Phloea subquadrata Spinola, 1837

López, Guilherme Enrique Luisi & Schwertner, Cristiano Feldens, 2024, Synopsis of the remarkable family Phloeidae (Hemiptera: Pentatomoidea): species identification, chromatic polymorphism and updated distribution, Journal of Natural History 57 (45 - 48), pp. 2083-2113 : 2092-2095

Phloea subquadrata Spinola, 1837

( Figures 3, 4 , 7–10 , 13, 14 )

1837 Phloea subquadrata Spinola : 276, 277; Dallas 1851: 149; Dohrn 1859: 11; Stål 1872: 4; Lethierry and Severin 1893: 82; von Ihering 1909: 129, 130, fig. A; Kirkaldy 1909: 252; de Magalhães 1909: 239, 240, 257, 258; Brien 1930: 1; da Costa-Lima 1940: 46; Cott 1940: 97, 323, figs. 41.1–3; Leston 1953: 133, figs. 13, 17, 18; Lent and Jurberg 1965: 123, 125, 139, 140, 141, figs. 4, 5, 9, 13, 14, 18, 24, 25, 35, 36, 41–43, 49, 50, 54; Rolston and McDonald 1979: 190, figs. 3, 22–24; Schuh and Slater 1995: fig. 74.2H; Guilbert 2003: 61–63, figs. 1–3; Bernardes et al. 2005: 415–419, figs. 1–13; Grazia et al. 2008: 936, 938, figs. 22, 29; Salomão and Vasconcellos-Neto 2010: 1724– 1729; Grazia and Schwertner 2011: 708, 716; Grazia et al. 2012: 394, fig. 28.96; Salomão et al. 2012: 321–337; Schwertner and Grazia 2015: 825, figs. 25.1c, 25.36, 25.37; da Fonseca et al. 2016: 1459–1464; Martins et al. 2016: 358; da Fonseca et al. 2017: 1905–1910; Musolin and Saulich 2018: 539; Schuh and Weirauch 2020: 498– 500, fig. J

1844 Phloeocoris Subquadrata Herrich-Schäffer (1844): 38

Diagnosis

Dorsum presenting many small orangish-copper coloured tubercles; head with few green iridescent punctures in front of eyes and near mesial margins of head foliations. Pronotum with 2 + 2 almost indistinguishable lines present, oriented diagonally from posterior part of eyes to anterolateral angles of hemelytra, few scattered small iridescent punctures present on each side. Scutellum with 1 + 1 dark-reddish, iridescent green fovea on basal angles; hemelytra coria concolor with body, with a thin, Y-shaped mark (sometimes barely distinguishable). Anterolateral portions of connexiva without iridescent spots. Anterior margins of head foliations round and convex, mesial margins contiguous right after clypeus; anterior pronotal margin curved anteriorly, pronotal angles rounded and lateral margins slightly undulated or convex. Hemelytra costa before foliations small and rounded; wing membranes with many wrinkle markings, veins highly branched and rarely forming closed cells. At most narrow portions of connexiva are visible when wings are at repose. Body foliations undulated laterally and rounded postero-laterally in segments IV– VII; in females, foliations of laterotergites VIII overlapped ( Figures 3 , 7, 9 ).

Chromatic polymorphism

Most individuals (82) presented a pale yellow body colour with many small orangish-copper tubercles scattered irregularly, some regions of body and pronotum a bit darker, and a dark brown venter ( Figures 3, 4 , 13, 14 ). Two females (listed with a ‘~’ in the examined material) presented a main body colour similar to the individuals mentioned above, but with a distinct dark, diagonal line in head foliations and a concolorous line in the abdomen foliations encircling the body ( Figure 7 ); dark lines are also visible ventrally ( Figure 9 ). A male ( Figure 8 ) and a female (indicated with a ‘^’ in the examined material) had a darker body colour, with many ring-like patterns (similar to plant growth rings) in different shades of orange and brown extending through head, head foliations, pronotum and, more conspicuously shaped as rings, on hemelytra, scutellum and body foliations; ventrally, ring patterns are also visible in foliations ( Figure 10 ).

Distribution

BRAZIL. Bahia (Itabuna) , Minas Gerais (Juiz de Fora [new rec.] , Itamonte [new rec.] , ConceiÇão dos Ouros [new rec.]) , Espírito Santo (Jaguaré , Linhares , Rio Bananal , Alegre [new rec.]) , São Paulo ( Rio Claro [new rec.] , Anhembi [new rec.] , Botucatu [new rec.] , Jundiaí , São Paulo [new rec.] , Cotia [new rec.] , Ibiúna [new rec.] , São LourenÇo da Serra [new rec.]) , Rio de Janeiro (Itatiaia [new rec.]) , Paraná (Tibagi [new rec.] , Antonina [new rec.] , Campina Grande do Sul [new rec.] , Curitiba [new rec.] , Guaratuba [new rec.]) , Santa Catarina [new rec.] (Blumenau , Seara , Nova Veneza) , Rio Grande do Sul (Mato Castelhano [new rec.] , São Domingos do Sul [new rec.] , Cruz Alta [new rec.] , Viamão) . ARGENTINA [new rec.]. Misiones (San Pedro) .

