Coleopterodes liliputianum (Signoret)

Montemayor, Sara I. & Coscarón, María Del Carmen, 2005, Taxonomic revision of Coleopterodes Philippi (Heteroptera: Tingidae), Zootaxa 1092 (1), pp. 31-38 : 33-35

Coleopterodes liliputianum (Signoret)

Figs. 1–5 .

Solenostoma liliputiana Signoret 1863: 575 ; Stål 1873: 117; Berg 1884: 100; Reed 1900: 178; Pennington 1921: 20; Bosq 1937: 131; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Coleopterodes fuscescens Philippi 1864: 308 ; Walker 1873b: 4; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Monanthia liliputiana Walker 1873a: 194 ; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Solenostoma lipiputianum [sic] Champion 1898: 56; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Coleopterodes liliputianum Drake 1922a: 50 ; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Coleopterodes liliputiana Drake 1922b: 353 ; 1939: 332; 1948: 76; Drake & Ruhoff 1965:122.

Material examined: 3 female, Coleopterodes fuscescens , Chile, Berg col. ( MNLP) ; 7 females, 6 male, Coleopterodes liliputiana , Argentina, Neuquen, Pucara Lacar , II­53 ( MNLP) ; 5 male, Chile, Prov. Malleco, Nahuelbuta 6­XII­1992, Leg. J.E. Barriga, ( MNLP) ; 2 males, Solenostoma liliputiana , Argentina, Prov. de Buenos Aires, Otamendi, II­ 1965, Leg. Carpintero, Det. Carpintero.

Redescription: General coloration greyish brown. Body length 1.57–1.90 (mean = 1.74) ( Fig. 1 ). Head length 0.30–0.37 (mean = 0.33), width 0.34–0.37 (mean = 0.36). Head covered with long, scattered setae. Two pairs of tubercles; anterior pair half the length of occipital pair; anterior pair brown, occipital pair testaceous; both pairs with blunt ends and sub­parallel ( Fig. 2 ). Eyes ovate, height 0.08–0.11 (mean = 0.10), width 0.13–0.14 (mean = 0.13) ( Fig. 3 ). Labium extending to prosternum ( Fig. 4 ). Antennae thick, covered with abundant long, stout, decumbent hairs, total length 0.59–0.70 (mean = 0.68), segment I and II stout, segment I subconical, length 0.16–0.20 (mean = 0.17); segment II barrelshaped, length 0.10–0.14 (mean = 0.13); segment III cylindrical longest and most slender, length 0.17–0.21 (mean = 0.20); segment IV claviform, length 0.16–0.19 (mean = 0.18). Pronotum length 0.43–0.51 (mean = 0.47), width 0.51–0.61 (mean = 0.57). Collar composed of three rows of punctuation scarcely raised ( Fig. 2 ). Posterior process pale at the apex. Rostral laminae subparallel towards prosternum posteriorly curving inwards; metasternum wider than long, covered with long scattered hairs ( Fig. 4 ). Hemelytra punctuations not regularly rounded with claviform sensilas, between 0 and 2 on each punctuation, more abundant those with only one sensila ( Fig. 5 ). Typical areas of hemelytra not distinct, veins absent except for R+M+Cu, this poorly insinuated as a pallid region, slightly raised. Male and female similar in shape and coloration.

Type material examined: Neotype: female, Chile, El Manzano , Cordillera, Chile II­ 1988, collected on Berberis sp , leg S.E Barriga ( MNLP).

Measurements Neotype: Body length1.87. Head length 0.33, width 0.37. Antennae total length 0.7, segment I length 0.18, segment II length 0.13, segment III length 0.21, segment IV length 0.18. Pronotum length 0.50, width 0.6.

Geographic distribution: Chile (Santiago, Malleco) ; Argentina (Buenos Aires: Chacabuco, Otamendi; Neuquen: Pucara Lacar)

Host plant: Acacia cavenia ; Baccharis pingraea ; Berberis sp.

Comments: All the type material of the species described by Signoret was deposited in the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, with his collection of Heteroptera. In the original description of C. liliputianum, Signoret did not explain where the type material was deposited. Drake, in two of his works (1922b) and Drake & Poor (1938), mentioned that a female labelled “ Chili, Gay, 15–43” from the Paris Museum could be one of the series of types. We checked the three possible institutions where the type material could be deposited: Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Museo Entomológico de la Facultad de Agronomía de la Universidad de Chile, and Museum National d´Historie Naturelle, Paris. The Curators of these three Institutions, Dr. Zettel, Dr. Elgueta, and Dr. Guilbert, by personal communication, inform us that no type material of this species is deposited in these Museums’ collections. Moreover, in Drake & Ruhoff´s catalogue of lacebugs of the world (1965) the sex and place of deposition of the type is recorded as unknown. Therefore we designate a neotype, required because of the complex problem of identification of this species, as the original description is brief and incomplete. Because these two species are very similar, their correct determination can be very difficult if they are not compared. It is thus necessary to designate a neotype in order to avoid confusion between these two species. The specimens examined in this study were determined as C. liliputianum based on the original description and comparison with type material of C. brunnea .

Figures

FIGURES 1–5: Coleopterodes liliputianum (Signoret) 1. General dorsal view; 2. Head dorsal view; 3. Head lateral view, bucculae; 4. Head and thorax ventral view, rostral channel; 5. Hemelytra sensila.