Kiwisaldula butleri ( White, 1878 )

Larivière, Marie-Claude & Larochelle, André, 2017, Kiwisaldula waiho and K. hurunui, two new species of Saldidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from the South Island of New Zealand, with redescriptions of K. butleri (White) and K. laelaps (White), Zootaxa 4341 (1), pp. 41-55 : 51-52

Kiwisaldula butleri ( White, 1878)

Salda butleri White, 1878: 160 . Holotype female (BMNH; Figs 5–6 ) labelled: “LECTO- TYPE (circular purple-bordered label; typed in 2 lines) / Type (circular red-bordered label; typed) / LECTOTYPE S. butleri B. White R. Cobben 1961 (red label; first word typed, remainder text handwritten) / New Zealand (handwritten) / Salda butleri B.W (handwritten) / Salda butleri BW. (long folded label; handwritten) / Pres. by Perth Museum. B.M. 1953-629. (typed) / BMNH(E) #1005935 (typed).” Fair condition; antennae missing; left clavus damaged; left mid and hindlegs missing; right foreleg missing; right mid and hindlegs missing tibia and tarsi; mounted on card next to two nymphs. Cobben’s lectotype labels associated with the holotype should be ignored ( Larivière & Larochelle, 2016: 473).

Salda bulteri [sic]: Hutton, 1904: 223.

Acanthia butleri: Kirkaldy, 1909: 27 .

Saldula butleri: Drake & Hoberlandt, 1950: 7 .

Kiwisaldula butleri: Larivière & Larochelle, 2016: 472 .

Redescription (Macropterous adult). Body length 3.62–4.65 (3.97 mm); elongate-ovate ( Figs 3 , 5 ); female generally more broadly shaped ( Fig. 5 ). Dorsal colour largely dark, with moderately to broadly pale lateral margins of pronotum and slightly to moderately developed, often coalesced pale markings on hemelytra. Facial colour ( Fig. 11 ) slightly to moderately contrasted. Head, pronotum, and scutellum barely to slightly shiny against mostly dull hemelytra. Dorsal pubescence short to moderately long, mostly reclined, mostly golden brown or silvery, usually more densely distributed on pronotum, clavus, and endocorium. Hemelytra and hindwings fully developed. Head ( Fig. 11 , facial view). Preocellar spots whitish yellow to brownish (sometimes nearly indistinct). Preocular spots whitish yellow to brownish (sometimes nearly indistinct). Transverse swelling slightly to moderately developed; lateral portions contiguous; whitish yellow to yellowish brown, darker near facial midline. Mandibular plates slightly to moderately developed, concolorous with or darker than transverse swelling. Maxillary plates slightly to moderately developed, concolorous with transverse swelling. Rostrum yellowish brown, reaching hind coxae. Antennae about 3.8x longer than pronotum + collar medially; segment I whitish yellow, ventral and dorsal sides dark throughout or nearly so (striped), ventral side usually more heavily marked than dorsal side; segment II whitish yellow to yellowish brown, often darker along one side or two sides, sometimes brownish throughout, about 2.2x longer than segment I; segments III–IV dark brown to nearly black. Thorax. Lateral margins of pronotum slightly to moderately convex, distinctly explanate, moderately to broadly pale whitish yellow (pale area at midlength 1.5– 2x the width of antennal segment II). Scutellum about 1.9x longer than pronotum + collar medially. Thoracic underside black, with slightly contrasting acetabula (acetabulum I moderately to broadly (mostly) pale; acetabulum II narrowly pale; acetabulum III very narrowly pale or completely dark), and broadly pale lateral margins. Legs largely pale; fore and mid femora with ventral side dark brown to nearly black over most of length (distinctly striped); hind femora without ventral and dorsal sides dark brown to black, coalesced into and annulus; fore tibiae pale or slightly infumate dorsally (not striped throughout); hind tibiae about 2.6x longer than tarsal segments II+III combined. Hemelytra: corium ( Figs 3 , 5 , 14 ) largely blackish, with reduced pale markings on endocorium and more extensive pale markings (whitish yellow to yellowish brown) on exocorium; endocorium with distinct dark brown to black eyespot subbasally near R vein; costal margin lined with narrow to moderately wide, usually interrupted pale band (often evanescent in apical half or third, or, absent in dark individuals); colour pattern in female often with more extended white markings but mostly consistent with that in male; pruinose areas strongly developed, distributed on base and apex of clavus and most of corium, and usually on membrane near apex of clavus; basal pruinose area of clavus broad and short, covering less than one-third of clavus length; basal pale spot of clavus absent; subapical pale spot of clavus present or absent; membrane with four fully formed cells; cell 1 the shortest, distinctly shorter than cells 2 and 3, subtriangular; cells 2 and 3 subrectangular, subequal in length and width (cell 3 sometimes narrower); cell 4 the narrowest, slender, subequal in length or distinctly longer than cell 3, ending apically nearly in line or in line with tip of cell 3. Abdomen. Venter: male, completely blackish (very rarely with margin of one or two segments narrowly paler); female, blackish medially with hind margin of segments narrowly pale and moderately to broadly margined with yellowish ivory to pale yellowish brown. Male parandria ( Fig. 22 ) elongate, broadly subtriangular, acutely rounded and moderately narrowed at tip; inner margins almost straight in basal half, slightly concave in apical half; medial membrane with truncate-rounded inward projection on each side; basal margin rather straight. Male paramere ( Fig. 18a–b ) more variable than in other three species; with barely distinct processus sensualis bearing less than ten setae; processus hamatus moderately long, slightly to rather strongly constricted at base, its tip narrow, acutely rounded. Other characters as in generic description ( Larivière & Larochelle, 2016: 459).

