Burmacader, Heiss, Ernst & Guilbert, Eric, 2013

Heiss, Ernst & Guilbert, Eric, 2013, Two new genera and species of Tingidae from Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), Zootaxa 3736 (4), pp. 379-386 : 381-384

Burmacader new genus

Type species: Burmacader multivenosus n. sp.

Systematic position:

Order: Hemiptera

Suborder: Heteroptera

Infraorder: Cimicomorpha Leston, Pendergrast & Southwood, 1954 Superfamily: Tingoidea Laporte, 1832

Family Tingidae Laporte, 1832

Subfamily status tentatively between Vianaidinae and Tinginae +Cantacaderinae

Diagnosis. Macropterous. Body elongate, surface punctate and areolate, lateral margins setigerous. Head short without spines; antennae short, segments III longest; pronotum with anterolaterally expanded paranota, disk without longitudinal carinae; scutellum distinct; hemelytra divided into costal, subcostal and discoidal areas, subcostal one with about 10, discoidal one with 3-4 transverse veins, stenocostal area absent; membrane without veins.

Etymology. Refers to Burma (now Myanmar), the country of origin, and the suffix “cader.”

Burmacader multivenosus n. sp. (Figs. 3–5)

Holotype. Female in a piece of 5x5x 5mm Burmese Amber, most probably originating from Kachin State in northern Myanmar. Head and pronotum slightly displaced and damaged, partly depressed; eyes incomplete, hemelytra with left wing anteriorly detached thus leaving a cleft between corium and clavus and right hemelytron. This specimen is designated as holotype and is deposited in the collection of the first author (CEHI) as BUB-Ting- 2.

Description. Smaller species; body oval, light brown, head and apex of antennal segment IV darker; lateral margins of pronotum and hemelytra beset with sparse setae, few erect setae also present on main hemelytral veins; antennae with sparse pilosity.

H e a d short, about as long as antennal segment I; surface granulate without distinct spines or larger tubercles but with long erect setae, eyes only partly preserved; antennae slender about 2.5x as long as width of head and longer than width of pronotum; antennal segment I shortest and thickest, II+III thinner, II tapering toward base, III cylindrical, IV spindle-shaped; length of antennal segment I/II/III/IV = 8?/ 10/14/10. Rostrum reaching to mesocoxae, lateral bucculae semiroundedly expanded ventrally with 2-3 rows of cells.

P r o n o t u m subrectangular, surface with deep cell-like punctures, no longitudinal carinae are discernible, lateral margins rounded at humeri followed on anterior ¾ by triangularly expanded paranota with 4 rows of cells on widest anterolateral angle, these larger than those of pronotum; anterior margin straight, anteriorly produced and overlapping the head between paranota; posterior margin slightly sinuate without posterior projection.

S c u t e l l u m triangular with knob-like apex, surface rugose.

H e m e l y t r a macropterous, distinctly surpassing apex of abdomen by ¼ of their length; costal area with two rows of cells at middle, one row posteriorly and three cells at sinuate expansion anteriorly; subcostal area delimited by subcostal and hypocostal veins divided by 10 (left wing) and 11 (right wing) transverse veins with 7-8 transverse rows of cells at its widest part; hypocostal vein and fused radial + median veins carinate, discoidal area in between them flat with 3-4 transverse veins and 7-8 cells at the median widest area; sutural area basally bordering clavus with one row of cells this following inner margin of R+M veins along membrane to its posterior end; membrane without veins; clavus triangular with about 6-7 cells at its widest part; a short stenocostal lamina with one row of cells on anterior half is ventrally developed along insinuation of costal area but not reaching to anterior apex.

L e g s long and slender, femora not incrassate, tibiae thin and cylindrical, tarsi two-segmented, claws with a basal tooth.

M e a s u r e m e n t s length 2.8mm; width of head 0.4mm; width of pronotum 0.9mm; width of hemelytra 1.32mm; length of antennal segments I/II/III/IV = 0.2?/0.25/0.35/ 0.25mm.

Etymology. Named after the numerous transverse veins of subcostal and discoidal areas of hemelytra.

Discussion. The most recent study dealing with the systematics of Tingidae using a phylogenetic analysis (Schuh et al. 2006), recognized five characters as apomorphic to the Tingidae within the Miroidea: (1) the presence of a labial groove on the thoracic sternum, (2) the bucculae extending from the clypeus to the posterior margin of the head, (3) the ostioles of the metathoracic glands on the metepisternum, (4) the presence of a medial projection on the posterior margin of abdominal sternum 7 or “subgenital plate.” and (5) the parempodia greatly reduced. Burmacader multivenosus n. sp. shares the first two characters, the third one is not clearly discernible, and the two last ones cannot be seen because of the impurities obscuring the inclusion. However, the specimen shows clearly the general habitus of a Tingidae . Based on these characters we would include this specimen in the subfamily Tinginae .

The scutellum of Burmacader multivenosus n. sp. is well developed, the second antennal segment is nearly subequal in length to the third segment and, as far as recognizeable, the metathoracic gland peritreme seems to be T-shaped. These characters which distinguish the Vianaidinae from Tinginae +Cantacaderinae (see Schuh et al, 2006 and Lis 1999) would suggest the placement of B. multivenosus n. sp. within the Vianaidinae. In addition, the sutural area is bordered by a narrow membrane, like Vianagramma goldmani (Golub & Popov 2000). However, the R+M and Cu veins on the forewings are not fused at the base, a feature distinctive for Tinginae + Cantacaderinae. Burmacader multivenosus n. sp. possesses also well developed areolate paranota, and a costal area unusually wide for Vianaidinae. The size of these areolate structures argue for the placement of B. multivenosus n. sp. in Tinginae + Cantacaderinae. Other characters, such as the fusion of pregenital abdominal segments or the size of the evaporative area of methatoracic glands, distinguishing Vianaidinae and Tinginae + Cantacaderinae, cannot be recognized with this specimen.

The pronotum of B. multivenosus n. sp. does not project backwards, the clavus is well developed, and the discoidal area has transversal veinlets. These characters are shared by Phatnomatini and Cantacaderinae (see Froeschner 1996) and distinguish them from Tinginae , whereas the absence of a stenocostal area is a character shared by the Phatnomatini and not by Cantacaderinae (see Lis 1999: 165,179). However, the short head does not surpass the first antennal segment in front, a diagnostic feature of the Tinginae .

As B. multivenosus n. sp. shares a combination of characters of different subfamilies of Tingidae , we tentatively place this taxon between Vianaidinae and Tinginae + Cantacaderinae; thus its position within the Tingidae remains unclear.