Ausejanus luteoelytratus (Carvalho and Gross) 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 : 57-58

Ausejanus luteoelytratus (Carvalho and Gross) , new combination Figure 7 ; plate 3

Sejanus luteoelytratus Carvalho and Gross, 1982: 25 , figs. 31–33, 107 (n. sp., descr., DV, MG).

DIAGNOSIS: Unique among Ausejanus species for its combination of primarily whitish hemelytra (pl. 2), white pigmented cuneal stripe, relative small size; completely gold femora on all legs with metafemora having red maculation on distal portion, and mostly gold antennal segment 2.

REDESCRIPTION: Male: Macropterous, small sized, elongate, and parallel sided. Total length 3.22–3.46, width pronotum 0.84–0.89, maximum width across hemelytra 0.99–1.09. COLORATION: Dark brown and white. Head dark brown. Antennal segment 1 gold, segment 2 primarily gold with small dark band at joint with antennal segment 3, remaining antennal segments gold brown to dark brown. Labial segments 1 and 2 gold, segments 3 and 4 dark brown. Eyes dark red to deep purple. Thorax, pronotum, scutellum dark brown. Thoracic pleura dark brown, pale on dorsal half of posterior margin. Coxae dark brown basally, gold anteriorly. Femora and tibiae gold, metatibiae with parallel rows of dark spicules. Basal tarsal segments gold, darkening distally. Primarily tan in coloration, with paler transparent band corresponding to transverse fascia across anterior part of hemelytra medially across clavus, darkening with dispersed transparent brown pigmentation distally around tip of clavus and claval suture and with deeper brown color around margin of distal part of corium next to basal margin of membrane, forming dark brown inverted-V pattern (pl. 2). Cuneus with pigmented white band along basal margin for approximately third of cuneal length, dark brown for remaining posterior lobes near distal margins with membrane. Membrane pale brown with some dark pigmentation around veins. Abdomen dark brown. STRUCTURE: Eyes in lateral view encompass height of head, vertex width approximately width of eye. Remaining structure characteristics as in generic description. GENITALIA: As in generic description.

Female: Macropterous. Total length 2.30– 2.42, width pronotum 0.76–0.84, width widest part of wings 1.04–1.09. STRUCTURE: Vertex over half total head width. Length antennal segment 2 over 1.25 times total head width. COLORATION: Similar to male, anterior portion of cuneus with wider white band along margin.

HOSTS: Primarily Chenopodiaceae , with a few specimens found on Cassinia sp. (Asteraceae) and Acacia sp. (Fabaceae) .

DISTRIBUTION: South Australia and Queensland.

DISCUSSION: This species is most similar to Ausejanus arvensus in the tan and mauve coloration of the hemelytra, but Ausejanus luteoelytratus can be recognized by the smaller size, the dark inverted-V pigmentation pattern on the distal margins of the corium, the presence of faint transverse fascia that runs across the clavus and the corium, the dark brown anterior portion of the cuneus, the maculation on the metafemur, and the paler antennal segment 2.

HOLOTYPE: AUSTRALIA: South Australia: Northern Flinders Ranges, Yudnamutana Gorge , 3.vi.1976, P.B. McQuillan. (Reg. Nos 121, 073–4). 18 ( SAM).

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 8.2 km E of Mungallala, 26.46401 ° S 147.6248 ° E, 560 m, 31 Oct 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira, Acacia sp. (Faba- ceae), det. Royal Botanic Gardens NSW, 1♀ (00197203), Cassinia sp. (Asteraceae) , det. Det: Royal Bot Gard. NSW, 4♀ (00195651, 00195998, 00371769–00371770) ( AMNH). South Australia: 5 km N Yunta toward Arkaroola, 32.53334 ° S 139.55 ° E, 250 m, 29 Oct 1995, Schuh and Cassis, undetermined sp. ( Chenopodiaceae ), det. R.T. Schuh NSW 395955, 158 (00273380–00273384, 00273386– 00273395), 8♀ (00273397–00273399, 00273408– 00273412), 1♀ (00273414) ( AMNH). 52 km SW of Yunta, 32.83335 ° S 139.1 ° E, 500 m, 30 Oct 1995, Schuh and Cassis, undetermined sp. ( Chenopodiaceae ), det. R.T. Schuh NSW 395955, 68 (00273374–00273379), 5♀ (00273401– 00273405) ( AMNH).

Figures

Figure 7. Distribution map of Ausejanus spp. (L–T).