Halticus insularis, Usinger, 1946

Usinger, Robert L., 1946, Hemiptera Heteroptera of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 189, pp. 11-103 : 85-86

80. Halticus insularis , new species.

Broadly oval, convex above, sparsely clothed with subappressed black hairs; head shining, the rest of dorsal surface dull.

Head directed downward, nearly as long to apex of tylus as broad across eyes, 23: 24; tylus convex, subrounded at apex; labrum less than half as wide at base as greatest width of tylus, tapering apically, twice as long as wide. Disk of head highly polished, minutely rugose-punctate, feebly convex. Hind margin moderately arcuate, a little reflexed, overlapping anterior margins of pronotum. Rostrum stout, reaching to apices of hind coxae; proportion of segments 7: 7: 9: 4. Antennae much longer than body, over three times as long as width of pronotum, 97: 30, the second segment scarcely longer than length of costal margin of corium, 35: 34; proportion of segments one to four as 8: 35: 25: 29; first segment thickest, not reaching apex of head, with one or two long erect hairs beyond middle; remaining segments slender, cylindrical, covered with short, stiff, apically directed hairs.

Pronotum one fourth broader across humeri than head width including eyes, 30: 24; twice as broad as long, and two thirds as wide at anterior margin as across humeri, sides straight, humeri briefly rounded, hind margin broadly rounded and very feebly concave in front of scutellum. Disk only feebly elevated, very minutely punctate or almost shagreened, obsoletely, transversely rugose.

Scutellum a little less than twice as broad at base as long, 12: 7, the disk similar to pr6notal disk, feebly elevated basally and gradually depressed apically to acute angular apex.

Hemelytra strongly convex, the costal margins strongly arcuate, the cuneal fracture deep, surface of clavus, corium, and cuneus shagreened and pubescent. Membrane complete, surpassing tip of abdomen.

Under surface largely naked and shagreened on thoracic pleura and coxae, highly polished and pubescent on abdominal venter.

Legs shining and pubescent, the front and middle legs slender, the hind femora slightly over one third as thick as long, 11: 29. Hind tarsi with first segment two thirds as long as second and third, which are subequal.

Color black with ferrugineous eyes, brownish membrane becoming paler around apical margin. Antennae pale, testaceous, with infuscated apex of second segment, more or less on apical half of third segment and all of fourth except for pale base. Legs entirely pale except for fuscous claws and black basal half or two thirds of hind femora.

The male has even longer antennae, 3.5 times as long as width of pronotum, 99: 28; with the second segment much longer than costal margin of corium, 37: 30.

Size: 1.75 mm. long, 1 mm. wide across hemelytra.

Holotype female, Ritidian Point, June 2, Swezey; allotype male, Piti, Sept. 17, on pumpkin leaves, Swezey; 12 paratypes, same data as allotype; six paratypes, Piti, Sept. 14, on Ipomoea in a cornfield, Swezey; one paratype, same data as holotype; one paratype, Agana Swamp, May 4, on cucumber, Usinger ; one paratype, Fullaway (1205).

Allied to tibialis Reuter which I have from Amboina and Macassar, collected by Muir. In tibialis the antennae are shorter, less than three times as long as width of pronotum across humeri, 87: 30; all of the femora are black except at apices and the hind tibiae are broadly infuscated on basal half except at extreme base. H. tibialis has been reported from Africa, Ceylon, Java, and the Carolines. H. minutus Reuter from Ceylon, Singapore, and Cochin China is said to have the second antennal segment shorter, about as long as costal margin of corium, and the infuscated basal half of the hind tibiae is not mentioned by Distant (Fauna Brit. India, Rhynch. 2: 480, 1904). Otherwise it seems to agree, except for its smaller size, with tibialis . Distant records minutus from Ipomoea in Ceylon, collected by Green, and Esaki records tibialis as injurious to beans in the Carolines.