Acanthocephala (Metapodiessa) terminalis (Dallas)

Packauskas, Richard J., Sites, Robert W., Taylor, Steven J., Bundy, Scott, Bradshaw, Jeffrey D. & Mitchell, Paula Levin, 2011, Review of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) of America north of Mexico with a key to species, Zootaxa 2835, pp. 30-40 : 36-37

Acanthocephala (Metapodiessa) terminalis (Dallas)

( Figs. 3 , 9, 10 )

Metapodius terminalis Dallas, 1852 , List. Hem. Brit. Mus. 2: 431.

Acanthocephala (Metapodius) terminalis: Stål, 1870 , K. Svens. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 9(1): 151. Metapodius confraternus: Uhler, 1871 , Proc. Soc. Boston Nat. Hist. Soc. 14: 99. New synonymy.

Synonymic note. RJP (unpublished data) measured body parts (12 measurements per specimen) of numerous specimens (> 1,000) of presumed A. confraterna from Florida, together with specimens of presumed A. terminalis or A. confraterna from neighboring states and specimens from throughout both presumed distributions and found no separation or clustering of specimens using PCA (Principal Components Analysis). Rather, the variation shown in plots of the principal components appears to exhibit a latitudinal cline. Further plotting of body measurements of each specimen against its latitude showed a correlation of increasing body size with decreasing latitude. He also examined the pygophores and parameres at the edges of the range and could find no differences. On these bases, RJP here places A. confraterna as a junior synonym of A. terminalis .

Diagnosis. Length: 18–25 mm. This species can be recognized by the metatibial expansions, which are broadly dilated in the basal half and gradually narrowed toward the apex. The metafemora of both sexes are only slightly expanded distally and abdominal sternum 3 lacks the darkened area beneath each metacoxa.

Distribution. AL, CO, CN, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI

Discussion. This species has, by far, the broadest geographic range of the four species of Acanthocephala in America north of Mexico and is the only species that occurs in the northern states. It ranges from New England south to Florida and west through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to Colorado and Texas ( Blatchley 1926, Torre-Bueno 1941, Froeschner 1988). Therefore, it is not surprising that more biological information has been published for this species than for the other three.

Specimens have been collected from late April into mid-August in Virginia ( Hoffman 1975), every month of the year but mostly from March through June in Florida ( Blatchley 1926, Baranowski & Slater 1986; as A. confraterna ), April to October in Missouri ( Froeschner 1942) (expanded to November, RWS), April into October in southern Indiana ( Blatchley 1926), and June into September in Wisconsin ( Yonke and Medler 1969a). We here add mid-March into late November for Illinois (JEM, SJT) and April into August for Nebraska (JDB). Actual flight periods, based on flight trap data, have been reported as June into August for North Carolina ( McPherson & Weber 1981) and May into September for Illinois ( McPherson & Weber 1990). It occurs frequently in open woods or woodland borders ( Froeschner 1942); on trees, shrubs, and weeds ( Blatchley 1926, Slater & Baranowski 1978, Baranowski & Slater 1986); along fence rows and woodland paths, edges of roadsides and thickets ( Blatchley 1926); on branches and twigs of bushes along borders of oak-woods ( Uhler 1876, p. 298); and in dense tangles of herbage in damp locations ( Hussey 1922). In Florida, it has been found on the foliage of shrubs growing along margins of dense hammocks ( Blatchley 1926; as A. confraterna ).

Acanthocephala terminalis feeds on several hosts including tender shoots of Carya (hickory) ( Froeschner 1942) and foliage and stems of Rhus typhina Linnaeus (staghorn sumac), Vitis riparia Michaux (riverbank grape) ( Yonke & Medler 1969a), and Physocarpus opulifolius (Linnaeus) (common ninebark) ( Yonke & Medler 1969a, Wheeler and Hoebeke 1985). Other hosts from which nymphs and adults have been collected but feeding was not observed include Fraxinus sp. ( Hussey 1922, Yonke & Medler 1969a), Rubus sp., Tilia americana Linnaeus (basswood), Desmodium acuminatum (Muhlenberg) (pointedleaf tickfoil), and Ulmus rubra Muhlenberg (slippery elm) ( Yonke & Medler 1969a). It also was found with A. declivis on Celtis laevigata in "mixed sex aggregations with adults observed feeding on sap through the bark" on 29 March 1978 in Austin, Texas (PLM/TPF). There also are reports of A. terminalis feeding on bird droppings ( Adler & Wheeler 1984, Belthoff & Ritchison 1991).

Plant associations where neither feeding nor presence of nymphs was reported include Solidago (goldenrod), Eupatorium purpureum Linnaeus (joe-pye-weed) ( Blatchley 1926, Torre-Bueno 1941), and Baccharis neglecta ( Palmer 1987) . As A. confraterna, Baranowski and Slater (1986) reported it from Magnolia sp., Cirsium sp., and Clerodendrum sp. CSB here reports adults from Trifolium incarnatum Linnaeus (crimson clover) (GA), SJT from Cucurbita (squash) and Daucus carota Linnaeus (wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace) ( IL), and RWS from Arctium (burdock) (MO), Quercus (oak) (MO), and Rumex crispus Linnaeus (curly dock) (MO). RWS also notes specimens taken at "blacklight" (MO, WI) and "light trap" (MO).

The life cycle of A. terminalis has been described by Yonke and Medler (1969a) for Wisconsin and, in less detail, by Froeschner (1942) for Missouri. Yonke and Medler (1969a) found adults from 13 June to 24 September. No eggs or first instars were found in the field, although second and third instars were collected from 30 June to 11 August, fourth instars from 8 July to 11 August, and fifth instars from 23 July to 24 September. They felt that this species is univoltine and their data indicate it overwinters as adults. Froeschner (1942) stated that nymphs had been collected from 12 June to 8 October and adults from 14 April to 12 October. He felt the early spring records for adults indicate this species might overwinter as adults, thus supporting the subsequent findings of Yonke and Medler (1969a). Yonke and Medler (1969a) stated that "adults were easily disturbed and were very rapid flyers" and Froeschner (1942) that "it is an alert and active flier." Blatchley (1926) noted that when approached, the adult "usually rises quickly and flies for some distance to a new resting place." As A. confraterna , he stated that when the bug is disturbed, "it flies like a bird, often for several hundred feet. If marked down it can then be approached cautiously and taken by a quick sweep of the net."

Yonke and Medler (1969a) presented limited information on rearing of this species in the laboratory and (1969b) described the eggs and first–fifth instars. Hussey (1922), earlier, briefly described the first, second, third and fifth instars, but not the fourth.

Arnaud (1978) reported that A. terminalis is parasitized by the tachinid flies Trichopoda plumipes (Fabricius) and Trichopoda spp.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 4. Habitus photographs of male Acanthocephala spp. 1. A. declivus. 2. A. femorata. 3. A. terminalis. 4. A. thomasi.

FIGURES 5 – 12. Hind tibiae of Acanthocephala, male and female respectively. 5 – 6, A. declivis. 7 – 8, A. thomasi. 9 – 10, A. terminalis. 11 – 12, A. femorata.