Callitricola silveirae, Symonds & Cassis, 2018

Symonds, Celia L. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2018, Systematics And Analysis Of The Radiation Of Orthotylini Plant Bugs Associated With Callitroid Conifers In Australia: Description Of Five New Genera And 32 New Species (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018 (422), pp. 1-229 : 130-135

Callitricola silveirae , new species

Figures 13 , 41 , 48 ; map 3

DIAGNOSIS: Defined by the following characters: midsized; forewing membrane veins yellowgreen; pygophore dorsal margin with medial tumescence, one left lateral tergal process arising from tergal plate; left tergal process a broad, serrate comb with one prominent spine; left paramere apex narrow with weakly recurved hook; right paramere base short, apex curved inward and slightly pointed, weak ridge on inner subapical ventral surface, subapical dorsal margin round, with few small spinelike serrations on subapical ridge and subapical dorsal margin; phallotheca with small right basal tumescence, large subbasal lobe on right dorsal margin; aedeagus with all three spicules subequal in length; PES fully enclosing secondary gonopore, with strongly downturned left branch; DES2 unbranched; DES1 bifurcate with one branch elongate and one very short; female laIRL slightly wider at apex and weakly curved inward distally, base spiniferous with large spiniferous lobe; mIRL half length of laIRL, subrectangular, margin serrate.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Midsized, total length 4.12–4.15 mm, pronotal width 0.86–0.96 mm.

COLORATION: Dorsum yellow-green, often faded to yellow, with bright green patches retained on lateral margins of cuneus and embolium and at cuneal fracture; forewing membrane light gray-brown with darker patches laterally, veins yellow-green with pigmentation bleeding onto surrounding membrane, major cell with bright green spot (fig. 13). VESTI- TURE: Dorsum with moderately dense distribution of pale simple setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Antennae with AI subequal to vertex width, AII 1.4× pronotal width; labium midlength, extending to mesocoxae. Hemelytra: Cuneus and major cell of wing membrane moderately elongate, major membrane vein straight (fig. 13). GENITALIA: Pygophore: Dorsal margin of genital opening straight, medial tumescence at margin (not illustrated), one sclerotized tergal process positioned left lateral arising from tergal plate; tergal process, broad comblike with one prominent spine; ventral margin convex medially; phalloguide with small, slightly sclerotized lobe at base of right paramere articulation, marginally serrate on right edge (fig. 41A). Left paramere: Apophysis tapering, apex narrow with weakly recurved hook (fig. 41B). Right paramere: Base short; paramere subovate in lateral view; apex curved inward and slightly pointed to form small lobe, margin forming weak ridge on inner subapical ventral surface, with few small spinelike serrations; subapical dorsal margin round, with few small spinelike serrations; mesiolateral surface excavated (fig. 41C). Phallotheca: Dorsal opening large, distal to medial; round distally; mod- erately large subapical ventral tumescence; small right lateral basal tumescence; large subbasal lobe on right dorsal margin (fig. 41D). Aedeagus: Spicule arrangement (fig. 41): PES with tubular base entire and wholly sheathing secondary gonopore, opening medially through which apex of secondary gonopore protrudes, with distal portion of PES left lateral to secondary gonopore, DES2 left lateral to first, DES1 left dorsolateral to second; bases of all spicules originating adjacently at base of secondary gonopore; DES2 and DES1 flattened at base (rather than tubular); PES unbranched, sparsely serrate distally with elongate, distally serrate medial process, projected perpendicular to spicule; DES2 unbranched, distally serrate, subequal length to DES1 and PES; DES1 bifurcate in distal half, branches unequal in length, right branch elongate and serrate distally, left branch very short with smooth margins, basal keel (DESk) short.

Female: Moderately sized, body length 3.68–3.86 mm, pronotal width 0.97–1.00 mm. GENITALIA: Interramal lobes (fig. 48): mIRL partially joined to laIRL at base; laIRL slightly wider at apex and weakly curved inward distally, base spiniferous with large spiniferous lobe, margin of spiniferous lobe sinuous; mIRL half length of laIRL, subrectangular, apex square, margin serrate.

ETYMOLOGY: Named in honor of Rossana Silveira, in recognition of her contribution to the taxonomy and knowledge of Australian Heteroptera including collecting and curating of collections of Miridae and Heteroptera more broadly across Australia, including this species.

HOST PLANT: Known from Callitris verrucosa (table 2).

HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: South Australia: Scorpion Springs Cons. Park, 35.60421 ° S 140.8646 ° E, 125 m, 10 Nov 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira , Callitris verrucosa , det. RBG Sydney NSW427497, 1♂ ( AMNH _ PBI 00000186 ) ( SAMA).

PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: South Australia: Scorpion Springs Cons. Park, 35.60421 ° S 140.8646 ° E, 125 m, 10 Nov 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira, Callitris verrucosa , det. RBG Sydney NSW427497, 2♂ ( AMNH _PBI 00016335, 00016336), 1♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00016332) ( AM), 2♂ ( AMNH _PBI 00000185, 00000189) ( AMNH), 1♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00016331) ( SAMA). Scorpion Springs Cons. Park, 35.62872 ° S 140.8598 ° E, 100 m, 09 Nov 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira, Callitris verrucosa , det. RBG Sydney NSW427497, 1♀ ( AMNH _PBI 00016333) ( AM).

OTHER SPECIMENS EXAMINED: AUSTRA- LIA: South Australia: Scorpion Springs Cons. Park, 35.60421 ° S 140.8646 ° E, 125 m, 10 Nov 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira, Callitris verrucosa , det. RBG Sydney NSW427497, 1♂ (AMNH_PBI 00016334) (AM).

DISTRIBUTION: Callitricola silveirae is only from sandy open woodlands at two sites in Scorpion Springs Conservation Park, in southeastern South Australia (map 3). It has been collected with C. graciliphila , E. drepanomorpha , and E. schuhi (table 2) at both these sites.

REMARKS: Callitricola silveirae is differentiated from C. pullabooka and C. tatarnici by the smaller eyes (in relation to head height); shape of the right paramere more subovate rather than round; unequal lengths and irregular shapes of the branches of DES1 (fig. 41E, F); the broad tergal process on the genital opening of the pygophore with one prominent spine and not a more uniformly serrate comb (fig. 41A); female mIRL short, only half the height of laIRL, and the laIRL has only one (large) basal lobe rather than two (fig. 48). The shape of the right paramere is akin to that of C. wiradjuri , with the more subovate shape, slightly pointed apex, and the presence of a ridge on the inner ventral surface (cf. round apex of right paramere in C. pullabooka and C. tatarnici ). The female laIRL of C. silveirae is also similar to C. wiradjuri in being slender, with only one basal lobe (although much larger than in C. wiradjuri ), and mIRL is short, only half the height of laIRL (fig. 48). The males of Callitricola wiradjuri are distinguished from C. silveirae by the lobelike right and left tergal processes on the dorsal margin of the genital opening of the pygophore (figs. 43H, 45A) and DES1 is much shorter than the other two endosomal spicules, and is also unbranched (figs. 44C–E, 45E).

Figures

FIG. 13. Callitricola species, dorsal habitus photographs of males. Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIG. 41. Male genitalia of Callitricola silveirae. A. Pygophore, dorsal. B. Left paramere, ventral. C. Right paramere, dorsal. D. Phallotheca, right lateral. E. Aedeagus, ventral. F. Aedeagus, dorsal. Scale bars = 0.1 mm.

FIG. 48. Callitricola female genitalia: right interramal lobes of species, posterior wall of C. graciliphila, dorsal. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.