Lasiacantha inaquosa, Cassis & Symonds, 2011

Cassis, Gerasimos & Symonds, Celia, 2011, Systematics, biogeography and host plant associations of the lace bug genus Lasiacantha Stål in Australia (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) 2818, Zootaxa 2818 (1), pp. 1-63 : 34-35

Lasiacantha inaquosa , sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 3a , 5 , 9 )

Holotype. ♂, AUSTRALIA: Northern Territory: ~ 38 km N of Lasseter Hwy on Luritja Road, 24.92 ° S 132.2809 ° E, 593 m, 02 Nov 2001, Cassis, Schuh, Schwartz, Silveira, Wall, ex Sida sp. (Malvaceae) , det. NSW staff NSW 666294 (17422) ( AM).

Paratypes. AUSTRALIA: Queensland: 73.7 km E of Betoota, 25.60813 ° S 141.3999 ° E, 180 m, 03 Nov 1998, Schuh, Cassis, Silveira, ex Eremophila latrobei F. Muell. (Myoporaceae) , det. NSW Herbarium NSW 427517, 6 f (17416–17421) ( AM). South Australia: 425 km N of Port Augusta on Stuart Hwy, 28.88335 ° S 135.1409 ° E, 194 m, 19 Oct 2001, Cassis, Silveira, Wall, ex Eremophila sp. (Myoporaceae) , det. Field ID, 1 f (17415) ( AM). Northern Territory: 10.4 km N of Ross Hwy on Arltunga Claraville Rd, 23.53334 ° S 134.509 ° E, 640 m, 26 Oct 2001, Cassis, Schuh, Schwartz, Silveira, Wall, ex Eremophila longifolia (R.Br.) F.Muell. (Myoporaceae) , det. NSW Herbarium NSW 658354, 2 m (13189, 13190), 2 f (13191, 13192) ( AM).

Diagnosis. Lasiacantha inaquosa is recognised by the following combination of characters: dorsal colouration mostly pale brown, with darker brown patches and prominent white patches on hemelytra ( Fig. 5 ); major setiferous tubercles on pronotum and hemelytra short, terminal seta less than half length of tuberculate base ( Fig. 9b, d, f ); costal area with setiferous tubercles extending to posterior hemelytral margin ( Fig. 9f ); carinate margins of discoidal area with major setiferous tubercles, posterior angle with clump of setiferous tubercles ( Fig. 9f ); pronotum with woolly and hairlike setae ( Fig. 9d ); hemelytra with woolly setae ( Fig. 9f ); woolly setae elongate, curly, creamy gold; hairlike setae moderately elongate; abdominal venter with clavate, pale, very short, scalelike setae ( Fig. 9h ); cephalic spines moderately elongate, medial spine forked ( Fig. 9a, c ); occipital spines sometimes with small dorsal branch ( Fig. 9a ); collum columnar, higher than medial carina; paranota three areolae wide ( Fig. 9d ); costal area only two areolae wide ( Fig. 9f ); areolae slightly smaller in subcostal and discoidal areas than sutural area ( Fig. 9f ); sternal carinae parallel, all subequal width.

