Hadronemidea echinata (Gruetzmacher and Schaffner) 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 : 133-136

Hadronemidea echinata (Gruetzmacher and Schaffner) , new combination Figures 3, 38–41

Hadronema echinata Gruetzmacher and Schaffner, 1977: 53 [n. sp.].

Hadronema (Aoplonema) echinatum: Henry and Wheeler, 1988: 410 [catalog].

Aoplonema echinatum: Kerzhner and Schuh, 1995: 4 [new placement]; Schuh, 1995: 81 [catalog].

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the nearly straight, rounded, lateral margins of the pronotum (fig. 38A); the prominent transverse posterior protuberance near the posterior margin of pronotum (fig. 38A); the weakly curved mesotibia in males, covered with dense bristlelike setae on ventral surface (fig. 38B); the short and not denticulate rami of left spicule (fig. 39, arrow); and the acute, barely tuberculate apex of the right spicule (fig. 39, arrow).

Hadronemidea echinata may be distinguished from H. esau by the key provided and by the diagnostic characters mentioned above.

REDESCRIPTION: Male: Large, robust, total length 4.95–5.52. COLORATION (fig. 3): HEAD: Mandibular and maxillary plates usually brown; maxillary plates dull, not shiny; labrum shiny. THORAX: Anterior lobe of pronotum black, posterior lobe of pronotum orange-red, with small, median, irregular longitudinal black line on anterior half, sometimes anterior portion of posterior lobe with a diffuse black rounded marking. STRUCTURE: HEAD: Labrum shorter than first labial segment, nearly glabrous, narrow and acute apically; antennal segment III with a fringe of long setae on apical third (fig. 38D). THORAX: Pronotum with lateral margins nearly straight, rounded; transverse posterior protuberance of pronotum usually prominent (fig. 38A), in some specimens smaller. Legs: Mesofemur with setae longer than femur width (fig. 38B); mesotibia gently curved inward, setae dense (fig. 38B). GENI- TALIA: Genital capsule subtriangular, almost globose, aperture small, anterior margin well sclerotized (fig. 39); left paramere gently curved distally, apicoventral process acute (fig. 39, arrows); right paramere broadly rounded apically (fig. 39, arrow); rami of left spicule about the same length, thin, not denticulate (fig. 39, arrow); right spicule apically cylindrical, barely denticulate, almost directed caudad (fig. 39, arrow).

Female: Similar to male in structure and coloration, but larger, total length 5.28–6.53. STRUCTURE: GENITALIA (fig. 40): Subgenital plate apically truncated; dorsal lobes of interramal sclerites with distal half of external margin almost straight; sclerotized rings produced posteriad as a sclerotized prolongation; accessory sclerite on anterolateral margin enlarged.

DISTRIBUTION: West Texas and adjacent New Mexico ( United States) to central Mexico, mostly in the Sierra Madre Oriental (fig. 41).

HOSTS: Most of the host records are on Gutierrezia sp. (Asteraceae) with a few on Dalea frutescens (Fabaceae) .

DISCUSSION: Gruetzmacher and Schaffner (1977) described H. echinata and expanded the generic concept of Hadronema in order to accommodate their new species. Kerzhner and Schuh (1995) later transferred H. echinata to Aoplonema based on male genitalia characters and ‘‘other structural features’’. Nevertheless, the vesica in Aoplonema consists of a deeply cleft single spiculum whereas in H. echinata there are two separate sclerites. The only argument for considering this species within Aoplonema is the absence of a basal front femora tubercle. As shown above, this character is shared only by species of Hadronema , and it is not present in any of the other species of the group. Hadronemidea echinata does not fit the concept of either Hadronema or Aoplonema .

Some minor structural and color variation may occur in some Mexican specimens (AMNH_PBI 00103801–AMNH_PBI 00103803). All of these have the pronotum with a less pronounced transverse protuberance anterior to the posterior margin, whereas in other specimens of H. echinata from the USA this structure is more prominent. The posterior margin of the dark area of the pronotum is gently curved, covering part of the posterior lobe, while in the USA specimens this margin is straight. Nevertheless, male and female genitalia, and other external morphological structures, bear no characters that allow for distinguishing the Mexican specimens from those in the USA.

HOLOTYPE MALE: USA: Texas: Jeff Davis Co.: 15 mi. W of Fort Davis, 23 Aug 1969, [30.7754 ° N 104.15965 ° W], Board and Hafernik , Holotype Hadronema echinata Gruetzmacher and Schaffner , 13 ( AMH _ PBI 00160640 ) ( USNM) .

