Papagona papoosa Ball, 1935

De Freitas, Abner S., Zahniser, James N. & Takiya, Daniela M., 2021, Review of the genus Papagona Ball, 1935 (Hemiptera: Caliscelidae) including a new Neotropical species, Zootaxa 5023 (1), pp. 107-120 : 114-115

Papagona papoosa Ball, 1935

( Fig. 5)

Papagona papoosa — Ball 1935: 41 (Original description)

Type locality. Arizona, Santa Cruz River, near Tubac (according to Ball 1935) .

Amended description. Body length. Male, 2.6 mm ( Ball 1935).

Color. Males ( Fig. 5A–C). Body mainly black with some regions yellowish-brown. Vertex, pronotum, and mesonotum yellowish-brown with broad median longitudinal white stripe crossing these structures ( Fig. 5A). Forewing with corium mostly black with apex light brown and two small circular pale maculae in between corium and clavus, one at base and another near midlength of claval suture; clavus brown ( Fig. 5A). Legs mostly yellow; metafemur black ( Fig. 5B, C). Abdomen with tergite III with lateral white macula ( Fig. 5A, C); each segment of abdomen with dorsal median pair of small and few conspicuous yellow maculae ( Fig. 5A); in lateral view, sternites with lateral white macula ( Fig. 5A).

Structure. Head and thorax. Vertex ( Fig. 5A) with anterior margin rounded; as long as basal width at midline; subequal to pronotum length at midline. Frons ( Fig. 5B) without median carina; in lateral view ( Fig. 5C) each side with row of seven sensory pits bordering sublateral carina, four pits bordering frontogenal carina, and a pair of pits bordering fastigium (linking the other two rows providing a triangle-like arrangement—with two isolated pits within, aligned diagonally).

Pronotum ( Fig. 5A) with six sensory pits bordering lateral margins of disc and a group of fiver inner ones at posterior half. Mesonotum ( Fig. 5A) without median carina; region outerad of lateral carina with eight to nine sensory pits.

Abdomen. Tergite III ( Fig. 5C), in lateral view, with pair of sensory pits. Tergite IV ( Fig. 5C), in lateral view, with pair of sensory pits followed by an isolated ventral pair. Tergite V ( Fig. 5C), in lateral view, with one row of three sensory pits followed by an isolated ventral pair. Tergite VI ( Fig. 5C), in lateral view, with pair of sensory pits followed by an isolated ventral pair. Tergite VII ( Fig. 5C), in lateral view, with one row of three sensory pits followed by an isolated ventral pair. Tergite VIII, in lateral view, with pair of sensory pits.

Male terminalia. Pygofer ( Fig. 5D) with anterior margin concave; with posterior margin convex. Connective ( Fig. 5E) with tectiform structure bearing tectiductus; ventral support inverted Y-shaped. Gonostylus ( Fig. 5F) hook-like; anterior portion pointed; caudal portion curved anterodorsally; dorsal margin follows almost straight with a rounded protuberance in between anterior and median third; ventral margin mostly rounded; median third longer than high, setose. Endosoma ( Fig. 5G, H) enclosing almost all phallobase and aedeagus lengths laterally and ventrally; asymmetrical, with two different sides linked ventrally: one side is longer and with apex curved ventrally, comma-like; and other side is shorter and apically truncated, bearing sub-triangular expansion ventrally directed to the longest side of endosoma at aedeagus midlength ( Fig. 5G). Phallobase membranous, shorter than endosoma; enclosing aedeagus half-length laterally and ventrally; slightly visible in lateral view, apically and dorsally. Aedeagus ( Fig. 5G, H) opened dorsally; apically, narrowing and with pair of aedeagal hooks ( Fig. 5H), both with same length, longer and thinner than aedeagus, and curved anterodorsally, reaching the base of phallus. Suspensorium V-shaped ( Fig. 5G). Anal tube as long as wide; posterior margin rounded; setose.

Taxonomic notes. Although Ball (1935) states in the generic description that the vertex of Papagona is longer than pronotum length (see Introduction), in the holotype of P. papoosa it appears only slightly longer than pronotum length ( Fig. 1A). However, this could be an intraspecific variation or artefact the specimen position when photographed. See taxonomic notes of P. dietrichi sp. nov. above for comparative notes.

Distribution. United States: Arizona ( Ball 1935).

Plant associations. Muhlenbergia porteri Scribn. ex Beal (muhly grass, Poaceae ) ( Ball 1935).

Studied material. Holotype: male (dissected herein), USA, Arizona, Santa Cruz River , 6 Aug. 1932, E. D. Ball ( USNM ENT 01513540 ).