Neocyrtopeltocoris, Wyniger & Schuh & Henry, 2023

Wyniger, Denise, Schuh, Randall T. & Henry, Thomas J., 2023, Revision of the North American Hallodapini (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), American Museum Novitates 2023 (3994), pp. 1-48 : 37-38

Neocyrtopeltocoris , new genus

TYPE SPECIES: Sericophanes triangularis Knight, 1918 . By present designation.

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized among North American Miridae by the following combination of characters: flattened pronotal collar; contrasting white or pale transverse fascia on hemelytra at midpoint of claval commissure formed by two triangles with their apices directed toward the midline of body (fig. 7), costal margin with a distinct stridulitrum (and plectrum on hind femur); setiform parempodia; and minute pulvilli. Males macropterous, weakly ant mimetic; endosoma long, filamentous, apex ornamented apicad of secondary gonopore with crenulate projections (fig. 8); phallotheca bearing a dorsomedial spinelike projection on apical portion (fig. 8). Females always strongly brachypterous, apical half of abdomen exposed beyond truncate apex of hemelytra; myrmecomorphic (fig. 7).

Similar to Cyrtopeltocoris , but this taxon has a transverse hemelytral fascia formed of two more or less triangular elements with the apex of each located near the apex of the scutellum.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Total length 2.97–4.38. Coloration (fig. 7): Ranging from castaneous, including appendages, to reddish with nearly pale appendages; hemelytron (fig. 7) with a white or pale contrasting transverse fascia the midpoint of the claval commissure formed by two triangles with their apices directed toward the midline of body and a strong white patch on corium along cuneal fracture. Surface and vestiture (fig. 7): Dorsum with long, erect, simple setae; antennae with short appressed vestiture. Structure (fig. 7): Elongate, more or less parallel sided; head distinctly projecting anterior to eyes and with prominent clypeus; eyes large, prominent; pronotum campanulate, anterior margin in the form of a flattened collar, posterior lobe inflated and moderately elevated (fig. 7); scutellum elevated in form of a low mound; corium weakly declivent laterally, costal margin nearly straight, with a distinct stridulitrum for most of length (and plectrum on inner side of hind femur); labium long and slender, reaching at least to base of abdomen. Claws long, slender, gently curving; parempodia setiform; pulvilli minute. genitalia (fig. 8): Endosoma long, filamentous, secondary gonopore preapical, apex with one or more crenulate projections; phallotheca large with elongate apical portion right angulate and bearing a dorsomedial spinelike projection (fig. 8); left paramere strongly elevated toward apex; right paramere short, rounded laterally, and tapering toward apex (fig. 8).

Female: Coloration of body and appendages (fig. 7) similar to male. Eyes relatively smaller than in male. Pronotum nearly straight sided, pronotal collar not so broad and flat as in male; scutellum more strongly elevated that in male. Hemelytra truncate, posteriorly, covering basal half of abdomen. GENITALIA: Not examined.

DISCUSSION: The species we place in Neocyrtopeltocoris are members of the Hallodapini by virtue of the structure of the male genitalia and the flat pronotal collar. They do not, however, have the color pattern of the type and other species that we place in Cyrtopeltocoris , but rather have a transverse hemelytral fascia formed of two triangles with their apices meeting at or near the dorsal midline (fig. 7), a situation very similar to that seen in species of Sericophanes , and presumably the reason Knight initially (1918) and later (1930, 1968) placed triangularis in Sericophanes ; a similar pattern is also seen in Old World Hallodapini in species of the genus Alloeomimus Reuter. We therefore create a new genus in recognition of their distinctive attributes, including the dorsal color pattern and dorsomedial spinelike projection on the apical portion of the phallotheca (fig. 8), whereas at the same time correcting their subfamilial and tribal placements.

See also Discussion concerning distributional patterns under Cyrtopeltocoris (above).