Coridromius taravao, Tatarnic and Gerasimos Cassis & Nsw & Nsw, 2013

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2013, Description of eight new species of the traumatically inseminating plant bug genus Coridromius (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae: Coridromini), European Journal of Taxonomy 35, pp. 1-24 : 21-22

Coridromius taravao sp. nov.

Fig. 7 A-F

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Diagnosis

Distinguished by the following combination of characters: relatively small size, overall pale green/brown colour with matte yellow scutellum, frons without vittae, and brown diagonal stripes on metafemur faint or absent, and females with right anterior abdominal laterosternite slightly swollen, blackened and heavily sclerotized.

Etymology

Type material

Holotype

♂, FRENCH POLYNESIA, Society Islands, Tahiti Island : Tahiti Iti , Taravao Plateau , 17.77665° S – 149.25456° W, 877 m, 19 May 2011, G. Cassis & N. Tatarnic, Metrosideros collina ( Myrtaceae) , det. Jean-Yves Meyer ( UNSW_ENT 00000028 ) ( MNHN).

Paratypes

FRENCH POLYNESIA, Society Islands, Tahiti Island: Tahiti Iti, Taravao Plateau, 17.77665° S – 149.25456° W, 877 m, 19 May 2011, G. Cassis & N. Tatarnic, Metrosideros collina (Myrtaceae) , det. Jean-Yves Meyer, 1 ♂ ( UNSW _ENT 00046011), 1 ♀ ( UNSW _ENT 00046012) ( BPBM); Metrosideros collina (Myrtaceae) , det. Jean-Yves Meyer, 1 ♀ ( UNSW _ENT 00000029) ( MNHN); Metrosideros collina , det. Jean-Yves Meyer, 1 ♂ ( UNSW _ENT 00000030), 3 ♀♀ ( UNSW _ENT 00000031–00000033) ( UNSW). Tahiti Island, Tahiti Nui, Base of Belvedere Trail, Rau Ape Aorai, 17.551° S – 149.529° W, 331 m, 1-8 Apr. 2012, G. Cassis & N. Tatarnic, Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi (Anacardiaceae) , 2 ♂♂ ( UNSW _ENT 00400051–00400052), 3 ♀♀ ( UNSW _ENT 00400053–00400055) ( UNSW).

Description

BODY LENGTH. ♂ (n = 4): 1.97-2.75 mm; ♀ (n = 8): 2.05-2.76 mm.

COLOURATION ( Fig. 7 A-C). Both sexes usually pale tan-brown with a greenish tint and conspicuous yellow scutellum; females rarely predominantly darker brown. Head: pale brown, frons without vittae, inner ocular margin and posterior margin of head pale yellow ( Fig. 7A ). Clypeus, mandibular and maxillary plates cream to brown ( Fig. 7A ). Buccula orange-brown in some specimens, in others basally yellowbrown to pale green, white along ventral margin. Labrum orange-brown. Labium cream basally, becoming brown towards apex. Antennae: mostly orange-brown. AI pale cream, AII orange-brown, Apex of AII, and AIII-AIV darker brown ( Fig. 7 B-C). Eyes red. Thorax: Pronotal collar cream ( Fig. 7A ). Pronotum pale tan-brown with irregular black markings before caudal margin in some specimens, caudal margin yellow ( Fig. 7C ). Scutellum matte yellow ( Fig. 7C ). Thoracic pleura predominantly orange-brown ( Fig. 7B ). Hemelytra: mostly pale orange-brown, with a faint green tint on corium, inner margin of clavus and claval commisure blackened, forming a distinctive Y-shaped pattern, membrane hyaline, veins nearly indistinguishable ( Fig. 7C ). Abdomen: Faintly tinted green in both sexes, in female with first visible segment on right side (paragenital region) embrowned with leading edge dark black ( Fig. 7B ). Legs: All coxae cream, pro- and mesofemora cream, faintly orange-brown at apex, metafemur mostly cream, sometimes with faint brown diagonal striping on outer surface, apical ¼ orange-brown ( Fig. 7B ). All tibiae yellow to yellow-brown, apically tinted brown or green in some specimens; tarsi pale, apically embrowned ( Fig. 7B ). Females almost always coloured identically to males, rare individuals are much darker, with dorsum predominantly darker brown, scutellum embrowned, hemelytra with faint dark brown chevron immediately above cuneus, abdomen brown and apices of femora embrowned.

