Cottothucha kalathis, Runagall-Mcnaull, Aidan & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2013

Runagall-Mcnaull, Aidan & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2013, Systematics of the lace bug genus Cottothucha Drake and Poor (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) with description of the first Australian species and its exaggerated nymph, Zootaxa 3640 (3), pp. 395-408 : 400-405

Cottothucha kalathis n.sp.

Etymology. This species is named after the Greek kalathis , relating to the basket-like collection of inwardly curved spines that are present in the nymph.

Holotype. 3, AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Windsor Tableland, 5.7 km past barracks, 16.235 ° S 145.005 ° E, 1150 m, 24 Nov 1997, G. Monteith (AMNH_PBI 00038205) (QM). Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: Bell Peak North, 10 km E of Gordonvale, 17.083 ° S 145.883 ° E, 900 m, 13 Oct 1982, Monteith, Yeates & Thompson, 1Ƥ (AMNH_PBI 00038200) (QM); Windsor Tableland, 16.212 ° S 145.025 ° E, 1225 m, 0 9 Jan 1989, E. Schmidt, 2Ƥ (AMNH_PBI 0 0 0 38206, AMNH_PBI 00038207) (QM); 13 (AMNH_PBI 00037427) (QM).

Diagnosis. Small to medium size, males (BL 2.59–2.72), females (BL 2.71–2.97); mostly pale in colour, hemelytra, head, abdomen, antennae and legs tan, pronotal cyst and paranota pale cream or translucent, with dark brown transverse stripe across veins in posterior section of pronotal cyst; areolae of the cyst roughly arranged either side of medial veinlike margin; lateral carinae vestigial; paranota uniseriate, reflexed, upturned and adpressed against pronotal cyst; cephalic spines absent; deeply depressed hypocostal vein, subcostal area vertical, costal area moderately reflexed upwards; hemelytra with small areolae in discoidal and subcostal areas, large in sutural and costal areas.

Description of adult. COLOURATION ( Fig. 4 ). Head: tan, sometimes darker brown on frontal region; bucculae tan to cream; antenniferous tubercle tan; eyes black. Antennae: segments mostly tan, AIII darker brown. Pronotum: pronotal cyst and paranota cream to white, areolae veins darker, dark brown transverse stripe across veins in posterior section of pronotal cyst. Thoracic pleura and sterna: uniformly tan; labial succulus carinae pale tan. Hemelytra: areolae in hemelytral translucent; areolae veins tan with pale cream patch anteriorly on sutural area. Abdomen: yellow brown with lateral regions darker brown. VESTITURE. Antennae: short, hairlike setae on all segments, longer and thicker on AIII. Legs: short fine setae present on tibiae, thicker distally; with leaf-like apical pads. STRUCTURE. Head: ( Fig. 5 ) ovoid, with cephalic spines absent; prominent antenniferous tubercles. Pronotum: ( Fig. 2 a, b) cyst areolae irregularly arranged either side of medial vein, areolae moderately sized anteriorly, very large posteriorly, areolae moderately hyaline with no substructure, posterior apex slightly rounded; lateral carinae vestigial, uniseriate; short but moderately broad uniseriate paranota. Hemelytra: ( Fig. 5 d) R+M vein prominent; hypocostal vein depressed, carinate ventrally; subcostal area vertical; costal area moderately reflexed upwards, broad, moderate to large areolae, multiseriate in small sections, abruptly tapering towards apex; discoidal area with small areolae; sutural area with small areolae towards apex, larger in size posteriorly. Legs: femora and tibiae equal in length, tibia tapered proximally. Male genitalia: see ( Fig. 1 c, e). MEASUREMENTS. Measurements of 23 and 2Ƥ individuals are given in Table 1.

