, dorsal lobe usually minute or small, not extending distal to secondary gonopore; apical portion of endosomal spicule projecting beyond apex of phallotheca, in repose (figs. 6F, 9F). Right paramere: Usually with variable length dorsally produced basal process and with variable distal region either rounded with small medial spine, or with large attenuate medial process, or with large dorsally directed variably spinose process. Left paramere: Lshaped; apex entire; basal region unmodified.

Female: Small, total length 2.50–3.80, width 1.60–2.00; as in male except vertex wider, eye smaller, and costal margin more strongly convex. ABDOMEN: Subgenital plate: Bluntly triangular. GENITALIA: First gonapophyses: Left overlapping right in ventral view; left larger than right at overlap; left short, composed of two sections, mediodistal area not projecting, dorsal surface protuberant, and apex of roughly equal width as body of gonapophyses. Vestibulum: Anteroventral margin of anterior wall sclerotized medially, spanning to lateral margins of bursa copulatrix. Ventral labiate plate: Ventral surface broadly produced into vulva. Dorsal labiate plate: Paired medial sclerites large, confluent with infolded lateral margins of plate; dorsal anteromedial margin strongly sclerotized, convoluted on left side. Second gonapophyses: Anterior medial surface slightly convex. Posterior wall: Interramal sclerite with dorsomedial region flat, not produced anteriorly; medial region narrow platelike; posteromedial portion with tumid process abutting ovipositor bulb; ventromedial region not greatly overlapping second gonapophyses basally; interramal lobe with membranous basal (dorsal) attachment; dorsomedial margin with narrow lobe; ventral projection long with convex anterior surface.

ETYMOLOGY: Named for Joseph C. Schaffner, in recognition of his long career in entomology at Texas A&M University and his many contributions to our knowledge of Mexican Miridae , which include numerous new genera and species descriptions with J.C.M. Carvalho and other coauthors. During this tenure he made many collecting trips with numerous colleagues to southern Mexico. It is the result of his unflagging efforts that the collections at College Station contain the world’s premier assemblage of Mexican Miridae . It gives me great pleasure to honor Joe with this patronym. The gender of this genusgroup name is masculine.

DISCUSSION: Other previously unexplored characters supporting the diagnosis of Josephinus have come to light as a result of this current study. The claw base of J. reinhardi and J. albicornis (cf. figs. 6E, 9E, arrow) have distinct spinules on the apical surface. The distribution of this feature among the genera included in this paper is incompletely known and therefore not included in the phylogenetic analysis. However, the surface of the claw base is smooth (figs. 3D, 20F, 37B, arrow) in three species of Scalponotatus and Slaterocoris examined. The peglike field was not observed in scanning electron micrographs of the claw from other orthotyline taxa ( Schuh, 1976; Stonedahl and Schwartz, 1986; Schwartz and Scudder, 2003). The ventral margin of the genital aperture in Josephinus is broadly curved, mostly flat, and with the subgenital plate (cup-shaped sclerite) meeting the ventral margin flush, not projecting posterior to the edge of the aperture. In Scalponotatus the ventral margin is deeply angled ventrally with the subgenital plate lifted dorsal to the ventral margin of the aperture and usually projecting beyond the aperture edge. The ventral margin of the aperture in Slaterocoris is about as wide as in Josephinus but has an obvious medial crease. The subgenital plate in Slaterocoris terminates just anterior to the edge of the aperture and not beyond it.

Among species of the mostly black North American, or Slaterocoris -group, genera with a single endosomal spicule as discussed above, the structure of the dorsal labiate plate in the female genitalia of Josephinus is apparently unique. The anteriormost portion of the dorsal labiate plate is strongly sclerotized and curved anteriorly. The lateral deeply folded portions of the plate containing the sclerotized rings are strongly sclerotized and span the width of the genital chamber. The left side of dorsal labiate plate is rolled in on itself (like a scroll, anterior view), a feature not observed in other genera (fig. 11D, E). The medial portion of the dorsal labiate plate has a pair of broad sclerotized areas that are confluent on a sunken midline (fig. 11D). The dorsal labiate plate in species of Slaterocoris have the anterior margin membranous and the medial plates narrow with the midline not sunken ventrally.

Additionally, other features of the female genitalia may be unique to Josephinus . The first gonapophysis is asymmetrical with the left side larger (flat on ventral surface, anterodorsal surface protuberant) than the right (right side developed little, if at all) (fig. 11B); a portion of the left first gonapophysis covers part of the posterior surface of ventral labiate plate in anterior view (fig. 11A). In Slaterocoris , the left first gonapophysis is anterior to the ventral labiate plate in anterior view (cf. fig. 40A). The posterodorsal surface of the medial section of the interramal sclerite in Josephinus is not protuberant anteriorly (fig. 11E), whereas this region is sometimes strongly swollen (cf. fig. 58C, D) in Slaterocoris .

Previously, Schaffner and Schwartz (2008) diagnosed Jornandes in part on the shagreened sculpturation of the hemelytron formed by dense, minute punctures. One former Scalponotatus species , albipes , was transferred to Jornandes in part due to its surface structure and the mittenlike apex of the left paramere. Josephinus albicornis , another former Scalponotatus species , also has similar surface sculpturation but, based on the genitalic structure, especially the narrow, somewhat attenuate apex of the left paramere, is accommodated in Josephinus with which it also shares all of the other features discussed above. In the cladistic analysis J. albicornis groups with the other species of Josephinus and not with Jornandes cruralis .

KEY TO THE SPECIES OF JOSEPHINUS

1. Hemelytron with minute discrete punctures; male genitalia as in fig. 7A–F....................................... albicornis (Kelton)

– Hemelytron with merged punctures forming confluent plates................... 2

2. Body length short (2.50–2.958, 3.00–3.30 ♀); male genitalia as in fig. 8A–H............................. capitatus (Kelton)

– Body length large (3.05–3.308, 3.65–4.05 ♀); male genitalia as in fig. 10A–H................ reinhardi (Carvalho and Schaffner)