Geographic distribution ( Fig. 24 ). South Island, mostly areas east of the Southern Alps (KA–SL/FD).

Material examined. A total of 439 specimens including type, from the following localities. South Island. DN –Bobbys Head, South beach ( NZAC) ; Maerewhenua River , 8 km South of Duntroon ( NZAC) ; Murdering Beach (NZAC); Ocean View (NZAC); Orire Point (NZAC). FD –Bluecliffs Beach, Waiau River lagoon ( NZAC) . KA –Hundalee, Conway River ( NZAC) ; Kahutara River and Highway 70 junction (NZAC); Kahutara River mouth ( NZAC) ; Kowhai River mouth ( NZAC) . MC – Lake Pearson , Highway 7 ( NZAC) ; Lincoln College (NZAC); Porters Pass, Lake Lyndon ( NZAC) . NC –Amberley Beach, Mimimoto Lagoon (NZAC); Leithfield Beach (NZAC); Waiau River , 6.2 km West Highways 7 and 7A junction ( NZAC) ; Waipara River mouth ( NZAC) . SC – Hakataramea, Hakataramea River ( NZAC) ; Hakataramea River , Wrights Crossing ( NZAC) ; Katiki (2 km NE) (NZAC). SL – Longwood Forest , Bald Hill ( NZAC) ; Oreti Beach, 2.5 km SE of Ferry Road end ( NZAC) ; The Catlins, Long Beach (NZAC); Waimatuku River mouth ( NZAC) ; Winton, Oreti River ( NZAC) .

Biology. Altitudinal range. Lowland to lower montane; collected from sea level to around 800 m. Habitat. Occurs in open habitats mostly on moist to wet, bare or sparsely vegetated, sometimes silty sand along or near the banks or side-channels of gravelly or sandy streams and rivers (including sand dunes estuaries), the edge of lagoons and lakes, and small ponds; usually near water (within a few meters from the water line). Also collected in coastal situations at the edge of sparse vegetation in a tidal salt marsh with loamy soil, along debris in the intertidal zone of a lagoon, and on the wet, muddy-gravelly banks of a lagoon, covered with dry algae; and inland, on sward near a lake, in a rush meadow near a sandy-gravelly stream, and between short rushes along a narrow sandy-gravelly stream running through a subalpine scrub. Seasonality. Adults and tenerals (newly emerged adults) collected from January to March, but tenerals mostly found in January and March; nymphs collected in February and March; mating pairs observed in February and March; seasonality data suggests summer breeding and overwintering in the egg stage. Food. Predator or scavenger. Behaviour. Undocumented.

Remarks. This species was previously known from the female only.

The holotype collected by FW Hutton, is labelled as originating from “ New Zealand ”. Larivière & Larochelle (2016) reported, based on Hutton’s known collecting grounds around the year of description, that the holotype may have been collected in the “ Otago Province” (most of the southern third of the South Island south of the Waitaki River [OL, CO, DN, SL in part, FD]) or the “ Canterbury Province” [= NC, MC, SC, MK]. This fits well with the geographic distribution currently recorded for K. butleri .

Kiwisaldula butleri is expected to be more widely distributed in eastern areas of the South Island than might be surmised from the list of currently known collecting localities, and to be the most commonly encountered Kiwisaldula species in that region of New Zealand.

This is a morphologically highly variable, moderate size species with an elongate-ovate body shape, slightly to moderately convex pale lateral margins of pronotum that are moderately to broadly margined with pale, extensive pale markings on exocorium of hemelytra, and a moderately to broadly pale ventral margin in the female. Females are generally broader with a more heavyset body than males.

As a general rule K. butleri ’s populations in the southern parts of the distribution range, in more mountainous, or in colder habitats, consist of more darkly coloured and somewhat smaller individuals. The male paramere also varies along this ecogeographic gradient, especially the length and degree of basal constriction of the processus hamatus. Kiwisaldula butleri is mostly macropterous, but submacropterous individuals (hemelytral membrane slightly reduced) can sometimes be seen.

Figures

FIGURE 24. Collecting localities of Kiwisaldula species, South Island, New Zealand.

FIGURES 5 – 8. Dorsal views of type specimens with labels. Scale bar = 1 mm. (5 – 6) Kiwisaldula butleri, female holotype and labels, (7 – 8) K. laelaps, male lectotype and labels.

FIGURES 1 – 4. Dorsal views of Kiwisaldula species (males; legs and antennae omitted). Scale bar = 1 mm. (1) K. waiho, (2) K. hurunui, (3) K. butleri, (4) K. laelaps.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Facial views of Kiwisaldula species; males. (9) K. waiho, (10) K. hurunui, (11) K. butleri, (12) K. laelaps.

FIGURES 13 – 15. Eunomy (left corium), most frequently observed pigmentation patterns. (13) Kiwisaldula waiho, (14) K. butleri, (15) K. laelaps.

FIGURES 16 – 23. Schematic view of male genitalia (16 – 19) Paramere, ventral view. (16) Kiwisaldula waiho (shaft base broken), (17) K. hurunui (shaft base broken), (18 a – b) K. butleri, (19) K. laelaps. (20 – 23) Parandria, posterior view. (20) K. waiho, (21) K. hurunui, (22) K. butleri, (23) K. laelaps.