Mendozamiris Carpintero & Chérot, 2014

Carpintero, Diego Leonardo & Chérot, Frédéric, 2014, A new genus and species of Mirini from Argentina (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae), Zootaxa 3774 (4), pp. 395-400 : 395-396

Mendozamiris Carpintero & Chérot , n. gen.

Diagnosis. Brownish to greyish yellow with red brown marbled Phytocoris -like patches. Frons rounded and narrowly striate with oblique, dark brown grooves. Vertex slightly sulcate medially, without carina. Eyes contiguous to pronotal collar. Labium reaching middle of abdomen. Pronotal disk roughly punctate, with superficial, shallow but relatively wide punctures. Pronotal collar and area of callosities obviously striate in males, narrowly striate in females. Humeral angles round, posterior margin of disk relatively straight, lateral margins strongly concave in females (a character state related to brachypterism), less concave in males. Scutellum elevated, laterally striate and practically impunctate. Mesoscutum uncovered. Dorsal pilosity sparse, with very short, prostrate, white setae (black on modified cuneus of female), practically glabrous in dorsal view at low magnification. Hemelytra roughly punctate with superficial, shallow but relatively wide punctures. Female brachypterous, apical part of corium reduced, cuneus tilted, oval, ivory white, membrane limited to a translucent area.

Type species: Mendozamiris chiquillanes n. sp.

Etymology. After “Mendoza”, the province from Argentina where the new genus was discovered and “ Miris ”, the type genus of the tribe.

Discussion. Mendozamiris differs from all genera of the Phytocoris complex ( Adphytocoris Carvalho & Gomes, 1969 , Euphytocoris Poppius, 1914 , Gracilamiris Stonedahl & Henry, 1991, Miridius Fieber, 1858 , Neosapinnius Wagner, 1960 , Phytocoridea Reuter, 1906 , Phytocoris Fallén, 1814 , Phytocorisca Carvalho & Fontes, 1972 , Sanluiza Carvalho, 1992, and Vissosamiris Carvalho, 1987 ) by the dorsal punctation. Mendozamiris has a distinctly punctate pronotum and an elevated scutellum being relatively similar to Incamiris Carvalho & Ferreira, 1972 . It is easily separated from this Peruvian genus by its narrow and shallow, reduced but obviously present hemelytral punctation (the hemelytra of I. peruviensis are smooth) and its less elongate habitus. Mendozamiris differs from Derophthalma Berg, 1883 by the elongated male habitus, the oblique (and not vertical) head and the notably anteriorly narrow pronotum. The mandibular plate of Minasmiris Carvalho, 1980 is visible in dorsal view and not visible in Mendozamiris . The eyes of Perumiris Carvalho, 1987 are not contiguous to the pronotal collar and are contiguous in Mendozamiris . Perumiris and Quichuamiris cochabambensis Carvalho, 1974 differ also by their more rounded, less elongated habitus. The females of Stittocapsus spp. are brachypterous, however the two genera differs by the habitus. The scutellum of Stittocapsus is not elevated; the dorsal punctation is narrower and less deep than in Mendozamiris , particularly on the pronotal disk and hemelytra, where the punctation is nevertheless slightly stronger (it is not the case in Mendozamiris ). The dorsal pilosity of Stittocapsus is limited to prostate, white, silky setae and its vertex lacks a sulcus, whereas Mendozamiris has two different setae on the hemelytra and the vertex is sulcate.