5th instar nymph. COLOURATION ( Fig. 6 ). Dark brown on legs, head, thorax and abdomen, lighter tan brown on wing pads, spinose processes and pronotal cysts. VESTITURE. Head: antennae with thin setae on terminal segment. Legs: with short thin setae. STRUCTURE. Dorsum with sixteen long, thin, inwardly curved, spinelike cuticular outgrowths, collectively basket-like ( Figs. 6 and 7 b,d), outgrowths also with short, robust subtriangular spinules or nodules, sharply tapered distally, nodules connected by ridges arising from their lateral margins ( Fig. 7 f); three spinose processes present on head, one frontal, two occipital; pronotum with two spinose processes, one on each lateral edge; wing pads each with single spine; nine spinose processes present on abdomen, three on the midline of dorsal surface, lateral margin of abdomen with six spines, paired, three on each side. Pronotum: ( Fig. 7 b) with small, robust cyst on medial carina. Abdomen: ovoid, flattened on dorsal surface; thin, uniseriate skirt bordering lateral margin.

Distribution (Fig. 3). This species is known from three locations in North Queensland at medium to high elevations (500–1300m).

Biology. No host data recorded.

Remarks. Cottothucha kalathis n.sp. can be differentiated from C. oceanae by having a biseriate section in the costal area, uniseriate paranota, overall lighter pigmentation and being smaller in size. It can be differentiated from C. minor by possessing a deeply depressed sutural area, the areolae of the pronotal cyst being approximately equally divided either side of a prominent medial veinlike margin of areolae, and the pronotal cyst being pale with a posterior dark brown stripe.

Cottothucha minor Guilbert, 2006

Material examined. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Louisiade Archipelago, Yela Island, Mt. Rossel, 500m, 16–17 March 1979, W. C. Gagne, 33 (AMNH_PBI 0 0 0 42471, AMNH_PBI 0 0 0 42472, AMNH_PBI 00042474) (BPBM), 1Ƥ (AMNH_PBI 00042475)(BPBM).

Diagnosis. small size, males (BL 2.08–2.19); tan with grey brown pronotal structures, areolae veins darker tan; occipital spines moderately long; pronotal cyst with large areolae irregularly arranged; lateral carinae reduced, uniseriate; paranota vestigial, uniseriate, usually consisting of two cells only; areolae small in discoidal and subcostal areas, larger in costal and sutural areas; costal and subcostal areas fused with sutural area posteriorly.

Redescription. COLOURATION ( Fig. 4 ). Head: tan. Antennae: pale yellow, translucent. Thoracic pleura and sterna: tan. Legs: pale yellow, translucent. Pronotum: areolae membrane in carinae, cyst and paranota pale grey brown, areolae veins variegated tan to dark brown. Hemelytra: translucent areolae; areolae veins translucent at apex of sutural area, discoidal, costal and subcostal areas; sutural area and posterior sections of costal and subcostal areas tan. VESTITURE. Antennae: moderately dense distribution of setae on AIII. Legs: fine setae distally on tibiae. STRUCTURE. Head: ( Fig. 8 ) occipital spines elongate, curved and flattened against surface of head. Pronotum: ( Fig. 2 c, d) pronotal cyst with broad anterior opening; cyst areolae with netlike substructure, large but reduced anteriorly, irregularly arranged; lateral carinae vestigial, uniseriate; paranota greatly reduced, uniseriate with moderately sized areolae, two cells in total. Hemelytra: ( Fig. 8 d) delicate overall, areolae veins uniformly fine; discoidal area reduced, areolae very small; subcostal area narrowed and uniseriate, reduced in length, becoming fused with sutural area posteriorly, lateral margin depressed; hypocostal vein reduced in prominence, moderately depressed, carinate ventrally; costal area broad, dorsally reflexed, biseriate in small section, tapering toward anterior apex, areolae moderate to large, quadrate; sutural area broad, areolae moderate to large, decreasing in size anteriorly. Male genitalia: see ( Fig. 1 a, d). MEASUREMENTS. Measurements of 33 individuals are given in Table 1.

