Aoplonemella, Forero, 2008

Forero, D., 2008, Revision And Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Hadronema Group (Miridae: Orthotylinae: Orthotylini), With Descriptions Of New Genera And New Species, And Comments On The Neotropical Genus Tupimiris, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2008 (312), pp. 1-172 : 54-57

Aoplonemella , gen. nov.

Type species: Hadronema festiva Van Duzee, 1910 .

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the strongly rounded frons and convex vertex (fig. 15A); the metathoracic scent-gland evaporatory area and peritreme absent (fig. 15B); the single vesical spicule without apical processes (fig. 17); the clam-shaped sclerotized rings of the dorsal labiate plate (fig. 18); the relatively long tarsi (fig. 15F); and the vestiture composed of simple semidecumbent setae (fig. 15D).

Aoplonemella may be confused with Aoplonema due to the head structure and lack of fore femoral modifications in males, but it is easily separated by the presence of a single unornamented spicule without prolongations or rami, and by the vestiture consisting of simple semierect setae. From all of the other genera of the Hadronema group, Aoplonemella is easily identified by the distinctive coloration, relatively small size, and structure of male and female genitalia.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Small, robust, total length 2.53–3.52. COLORATION: Overall black coloration with orange and pale markings on hemelytra (fig. 1). SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Surface dull, beset with dense macrotrichia; vestiture composed of sparse, long, simple semierect setae (fig. 15D). STRUCTURE: HEAD (fig. 15A): Transverse, nearly rounded in lateral view, not strongly declivent; clypeus weakly protruding basally, barely visible from above, two lateral longitudinal and one small basal area of shiny irregular spots; frons extremely convex, nearly hemispherical, two lateral areas of oblique shiny lines; vertex weakly convex, paired rounded shiny areas next to eyes in front of ocular carina; frons and vertex with scattered short simple setae; transverse carina distinct but not strongly elevated, with a row of simple short suberect setae; mandibular and maxillary plates occupying nearly half the height of head, apex broadly rounded; buccula narrow, neither enlarged nor laterally produced; gena with a few rather long simple setae; gula very small, almost concealed; eyes small, ovoid in lateral view, hemispherical in dorsal view, barely reaching dorsal margin of head; labrum narrow, acute, about as long as buccula; labium barely surpassing procoxa, not reaching mesocoxa, uniformly setose, segments I–II dull, III–IV shiny; antennal segments nearly of equal diameter, segment I weakly wider than II, I shorter than II, II and III subequal in length, IV the shortest. THO- RAX: Collar narrow, flat; pronotum trapezoidal, weakly inclined, anterior margin weakly emarginate, posterior margin straight, lateral margins straight and gently rounded laterally, not marginate, anterior angles rounded, posterior angles oblique, broadly rounded; calli flat, nearly not distinct, with irregular shiny spots; mesoscutum usually covered by posterior margin of pronotum; scutellum triangular, nearly equilateral, disc weakly convex, nearly flat; pleural area with a few scattered simple setae; proepisternum not projected laterally; metepisternum covered with dense very short macrotrichia; metathoracic scent-gland evaporatory area and peritreme absent (fig. 15B); prosternum glabrous. Hemelytra: Lateral margins gently curved; clavus barely elevated with respect to corium; corium gently deflexed laterally from medial fracture; cuneus weakly deflexed laterally; membrane half as long as hemelytron. Legs: Coxae elongate, with short simple setae, more dense on anterior surface; trochanters ovoid, with simple setae as long as trochanter width, longer on mesotrochanter; femora of subequal length, nearly cylindrical, weakly compressed anteroposteriorly, gently narrowing apically (fig. 15F), metafemur barely longer than pro- and mesofemur, profemur with sparse short setae, meso- and metafemur on basal half with dense simple erect setae, nearly as long as femoral width; tibiae straight, cylindrical, nearly as long as femora (fig. 15F), metatibia barely longer than metafemur; tarsi narrow, long, about half as long as tibiae, first tarsomere the shortest, second longer than first, third about as long as first and second together; pretarsus as in figure 15C. ABDOMEN: Beset with sparse very short and delicate simple setae. GENITALIA: Genital capsule subtriangular, about as long as wide (figs. 15E, 16); aperture inclined, small, narrow, anterior margin not well sclerotized (fig. 16); ventrolateral right side of genital capsule with a small blunt projection (fig. 16); proctiger barely reaching apex of genital capsule (fig. 15E); supragenital bridge well sclerotized, thick, located above insertions of parameres (fig. 16); cuplike sclerite not projecting beyond apex of the genital capsule, left and right portions about the same length and height, bases not projected cephalad beyond supragenital bridge (fig. 16); insertion of right paramere weakly above left (figs. 15E, 16); left paramere sickle-shaped, body elongate, apicoventral process acute (fig. 16); right paramere hatchet-shaped in medial view, body elongat- ed, apex flattened and nearly capitate, broadly rounded, medial surface covered with numerous small denticles, tubercle on dorsal angle directed medially, broad and rounded (fig. 16); phallotheca nearly cylindrical, without any protuberances, well sclerotized dorsally, weakly so proximoventrally, distoventrally well sclerotized forming a small convex area (fig. 17), opening small, nearly vertical and circular, weakly turned left; vesica composed of a single flattened spicule, located just before middle of sclerotized part of ductus seminis, spicule usually narrow, subparallel or weakly curved, apex varying from nearly rounded to acute or nearly truncate, relative length varying from shorter than sclerotized part of ductus seminis to about the same length (fig. 17); sclerotized part of ductus seminis long, nearly reaching apex of phallotheca.