Description. Medium size, macropterous ( Fig. 5 ); males 2.9–2.96, females 2.64–3.03. COLOURATION. Dorsum mottled, pale brown to medium brown, with prominent white patches on hemelytra. Head: dark brown, almost black; cephalic spines bicolourous, pale brown base, dark brown apex; bucculae pale brown, sometimes with base dark brown; labium red brown, apex dark brown; antennae mostly pale yellow brown, AI–AII slightly darker than AIII, AIV red brown. Pronotum: red brown to disc dark brown, almost black, diminishing posteriorly to pale yellow brown; paranota pale yellow brown, rarely mottled with red to dark brown patches; collum bicolourous, pale brown base, dark brown distal half, sometimes unicolourous pale brown; carinae pale yellow brown, medial carina dark brown at least medially. Thoracic pleura and sterna: variable from red brown to dark brown supracoxal lobes paler brown; sternal carinae pale brown. Legs: mostly pale yellow brown, base of femur sometimes slightly darker; tarsi red brown, tarsal claw black. Hemelytra: mottled/patchy pale yellow brown and red brown to dark brown; darker patches banded on costal area, at posterior angle and medially on outer carinate margin of discoidal area, and medially in sutural area. Abdomen: variable, pale brown, red brown or dark brown. VESTITURE. Head: dense distribution of elongate, curly, creamy gold, woolly setae; absent in longitudinal rows between occipital and medial spines; antennae with minor setiferous tubercles, pale colour, AI–AII with single row of setiferous tubercles with moderately short curved terminal seta, AIII setiferous tubercles with greatly elongate with straight terminal seta. Pronotum: paranota margins with short major setiferous tubercles, terminal seta less than half length of tuberculate base; keel of collum and pronotal carinae without major setiferous tubercles; collum, paranota and pronotal carinae with moderately elongate, hairlike setae; disc with dense distribution of elongate, curly, creamy gold, woolly setae, more upright than on head. Thoracic pleura and sterna: pleura with dense distribution of elongate woolly setae as on dorsum; supracoxal lobes and mesosternum with sparse distribution of very short, clavate scalelike setae ( Fig. 9c, e ). Legs: minor setiferous tubercles, terminal seta pale colour, elongate, erect, bristlelike; slightly shorter and thickened at base of femora. Hemelytra: costal margins with major setiferous tubercles as on paranota, extending to posterior margin of hemelytra; major setiferous tubercles on carinate margins of discoidal area and cubitus + R+M vein, more clumped (aggregated) at anterior angle of discoidal area; moderate distribution of woolly setae, same as pronotum, on costal, subcostal and discoidal areas; white microtrichae present across subcostal and costal areas at hemelytra base and just anterior to posterior angle of discoidal area. Abdomen: sparse distribution of very short, clavate, pale scalelike setae. STRUCTURE. Head: spines moderately to greatly elongate; frontal spines parallel, rarely convergent, longer than AI; medial spine forked; occipital spines strongly curved outwards, extending just to outer margin of eye or beyond; occipital spine sometimes with dorsal branch, reduced where present; labium moderate length, extending to metasternum; antennae, AI short and subequal length to AII, AIV with compact base before clavate apex. Pronotum: disc slightly convex; collum columnar, uniformly broad, rarely tapering, vertically projected, much higher than medial carina; carinae moderately elevated, one areole wide, medial carina with extra one to three areolae medially; lateral carinae thickened; paranota rounded semi-circular, three areolae wide. Thoracic sterna: sternal carinae straight, metasternal carinae equal width to mesosternal carinae. Hemelytra: areolae variable, slightly smaller in discoidal and subcostal areas than in sutural and costal areas; costal area uniformly two areolae wide; subcostal area two areolae wide; discoidal area three areolae wide; sutural area four areolae wide. Male genitalia: pygophore pygophore subquadrate; narrowing posteriorly; rounded and slightly flattened posterior margin; dorsal opening strongly concave, rounded ( Fig. 9g ); parameres with sensory lobe rounded, weakly expanded ( Fig. 9g ); distal u-shaped endosomal sclerite with shallow cleft, basal branches short. MEASURE- MENTS. Ranges for 3 ♂ and 5 ♀ are given in Table 6.

Host plant. Two Eremophila species have been identified as host plants for L. inaquosa ; Eremophila latrobei and Eremophila longifolia . There is one record from an unidentified Eremophila species and a putative sitting record on an unidentified species of Sida .

Distribution. This is one of the most widespread of all the Australian Lasiacantha species , known from four localities, in three states (QLD, NT, SA), but all localities are within the deserts of central Australia ( Fig. 3a ). Lasiacantha inaquosa has also been collected with L. luritja at one locality in the Northern Territory, and with L. ephemera at another Northern Territory locality, where Inoma solusa Cassis and Symonds was also collected.

Etymology. After the Latin for desert inaquosum, in reference to the habitat in which this species and indeed many Lasiacantha species are found.

Remarks. See remarks for L. eremophila .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Implied weights phylogeny for Australian Lasiacantha Stål, 1873, with nodes numbered (refer to Table 3 for character state changes at nodes), bootstrap values are given as branch supports, and biogeographic area and host plant mapped next to the species name. Map of areas of endemism, redrawn from Crisp et al. (1995). Abbreviations for biogeographic areas as follows: ED = Eastern Desert; EQ = Eastern Queensland; MM = Macleay-McPherson; P = Pilbara; SE = Southeast New South Wales; SW = Southwest Western Australia; TAS = Tasmania; and, WD = Western Desert.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Lasiacantha species. (a) Clade 3 spp. and (b) Clade 1 and 2 spp.

FIGURE 5. Photographs of Australian Lasiacantha species: L. aureolus sp. nov. (habitus and lateral), L. darwini sp. nov., L. dysmikos sp. nov., L. ephemera sp. nov, L. eremophila sp. nov, L. inaquosa sp. nov., L. luritja sp. nov., L. nipha sp. nov. and L. pilbara sp. nov.. Scale = 1mm. Plate 1 of 2.

FIGURE 9. Lasiacantha inaquosa sp. nov. (a) head dorsal (♀, 30 µm); (b) head ventral (♀, 30 µm); (c) head lateral (♀, 30 µm); (d) pronotum dorsal (♀, 100 µm); (e) mesepimeron and metepisternum (♀, 30 µm); (f) hemelytra (♀, 100 µm); (g) pygophore dorsal (♂, 30 µm); (h) abdomen ventral (♀, 100 µm). Scales in brackets, measured in µm.