Caledoneurus, Heiss, 2011

Heiss, E., 2011, First record of Aneurinae from New Caledonia (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Aradidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (2), pp. 1331-1338 : 1333

Caledoneurus nov.gen.

T y p e s p e c i e s Caledoneurus lariviereae nov.sp.

D i a g n o s i s:Macropteroussmallspecies;deltgIIandIII not fused, a sinuate suture separates deltg II from fused mtg I+II not catching the posterior lateral apodemal impression; tergal plate with lateral rugose strips, anterior margin triangularly produced; spiracles II, IV-VII lateral and visible from above, III ventral, VIII terminal.

D i s c u s s i o n: The new genus resembles Paraneurus JACOBS 1986 described from African species, however several Oriental species were later tentatively assigned to this most probably paraphyletic genus ( HEISS 2001). This should be ascertained by using molecular data and subsequent phylogenetic analyses.

Compared with the characters given for Paraneurus by JACOBS 1986:15 Caledoneurus is distinguished by a different suture between fused mtg I+II and deltg II which is sinuate (not straight, fig. 1), the sublateral ridges of scutellum reach nearly to apex (only basal), the distal bar of clavus of hind wing is as long as the corium (longer than corium, figs 5,6) and only spiracle III is ventral (at least III-VI are ventral).

Species of the biogeographically closest genus Aneurodellus HEISS 1998a from New Zealand and those of the East Palaearctic genus Aneurus subgenus Aneurodes HEISS 1998b share also a similar habitus but both are easily distinguished by the fused deltg II+III and the presence of a contergite (HEISS 1988a, b).

In the past the structure and fusion line of abdominal tergites and the position of spiracles were recognized and used as important taxonomic characters to define and separate genera or subgenera of Aneurinae ( KORMILEV 1968, ŠTYS 1974, JACOBS 1986, HEISS 1998a, 1998b, 1999). The aberrant combination of these characters differing from all other Aneurinae taxa justify the erection of the new genus Caledoneurus n.gen.