Missanos, 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 : 112-114

Missanos , new genus Figure 27 ; plate 6

TYPE SPECIES: Missanos gulafuscos , new species.

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by wide and flat head with dense dark brown setae on gula and ventral surface of head; pronotum forming bell shape, anterolateral margins narrowed, posterior lobe of pronotum swollen dorsally and weakly demarcated from anterior lobe in lateral view; short antennal segment 2 shorter than width of head and covered with long, erect golden setae; flat and medially constricted punctate hemelytron, posterolateral margins of hemelytron thickened into a lobelike swelling over cuneal fracture (pl. 6); and petiolate abdomen.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Macropterous, small, weakly medially constricted. Total length 2.62, width pronotum 0.75–0.76, maximum width across hemelytra 0.69. COLORATION: Brown, pale brown and castaneous. Head: Castaneous. Eyes deep red to silver. Labium pale brown with distal darkening. All antennal segments brown. Thorax: Pronotum, scutellum, and thorax dark brown, anterior margin of pronotum sometimes castaneous. Dorsolateral margin of metepisternum and scent gland unicolorous with thoracic pleuron. Legs: Pro- and mesocoxae pale brown to castaneous, metacoxa dark basally for half of length and pale distally for remainder of length. All femora dark brown with paler brown ventrally, especially metafemur. All tibiae basally dark brown, distally golden, metatibia with parallel rows of dark spicules along entire length. Basal tarsomeres golden, distally dark brown. Hemelytra:

(northeastern Papua New Guinea).

Primarily castaneous to dark brown with anterior portion of corium castaneous to golden brown; clavus castaneous with medial area darker brown, transparent areas on posterolateral margins adjacent to apex of clavus with dark posterior margin transversing entirety of hemelytron; white patch along medial margin of corium posterior to clavus and anterior to membrane with dark brown margin; apex of lateral corial margin anterior to cuneus with thin dark brown margin, medially golden brown (pl. 6). Anterolateral margin of cuneus white for nearly J total area of cuneus, posterior dark brown. Membrane pale brown; veins lacking pigmentation. Abdomen: Sternite 1 yellowish with dark posterior margin, sternite 2 white to transparent, remaining segments dark brown. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsal surface of body and eyes covered with long, erect pale brown setae. Head, pronotum, and scutellum distinctly shiny. Hemelytron punctate, with long, erect, pale-brown setae and long, erect, evenly distributed black setae. Gena, gula and ventral surface of head with long, dense black setae. Reflective patches present on clavus and cuneus. STRUC- TURE: Head: Wide, flat, lateral margins including eyes obscuring anterior margin of pronotum in lateral view. Clypeus flush with frons, not visible in dorsal view. Vertex convex, posterior margin shelflike, width less than M width of one eye. Dorsal margin of eyes protruding dorsad of vertex, giving head heartlike appearance in anterior view, total height of eyes nearly equal to total height of head. Antennal segment 1 inverted-coke-bottle shaped, surpassing apex of head; segment 2 short and narrower in diameter than antennal segment 1, increasing in diameter on distal onefifth; length of antennal segment 2 less than total head width; antennal segments 3 and 4 nearly equal in diameter to segment 2, less than half length of segment 2. Labial segment 1 not quite attaining posterior margin of head, apex of labium surpassing apex of procoxa. Thorax: Pronotum 1.33 times wider than long, anterolateral margins narrowed compared to posterior lateral margins forming bell-shaped pronotum in dorsal view, posterior lobe swollen and appearing strongly convex in lateral view. Narrow, flat pronotal collar present. Mesoscutum hidden by posterior margin of pronotum, scutellum swollen anterior to posterior margin of pronotum. Scent gland approximately J total area of metepimeron. Legs: Moderate length, slender, with metafemur of greatest diameter subapically and appearing kneelike. Claws of moderate length and width, pulvilli small, less than half of claw length. Parempodia parallel and setiform. Hemelytra: Dorsally flat; lateral margins weakly medially constricted, swollen anterior to cuneal fracture, forming lobelike process. Cuneus triangular, medial margin weakly convex, length greater than M length of hemelytral membrane, lateral margin weakly swollen in area occupied by white pigmentation; cuneal fracture angled anteromesially, Abdomen: Narrow anteriorly, widening posteriorly, petiolate. Abdominal sternite 1 longer than wide. Pygophore: Small with spinelike process on dorsal-posterior margin, occupying about one-fifth total length of abdomen, ventral margin weakly sloping upward toward apex. GENITALIA: Not examined.

Female: Brachypterous, small, weakly medially constricted. Total length 2.47, width pronotum 0.69, maximum width across hemelytra 0.74. COLORATION: Similar patterning as in male. SURFACE TEXTURE AND VESTITURE: As in male. STRUCTURE: Head: Wider than in male, vertex convex, 1.5 times as wide as one eye. Antennal segment 2 as in male, length less than total head width. Thorax: Pronotum 1.33 times wider than long, lateral margins weakly medially constricted and narrowed to anterior margin, roughly bell shaped in dorsal view. Mesoscutum and anterior margin of scutellum hidden by posterior margin of pronotum, scutellum weakly transversely rounded. Hemelytra: Apex of hemelytra not quite attaining apex of abdomen, lateral margins weakly medially constricted. Cuneus shorter than in male. Abdomen: Petiolate, anterior half sharply declining ventrally in lateral view and constricted relative to posterior half in dorsal view, posterior half of abdomen sloping dorsally. Presence of ovipositor spine could not be observed because specimen glued on card. GENITALIA: Not examined.

ETYMOLOGY: Named after the collector of most of the Papuan New Guinea samples used in this study, Oliver Missa; masculine.

HOSTS: Unknown. Canopy fogging and light traps.

DISTRIBUTION: Papua New Guinea.

DISCUSSION: This genus is closely related to Waterhouseana based on the nearly identical hemelytron and body coloration, the presence of wide and flat head whose posterolateral margins (including the eyes) wrap around the anterior margins of the pronotum to form shieldlike appearance dorsally, the presence of dense setae on the gula and gena, and the petiolate abdomen. Missanos is unique, however, in lacking the medially constricted pronotum distinctive of Waterhouseana and possesses very short, slender antennae with dense erect golden setae. We were not able to dissect the genitalia due to the fragility of the specimens when removed from the card mounts.

Figures

Figure 27. Distribution of Missanos gulafuscos