Lasiacantha gingera, Cassis & Symonds, 2011

Cassis, Gerasimos & Symonds, Celia, 2011, Systematics, biogeography and host plant associations of the lace bug genus Lasiacantha Stål in Australia (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) 2818, Zootaxa 2818 (1), pp. 1-63 : 31-32

Lasiacantha gingera , sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 3b , 6 )

Holotype. ♂, AUSTRALIA: Australian Capital Territory: Mt. Gingera , 35.567 ° S 148.783 ° E, 18 Feb 1981, A. Calder, (17284) ( AM).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Lake St Clair NP, St Clair Rd North, 42.12555°S 146.21083°E, 01 Mar 2004, M. Driessen, 1 f (17855) ( AM); Lake St Clair NP, Travellers Rest East, 42.12888°S 146.22833°E, 01 Mar 2004, M. Driessen, 2 m (17853, 17854) ( AM) .

Diagnosis. Lasiacantha gingera ( Fig. 6 ) is recognised by the following combination of characters: Dorsum very pale, stramineous, with some mottled red brown patches, and distinctive dark brown spot on outer medially on carinate margin of discoidal area; dense covering of white microtrichae over entire body; major setiferous tubercles on pronotum and hemelytra short, terminal seta elongate, much longer than tuberculate base; keel and surface of collum, pronotal carinae with major setiferous tubercles costal area with setiferous tubercles extending to posterior hemelytral margin; carinate margins of discoidal area with major setiferous tubercles, posterior angle without clump of setiferous tubercles; major setiferous tubercles on keel and surface of collum, pronotal carinae, and carinate margins of discoidal area with tuberculate base very short, shorter than those on paranota and costal margins; pronotum and hemelytra with moderately elongate hairlike setae, uniformly, moderately densely distributed; abdominal venter with short, straight, silvery, porrect, hairlike setae; cephalic spines elongate, frontal spines longer than AI, medial spine straight; AIV with elongate base; collum columnar, higher than medial carina, projected anteriorly and covering entire head; paranota three areolae wide; costal area two areolae wide, outer row longer and narrower than inner row; areolae in subcostal, discoidal and sutural areas smaller than in costal area; sternal carinae with metasternal carinae weakly concave but close to equal width to mesosternal carinae.