PARATYPES: USA: Texas: Brewster Co.: South Rim Trail, Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park, 29.22936 ° N 103.2954 ° W, 2118 m, 16 Aug 1968, J.E. Hafernik, 1♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00105878) ( TAMU). Window trail, Big Bend National Park, 29.28054 ° N 103.31262 ° W, 15 Aug 1968, M.L. Allender, 1♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00105879) ( TAMU). Culberson Co.: 20 mi N of Van Horn, 31.33 ° N 104.83 ° W, 19 Aug 1969, Board and Hafernik, 13 ( AMNH _PBI 00105865) ( TAMU). Jeff Davis Co.: 15 mi W of Fort Davis, 30.7754 ° N 104.15965 ° W, 23 Aug 1969, Board and Hafernik, 23 ( AMNH _PBI 00065287, AMNH _ PBI 00065288) ( JTP); 213 ( AMNH _PBI 00105845– AMNH _PBI 00105864, AMNH _PBI 00105923), 4♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00105874– AMNH _ PBI 00105877) ( TAMU); 23 ( AMNH _PBI 00106817, AMNH _PBI 00106818), 2♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00106819, AMNH _PBI 00106820) ( USNM). 39.7 km NW of Fort Davis, 30.58806 ° N 103.89417 ° W, 10 Sep 1988, R. Anderson, Gutierrezia sp. (Asteraceae) , 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00105924) ( TAMU).

OTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED: MEX- ICO: Durango: 4 mi SW of Yerbanis , 25 Aug 1981, J. Chemsak and A. and M. Michelbacher, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00079950 ) ( UCB). 8 mi SE of Nombre de Dios, 23.76778 ° N 104.14346 ° W, 24 Aug 1981, J. Chemsak and A. and M. Michelbacher, 33 ( AMNH _ PBI 00079945 – AMNH _ PBI 00079947 ), 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00079949 ) ( UCB). Nuevo Leon: 40 mi S of San Roberto, 24.13552 ° N 100.28333 ° W, 22 Sep 1976, J.A. Chemsak, J. Powell, A. and M. Michelbacher, 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00079948 ) ( UCB). 5 mi E of Galeana junction, 24.83331 ° N 99.98662 ° W, 16 Sep 1976 – 17 Sep 1976, J.A. Chemsak, J. Powell, A. and M. Michelbacher, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00079951 ) ( UCB). San Luis Potosi: 3 mi W of Cedral, 23.79999 ° N 100.78097 ° W, 1829 m, 21 Sep 1976, J.A. Chemsak, J. Powell, A. and M. Michelbacher, 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00079824 ) ( USNM). Huizache, 22.91667 ° N 100.41666 ° W, 17 Nov 1977, H. Brailovsky, 23 ( AMNH _ PBI 00106822 , AMNH _ PBI 00106823 ), 5♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00106825 – AMNH _ PBI 00106829 ) ( USNM) ; 17 Oct 1977, H. Brailovsky, 5♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00106830 – AMNH _ PBI 00106834 ) ( USNM). Villa Hidalgo, 22.45 ° N 100.7 ° W, 07 Sep 1969, L.A. Kelton, 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00103801 ), 2♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00103802 , AMNH _ PBI 00103803 ) ( CNC). Tamaulipas: Ciudad Victoria , 23.73333 ° N 99.13333 ° W, 17 Nov 1977, H. Brailovsky, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00106824 ) ( USNM). USA: New Mexico: Otero Co.: 2 mi E of Mayhill, taken along Rio Penasco , 32.88944 ° N 105.44306 ° W, 22 Aug 1982, B.J. Hanselmann, 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00105866 ) ( TAMU). 6 mi SW of Weed, 32.79521 ° N 105.59866 ° W, 2289 m, 15 Sep 1973, N. Jorgensen, 23 ( AMNH _ PBI 00103799 , AMNH _ PBI 00103800 ) ( CNC). Texas: Brewster Co. : Big Bend National Park , 29.56527 ° N 103.26055 ° W, 31 Aug 1986 – 2 Sep 1986, East , Haack , Kovarik , 13 ( AMNH _ PBI 00106035 ) ( TAMU). Big Bend National Park , Colima trail, 29.26327 ° N 103.29494 ° W, 2179 m, 07 Sep 1988, R. Anderson, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00105891 ) ( TAMU). Big Bend National Park , Lost Mine Trail , 29.2704 ° N 103.269 ° W, 1890 m, 09 Sep 1988, R. Anderson, Gutierrezia sp. (Asteraceae) , 2♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00105892 , AMNH _ PBI 00106303 ) ( TAMU). Marathon , 30.205 ° N 103.24417 ° W, 02 Sep 1936, E.D. Ball, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00106821 ) ( USNM). Jeff Davis Co. : 39.7 km NW of Fort Davis, 30.58806 ° N 103.89417 ° W, 10 Sep 1988, R. Anderson, Gutierrezia sp. (Asteraceae) , 83 ( AMNH _ PBI 00105867 – AMNH _ PBI 00105873 , AMNH _ PBI 00106302 ), 10♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00105880 – AMNH _ PBI 00105889 ) ( TAMU). Davis Mountains State Park , 30.59583 ° N 103.92972 ° W, 06 Oct 1988, M.D. Schwartz, Dalea frutescens A. Gray (Fabaceae) , det. A. Tiehm ( NYBG), 5♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00100855 – AMNH _ PBI 00100859 ) ( AMNH). McDonald Observatory , 30.67153 ° N 104.0215 ° W, 2055 m, 13 Aug 1992, J.C. Schaffner, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00105890 ) ( TAMU) .