Female: Similar to male, weakly ovoid, total length 2.55–3.88. COLORATION: Similar to male (fig. 1). SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Legs with shorter and less dense setae as in male. STRUCTURE: THO- RAX: Legs: Femora with short and sparse setae. ABDOMEN: Sternites with dense medium-sized setae. GENITALIA (fig. 18): Subgenital plate as long as wide, gently converging apically, apex rounded, reaching middle of sternite VIII; base of ovipositor located nearly at longitudinal midpoint of abdomen; interramal sclerites oblong, narrow, close to dorsal margin of posterior wall; dorsal lobes of interramal sclerites very small, rounded, nearly not pedunculate and close to sigmoid process, sparse microtrichia on surface; sigmoid process covered with acute micro- trichia; medial process neither distinct nor sclerotized; dorsal labiate plate without any sclerotized modified structures; sclerotized rings heavily sclerotized, lateral margins wide, forming a nearly concave surface each, anteromedial and posterior margin not sclerotized, overall shape clamlike, lateral accessory sclerite not present; internal surface of seminal depository between lateral margins of sclerotized rings covered with small microtrichia; ventral labiate plate and anterior wall membranous; inner margin of first gonapophyses symmetrical.

DISTRIBUTION: Known from southwestern USA and northern Mexico (fig. 19).

HOST ASSOCIATIONS: Aoplonemella seems to be associated with species of Asteraceae , although most of the specimens studied lack host-plant data.

ETYMOLOGY: The generic name is formed from the combination of the generic name ‘‘ Aoplonema ’’ and the Latin diminutive suffix ‘‘-ella’’, due to the resemblance with Aoplonema and the relative small size of the type species of the genus. The gender is feminine.

DISCUSSION: Aoplonemella festiva exhibits a relatively derived morphology, in particular the male and female genitalia, in respect to the other members of the Hadronema group. The vesica is simple and not ornamented with spines (fig. 17), the females have the dorsal lobe of interramal sclerite broadly rounded (fig. 18), and the sclerotized rings are clamshaped (fig. 18, small arrow). However, other morphological characters such as the structure of the parameres (fig. 16) and the simple vestiture relate this genus with other genera of the group.