Description. Medium size, brachypterous ( Fig. 6 ); male 3.32. COLOURATION. Dorsum very pale brown, pale, with a few dark brown patches. Head: red brown; spines base stramineous, remainder slightly darker orange brown; bucculae pale yellow brown; labium yellow brown, apex red brown; antennae, AI orange brown, AII–AIV paler yellow brown. Pronotum: disc red brown, diminishing posteriorly to pale stramineous colour; paranota slightly mottled stramineous to orange brown; collum mostly stramineous, slightly darker apically with few red brown patches; carinae stramineous medial carina with red brown stripe medially. Thoracic pleura and sterna: pleura red brown, supracoxal lobes slightly paler orange brown; sternal carinae yellow brown. Legs: mostly yellow brown; femur, tip of tarsi and tarsal claw slightly darker orange brown. Hemelytra: mostly pale, stramineous, discoidal area medially slightly darker orange brown; costal area mottled with red brown patches; dark brown spot medially on outer carinate margin of discoidal area and very small red brown spot on posterior angle of discoidal area. Abdomen: orange to red brown. VESTITURE. Dorsum uniformly covered with moderately elongate, silvery, hairlike setae and dense distribution of white microtrichae over entire body. Head: adpressed, pale elongate woolly setae present; antenniferous tubercles with minor setiferous tubercles, terminal seta greatly elongate; antennae with minor setiferous tubercles, pale, AI–AII setiferous tubercles in multiple rows with moderately elongate curved terminal seta, AIII setiferous tubercles with greatly elongate straight terminal seta. Pronotum: paranota margins with short major setiferous, terminal seta much longer than tuberculate base; keel and surface of collum, and pronotal carinae also with major setiferous tubercles, tuberculate base shorter than on paranota. Thoracic pleura and sterna: pleura with hairlike setae as on dorsum; supracoxal lobes with elongate, scalelike setae. Legs: dense distribution of minor setiferous tubercles; terminal seta pale, elongate, erect, bristlelike. Hemelytra: costal margins with major setiferous tubercles as on paranota, extending to posterior margin of hemelytra; major setiferous tubercles on carinate margins of discoidal area and cubitus + R+M vein, not clumped (aggregated) at posterior angle of discoidal area, tuberculate base shorter than on costal margin; hairlike setae distributed over entire hemelytra. Abdomen: moderately dense distribution of short, silvery, porrect, hairlike setae. STRUCTURE. Head: spines elongate; frontal spines parallel, longer than AI; medial spine straight; occipital spines straight, projected anteriorly, not curved outwards over eye; labium moderate length, extending to metasternum; antennae, AI elongate and twice length of AII, AIV with expanded cylindrical base and weakly clavate apex. Pronotum: disc flat; collum columnar, uniformly broad, anteriorly projected over whole of head, much higher than medial carina; carinae moderately elevated, all one areole wide; lateral carinae unthickened; paranota expanded, semi-circular, three areolae wide. Thoracic sterna: metasternal carinae sinuous to concave, close to same width as mesosternal carinae, both straight. Hemelytra: areolae very small, subequal size over entire hemelytra, excluding costal area; costal area two areolae wide, outer row of areolae longer and narrower than inner row; subcostal area three areolae wide; discoidal and sutural areas four areolae wide. Male genitalia: not examined. MEASUREMENTS. For 1 ♂ is given in Table 6.

Host plant. Holotype is labelled ex. litter and moss, and specimens from Tasmania were collected in pitfall traps in buttongrass moorland. It is likely that this species is also a grass inhabitant like the closely related species L. graminicola and L. kosciuszko .

Distribution. Known from two localities in alpine regions of southeastern Australia, on the mainland and in Tasmania ( Fig. 3b ).

Etymology. After the type locality.

Remarks. Lasiacantha gingera is most easily distinguished from two related species, L. graminicola and L. kosciuszko , by the shape of the areolae in the costal area, with the lateral row wider and narrower than the medial row, whereas in the latter two species the two rows of areolae are subequal in shape and size. Lasiacantha gingera is also distinguished by the elongate frontal spines which are longer than AI, whereas they are shorter in the other two species.

Lasiacantha gingera is similar to L. graminicola by having a greatly elongate collum. However, it differs from L. graminicola by the paler colouration (at least of the type specimen), less dense distribution of hairlike setae, medial carina more highly elevated than lateral carinae, overall slight larger size and more round in shape, and the large areolae in the discoidal area particularly medially.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Implied weights phylogeny for Australian Lasiacantha Stål, 1873, with nodes numbered (refer to Table 3 for character state changes at nodes), bootstrap values are given as branch supports, and biogeographic area and host plant mapped next to the species name. Map of areas of endemism, redrawn from Crisp et al. (1995). Abbreviations for biogeographic areas as follows: ED = Eastern Desert; EQ = Eastern Queensland; MM = Macleay-McPherson; P = Pilbara; SE = Southeast New South Wales; SW = Southwest Western Australia; TAS = Tasmania; and, WD = Western Desert.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Lasiacantha species. (a) Clade 3 spp. and (b) Clade 1 and 2 spp.

FIGURE 6. Photographs of Australian Lasiacantha species: L. graminicola sp. nov. (habitus and lateral), L. gingera sp. nov, L. kosciuszko sp. nov., L. leai sp. nov, L. windorah sp. nov., L. discordis sp. nov. (habitus and lateral), L. vittata sp. nov. and L. serraseta sp. nov.. Scale = 1mm. Plate 2 of 2.