Examined material

BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Alegre, Fazenda Jerusalém , 4 December 1911, coll . J .F . Zikán (2♂ MfN) . São Paulo: Rio Claro , FEENA, 23 June 2016, coll . V.M. Ghirotto (1♀ MZUSP); Anhembi, Fazenda Barreiro Rico , 17–18 June 1989, coll . F . Mello (28 nymphs MZUSP); Botucatu , 10 April 1969, coll . A . Mantovan (8♀ MZUSP); São Paulo, Cidade Universitária , 1958, coll . H . Reichardt (7♂, 1♀, 1 nymph MZUSP); São Paulo, Santo Amaro, Capão Redondo , em jaboticabeira [host plant], 1 December 1963, coll . L. T. Filho (1♂ MZUSP); São Paulo, Santo Amaro , 19 December 1961, coll . E .X . Rabello (3♂, 3 nymphs (2*) MZUSP); 20 December 1961, coll . E .X . Rabello (1♂, 5♀ (1*) MZUSP); São Paulo, Santo Amaro , em jaboticabeira [host plant], 20 December 1961, coll . E .X . Rabello (10♂ (1*) MZUSP); São Paulo, Santo Amaro, Sítio São Francisco , em jaboticabeira [host plant], 28 November 1965 . coll. L. T.F. (3♂ (1*~), 1♀ ~, 1 nymph MZUSP) . Santa Catarina : Blumenau , 3 February 1956, coll . Oleh Gabrusewicz (2♀^ (1*), 2 nymphs MZUSP); Seara, Nova Teutônia , 27.183333°S, 52.383333°W, 27 November 1935, coll . Fritz Plaumann (1♀ MfN) . 1♂ labelled as ‘ Rio de Janeiro’ ( MfN) . 8 specimens without labels (4♂, 3♀, 1 nymph MZUSP) .

iNaturalist observations

BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Juiz de Fora, Jardim Lermitage, 12 October 2021, observer ' Pedro Aguiar', 101743593 (50 nymphs); Itamonte , 37466-000 [postal code], 5 February 2023, observer 'palmas', 148115634 (20 adults, sex not determined, 5 nymphs); ConceiÇão dos Ouros, 37548-000 [postal code], 25 November 2017, observer ' Wilder Gomes', 40834168 (19 nymphs) . São Paulo: São Paulo, Granja Julieta, 21 January 2022, observer ' Rodrigo Dios', 105319503 (1♂); São Paulo, Parque do Estado , 2 May 2023, observer 'Bruno Aranda', 159190143 (15 nymphs); São Paulo, 11 April 2022, observer 'amandabignami', 111080334 (4♀); São Paulo, Santo Amaro, 11 July 2021, observer 'Rodrigo Dios', 86575793 (1♂); Cotia, Rua Santo Amaro, 9 July 2021, observer 'victorcastanho', 86351464 (1♂); Ibiúna, 18150-000 [postal code], 20 February 2023, observer 'andré', 152366569 (1♀); São LourenÇo da Serra , Despezio, 06890-000 [postal code], 12 October 2019, observer ' Felipe Giani', 65616970 (1♂) . Rio de Janeiro: Itatiaia , 18 April 2010, observer ' Paula Romano', 128371970 (21 nymphs) . Paraná: Tibagi, 11 December 2021, observer ' Phillip Schuster', 102942958 (3 nymphs); Antonina , 23 October 2017, observer ' David Barros Muniz' , 85679169 (1♂); Campina Grande do Sul , 26 June 2021, observer ' Maristela Zamoner' , 84727618 (23 adults, sex not determined, 2 nymphs); Curitiba , rua Teodoro Makiolka , 82220-000 [postal code], 26 August 2022, observer ' Leonardo FogaÇa' , 132394959 (60 nymphs); Curitiba , 19 March 2023, observer 'marinavm', 152855587 (20 nymphs); Curitiba , UFPR – Campus Centro Politécnico, 26 January 2022, observer 'Phillip Schuster', 105642492 (1♀); Curitiba, Boqueirão, 81750-070 [postal code], 26 January 2023, observer 'Adolf Carl Krüger', 147525835 (1♀); Guaratuba, Reserva Bicudinho-do-brejo, 14 December 2013, observer ' Carlos Otávio Gussoni', 37936895 (3♀, 9 nymphs) . Santa Catarina: Nova Veneza, 3 December 2018, observer ' João Gava Just' , 18816629 (1♂, 1♀) . Rio Grande do Sul: Mato Castelhano, 9 September 2021, observer ' Caroline Ribeiro', 94762848 (22 nymphs); São Domingos do Sul , 5 September 2021, observer ' Ricardo Brugnera' , 93927958 (4♂, 4♀); São Domingos do Sul, 99270-000 [postal code], 18 April 2019, observer 'Ricardo Brugnera', 63584155 (5♂, 5♀, 38 nymphs); Cruz Alta, 18 December 2021, observer ' Fernando Sessegolo', 103254283 (2 adults in copula, 3♂, 2 adults, sex not determined, 18 + nymphs) . ARGENTINA. Misiones: San Pedro, 11 April 2021, observer ' DIEGO.J.PALACIOS.R', 102930766 (20+ adults, sex not determined) .

Figures

Figures 1–4. Dorsal habitus of Phloea spp., adults. (1) P. corticata, female; (2) P. corticata, male; (3) P. subquadrata, female; (4) P. subquadrata, male. Scale bar = 3 mm.

Figures 7–10. Chromatic variation of Phloea subquadrata, adults. (7) Female, dorsal view; (8) male, dorsal view; (9) female, ventral view; (10) male, ventral view. Scale bars = 3 mm.

Figures 11–14. Dorsal habitus of Phloea spp., nymphs. (11) P. corticata, second instar; (12) P. corticata, fifth instar; (13) P. subquadrata, second instar; (14) P. subquadrata, fifth instar. Scale bars = 3 mm.