Ausejanus iris, Menard & Schuh, 2011

Menard, Katrina L. & Schuh, Randall T., 2011, Revision Of Leucophoropterini: Diagnoses, Key To Genera, Redescription Of The Australian Fauna, And Descriptions Of New Indo-Pacific Genera And Species (Insecta: Hemiptera: Miridae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2011 (361), pp. 1-159 : 56-57

Ausejanus iris , new species Figures 6 , 9J ; plate 2

DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from other members of Ausejanus by overall dark coloration, completely dark pro-, meso-, and metafemora, and dark brown to burgundy hemelytron with a complete transverse fascia possessing white pigmentation in males (pl. 2). Female with a white transverse fascia on a dark brown to burgundy hemelytron. Coloration similar to some populations of A. albisignatus , but males and females with both pro- and mesofemora completely dark brown, both sexes with white pigmentation in transverse fascia, and wider vertex relative to total width of head.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Macropterous, small, elongate, and parallel sided. Total length 2.67–2.97, width pronotum 0.88–0.92, maximum width across hemelytra 1.04–1.09. COLORATION: Dark brown, with white transverse fascia on anterior margin of hemelytra and anterior margins of cuneus. Head dark brown. All antennal segments dark brown. Labium dark brown. Eyes dark red to purple. Thorax, pronotum, and scutellum dark brown. Thoracic pleura dark brown. Procoxa pale brown, meso- and metacoxa dark brown basally and apically pale brown. All femora pale brown. All tibiae pale brown, metatibia weakly darker and with parallel rows of dark spicules. Basal tarsomeres light, distally dark brown. Hemelytra brown, with anterior margin corium and along anterior margin of clavus dark brown adjacent to scutellum, white transverse fascia with white pigmentation focused on claval suture, majority of medial area of hemelytron dark brown to burgundy coloration (pl. 2), at least half of area of cuneus along anterior margin of cuneal fracture distinctly white, sometimes with an orange tinge along lateral margins. Abdomen dark brown, with abdominal sclerites 3–7 paler. STRUCTURE: Vertex width slightly wider than width of one eye, eye height nearly total height of head. Length of antennal segment 2 slightly longer than total head width. GENITALIA: See generic description.

Female: Macropterous. Total length 2.48, width pronotum 0.92, width at widest part of wings 1.09. STRUCTURE: Vertex occupying over half of total head width. Length antennal segment 2 equal to total head width. COLORATION: Same as male with following exceptions: procoxae gold rather than pale brown, dorsoposterior margin of metepisternum with thin yellow line, and cuneus white on anterior two-thirds.

ETYMOLOGY: Named for the Iris River, near the collecting locality in Tasmania; noun in apposition.

HOSTS: Ozothamnus hookeri Sond. (Asteraceae) .

DISTRIBUTION: Tasmania.

DISCUSSION: This species is very similar in coloration and size to Ausejanus minutus collected on Myrtaceae hosts in Tasmania, females of both species having the anterior margin of the transverse fascia gold. How- ever, the combination of males of A. iris with white pigmentation and the asteraceous host plant (Ozothamnu s) clearly separate the two. Ausejanus arvensus is also found on Ozothamnus spp. , but neither males nor females have white pigmentation and the hemelytron is paler.

HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: 12 km N of Cradle Valley on Iris River, 41.55148 ° S 145.9622 ° E, 782 m, 26 Jan 2004, M.D. Schwartz and P.P. Tinerella, Ozothamnus hookeri Sond. (Asteraceae) , det. NSW staff NSW658265 18 (00108569) ( AM).

PARATYPES: AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: 12 km N of Cradle Valley on Iris River, 41.55148 ° S 145.9622 ° E, 782 m, 26 Jan 2004, M.D. Schwartz and P.P. Tinerella, Ozothamnus hookeri Sond. (Asteraceae) , det. NSW staff NSW658265, 28 (00108567, 00108571) ( AM), 18 (00108572), 1♀ (00108570) ( AMNH).

Figures

Figure 6. Distribution map of Ausejanus spp. (A–I).

Figure 9. Male genitalia of Ausejanus spp. A. Endosoma, A. schwartzi. B. Phallotheca, A. cordatus. C. Right paramere, A. neboissi. D–K. Left paramere. D. A. meridionalis. E. A. neboissi. F. A. femoralis. G, K. A. albisignatus. H. A. arvensus. I. A. vividus. J. A. iris.