Apiomerus crassipes (Fabricius)

Berniker, Lily, Szerlip, Sigurd, Forero, Dimitri & Weirauch, Christiane, 2011, 2949, Zootaxa 2949, pp. 1-113 : 18-19

Apiomerus crassipes (Fabricius) Figs 1–15, Map 4

Reduvius crassipes

Fabricius 1803: 273 (original description); Say 1825: plate XXI, Fig. 4 (taxonomy)

Reduvius linitaris

Say 1831: 800 (original description); Say 1859: 355 (description); Stål 168: 117 (synonymy)

Herega rubrolimbata

Amyot and Serville 1843: 354 (original description); Stål 1868: 117 (synonymy)

Apiomerus crassipes

Stål 1868: 117 (key); Walker 1873: 66 (catalog); Uhler 1876: 328 (list); Uhler 1884: 281 (biology); Uhler 1894: 284 (description); Lethierry and Severin 1896: 144 (catalog); Champion 1899: 242 (key); Van Duzee 1909: 176 (regional checklist); Smith1910: 155 (regional checklist); Heidemann 1911: 135 (distribution); Fracker 1913: 236 (catalog, key); Barber 1914: 505 (list); Van Duzee 1914: 13 (list); Readio 1926: 166 (biology); Blatchley 1926: 140 (biology); Readio 1927: 156 (key); Wygodzinsky 1949: 17 (catalog); Costa Lima et al. 1951: 348 (description, taxonomy, key); Davis 1969: 86 (morphology); Swadner and Yonke 1973: 188 (biology); Henry and Froeschner 1988: 619 (catalog); Maldonado 1990: 4 (catalog).

Apiomerus (Herega) crassipes

Stål 1872: 98; Van Duzee 1916: 30 (list); Van Duzee 1918: 257 (catalog).

Type data: Lectotype (here designated): 1 ♀; [ USA:] “ Carolina ” / LECTOTYPE Apiomerus crassipes ( Fabricius, 1803) Det. by : Berniker & Szerlip 2011 / ( UCR _ ENT 00041673 ) ( ZMUC) .

Diagnosis: Recognized by the almost entirely black habitus with the exception of the posterior pronotal and scutellar margins, and the connexivum, all of which are orange to red ( Fig. 1D).

Redescription: Male: Medium-sized, total length 12.2–18.3 mm. COLORATION: HEAD: Black. THORAX: Anterior pronotal lobe black, lateral edges margined with orange, posterior pronotal lobe black, margin orange, scutellum black with orange margin, thoracic pleura black with an orange circle on supracoxal lobes, hemelytron brown, costal margin orange-red, fore, mid and hind legs black. ABDOMEN: Black, connexivum orange, pygophore black to red. STRUCTURE: HEAD: 3/4 as long as pronotum, about 3 times width of eye, length of eye in dorsal view about 1/4 of head length. THORAX: pronotum 1.3 times wider than long, anterolateral angle acute, disc of anterior lobe slightly convex, posterior margin straight. ABDOMEN: pygophore about 1/5 length of abdomen, median pygophore process U-shaped in caudal view, ramus as long as base width ( Figs 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D). GENITALIA: distal portion of tergite 9 with setae on anterior margin, posterior margin of dorsal phallothecal sclerite pointed in dorsal view ( Fig. 8A), apex in dorsal view narrow, less than half the width of dorsal phallothecal sclerite, endosomal struts fused only at base, dorsolateral lobes divided into proximal and distal portions, proximal lobe semicircular, distal lobe entire, elongated ( Fig. 8B), median basal sclerotization pyramid shaped ( Fig. 8B), distal dorsal lobe with two parallel rows of strong denticles ( Fig. 6D, 7D).

Female: Total length: 14.8–20.1 mm. STRUCTURE: ABDOMEN: syntergite 9/10 with distal margin emarginate ( Fig. 11D). GENITALIA: gonapophysis 8 almost entire, two adjacent sclerotizations ( Fig. 15D), bursa copulatrix with two narrow, transverse sclerotized folds ( Fig. 14D).

Biology: Heidemann (1911) described the egg and Swadner and Yonke (1973) provided a description of nymphal biology and mating. The specimens examined for this redescription were collected in all months except February, and found up to 762 m above sea level. They were found in insect flight traps, pitfall traps, Japanese Beetle pheromone traps and carrion traps. They were collected on Asclepias sp. (Apocynaceae) , Ceanothus sp. (Rhamnaceae) , Daucus earota (Apiaceae) , Pinus sp. (Pinaceae) , Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (Lamiaceae) , Quercus sp. (Fagaceae) , Rhus glabra (Anacardiaceae) and Sambucus sp. (Adoxaceae) . One specimen (UCR_ENT 00042602) was collected feeding on a Japanese beetle, another (UCR_ENT 00038751) on Neodiprion lecontei Fitch ( Hymenoptera : Diprionidae ) and another (UCR_ENT 00035897) was found at the nest of Halictus rubicundus (Christ) ( Hymenoptera : Halictidae ).

Distribution: Found east of the 100 th meridian in the continental United States, as far north as Minnesota and as far south as Broward County, Florida (Map 4). Apiomerus crassipes was described by Fabricius from a specimen in the Bosc collection from “Carolina”. Say, in his collected works of 1859, repeated Fabricius’ description saying it was “collected by Bosc, in Carolina” ( Say, 1859). In 1927, Readio misquoted Fabricius and Say, replacing California for Carolina. Readio’s mistake was carried over by Costa Lima et al. (1951). Fabricius’ original description and locality are congruent with the species and distribution redescribed here.

Discussion: Apiomerus crassipes varies more in its size than other members of the crassipes group. The smallest individuals are found in the Florida peninsula and the largest in the northern and western parts of its distribution. In contrast to size, individuals of A. crassipes show little color variability, making them easy to recognize throughout their range. Other species that have a mostly black habitus, such as A. californicus , A. montanus , A. rufipennis and A. cooremani (see Fig. 1), are not sympatric with A. crassipes . The species that overlap in distribution with A. crassipes are A. spissipes and A. floridensis and both have drastically different coloration.

Type designation: Two syntypes are known for this species, both female. One, like the majority of Fabricius material is in the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Its label reads only “crassipes”. This is typical of Fabricius’ labels ( Zimsen 1964), and the handwriting appears to be that of Fabricius (Horn & Kahle 1937). The other syntype is in the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris in the Bosc collection. This specimen bears a label in Bosc’s handwriting (Horn & Kahle 1937) that says “ R. crassipes ”, “in Carolina” and “Bosc”. Because the specimen in the Copenhagen museum bears what seems to be a Fabricius label, we are designating this specimen to be the lectotype, as there is strong evidence that this specimen was identified by Fabricius, and thus that it represents his conception of Apiomerus crassipes .

Material examined: See Appendix; 511 specimens examined.