BL HL PL HW PW IOD

C. kalathis

male n=2 Mean: 2.66 0.35 1.14 0.35 0.50 0.20 Std Dev.: 0.09 0.02 0.11 0.00 0.01 0.00 Min: 2.59 0.33 1.06 0.34 0.49 0.20 Max: 2.72 0.37 1.21 0.36 0.51 0.20

female n=2 Mean: 2.84 0.43 1.11 0.36 0.56 0.26 Std Dev.: 0.18 0.01 0.07 0.01 0.07 0.06 Min: 2.71 0.43 1.06 0.35 0.51 0.22 Max: 2.97 0.43 1.16 0.36 0.61 0.30

C. minor

male n=3 Mean: 2.13 0.25 1.02 0.25 0.37 0.14 Std Dev.: 0.06 0.02 0.05 0.01 0.04 0.01 Min: 2.08 0.23 0.97 0.24 0.32 0.13 Max: 2.19 0.27 1.07 0.26 0.39 0.15

C. oceanae

male n=3 Mean: 3.52 0.39 1.72 0.43 0.58 0.23 Std Dev.: 0.10 0.05 0.03 0.00 0.07 0.01 Min: 3.42 0.36 1.69 0.43 0.51 0.22 Max: 3.61 0.45 1.75 0.44 0.65 0.24

female n=5 Mean: 3.52 0.37 1.72 0.49 0.64 0.23 Std Dev.: 0.24 0.03 0.17 0.12 0.08 0.01 Min: 3.23 0.34 1.53 0.35 0.57 0.22 Max: 3.78 0.41 1.92 0.68 0.78 0.24 Remarks. Cottothucha minor is differentiated from others in Cottothucha by its small size, pronotal cyst areolae irregularly arranged rather than along a prominent medial areole vein, and possessing greatly reduced paranota with two cells only.

Biology. This species has been collected on plants from the families Araceae and Pandanaceae , such as Monstera (Guilbert, 2006) and Freycinetia .

Distribution (Fig. 3). This species is known only from the Louisiade Archipelago and Morobe Province (Guilbert, 2006), Papua New Guinea.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Male genitalia of Cottothucha species. a, d: C. minor; c, e: C. kalathis n. sp.; b, f: C. oceanae. a, b, c: aedeagus, dorsal view. d, e, f: right paramere, dorsal view. Scale = 100 μm

FIGURE 2. Pronotal structure comparison of Cottothucha species. a: C. kalathis, body, lateral view (50 μm); b: C. kalathis, pronotal cyst, dorsal view (50 μm); c: C. minor, body, lateral view (50 μm); d: C. minor, pronotal cyst, view dorsal (50 μm); e: C. oceanae, body, lateral view (100 μm); f: C. oceanae, pronotal cyst, dorsal view (100 μm).

FIGURE 4. Habitus of Cottothucha species: C. kalathis n. sp., C. minor, C. oceanae. Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Cottothucha kalathis n. sp. a: head, anterior view (100 μm); b: head, lateral view (50 μm); c: head, ventral view (30 μm); d: hemelytra (100 μm). Abbreviations: PC, pronotal cyst; PA, paranota; PH, pronotal hood; Co, collum; Bu, bucculae; CoA, costal area; Hc, hypocostal vein; ScA, subcostal area; DiA, discoidal area; R + M, R + M vein; SuA, sutural area.

FIGURE 6. Habitus photograph of Cottothucha kalathis n. sp., fifth instar. Scale = 1 mm.

FIGURE 7. Fifth instar of Cottothucha kalathis n. sp. a: head, dorsal view (100 μm); b: pronotum, dorsal view (100 μm); c: head, lateral view (100 μm); d: body, lateral view (100 μm); e: habitus (100 μm); f: spine substructure (10 μm). Abbreviation: SCO, spine-like cuticular outgrowths.

FIGURE 8. Cottothucha minor. a: head, anterior view (100 μm); b: head, lateral view (20 μm); c: head, ventral view (30 μm); d: hemelytra (100 μm).