SURFACE AND VESTITURE ( Fig. 7 A-C, E). Head shallowly punctate, pronotum finely punctate, thoracic pleura, scutellum and hemelytra impunctate. Body with sparse covering of short, hairlike, decumbent setae. Both sexes with patch of elongate setae on right side of abdomen.

HEAD. Approximately 5.7 x as wide as eye ( Fig. 7A ) in anterior view. Frons weakly tumescent medially, vertex with faintly raised tumescences adjacent to eyes, bordered above by shallow depressions, posterior margin of head weakly carinate, when viewed from front weakly convex medially but otherwise flat ( Fig. 7A ).

THORAX. Pronotum broad, weakly convex, calli ill-defined, anterolateral margins weakly upturned and carinate, submarginal regions of humeral angles weakly depressed, posterior margin carinate and weakly concave ( Fig. 7A, C ). Proepimeron unilobed ( Fig. 7B ). Posterior margin of metepimeron rounded and subtriangular, partly overlapping anterior of abdomen ( Fig. 7E ). Scutellum weakly rounded ( Fig. 7C ).

HEMELYTRA. Costal margin flared its entire length, straight to weakly sinuate ( Fig. 7C ).

LEGS. Metatibial spines short and thin ( Fig. 7B ). Abdomen: Posterior margin of abdominal sternite II (first visible sternite) weakly convex in lateral view, females with anterior margin on right side heavily sclerotized and swollen ( Fig. 7B ).

MALE GENITALIA. Posterior margin of pygophore with folded groove to right of centre, right margin of groove with small, triangular apophysis ( Fig. 7F ). Left paramere approximately 2.5 x length of right paramere, evenly curved with gutter accommodating aedeagus open its entire length, right paramere broad and subtriangular ( Fig. 7F ).

FEMALE PARAGENITALIA. Anterior of right abdominal sternite II (first visible abdominal sternite) weakly swollen and heavily sclerotized; posterior margin of metepimeral lobe deflected inward and interlocking on right side with anterior swelling of sternite II ( Fig. 7B, E ). Female site of insemination unknown, thought to be stabbed either along anterior or abdomen adjacent to metacoxa, concealed by metepimeral lobe, or possibly on the other side of the abdomen, in a shallow depression behind the metepimeral lobe.

Hosts

Collected from Metrosideros collina (J.R. Forst & G. Forst) A. Gray, 1854 (Myrtaceae) ( Fig. 7D ) and Schinus terebinthifolius (Anacardiaceae) .

Distribution

Presently known only from Taravao Plateau and the base of the Belvedere Trail, Rau Ape Aorai, Tahiti Island.

Remarks

The new species was collected, along with the superficially similar C. tahitiensis Tatarnic & Cassis, 2008 , at the same two localities and from the same host plants. All but a few female C. taravao sp. nov. share the same colouration as male C. tahitiensis , and are often difficult to identify without careful examination of the metepimeral lobe (deflected inwards in C. taravao sp. nov., extended caudally in C. tahitiensis ) and the female paragenitalia (in C. taravao sp. nov. as described above, in C. tahitiensis manifested as a large invaginated copulatory sinus between abdominal sternites II and III).

Figures

Fig. 7. Photographs and scanning electron micrographs of Coridromius taravao sp. nov. and Metrosideros collina. A. Head and pronotum, anterior view. B. Right lateral view, ♀. C. Dorsal habitus, ♀. D. Photograph of Metrosideros collina at Taravao Plateau. E. Detail of metepimeral lobe and anterior of abdomen; arrow indicates possible site of insemination. F. ♂ genitalia, apex of left paramere broken off; arrow indicates apophysis of pygophore margin. MET = metapimeral lobe.