Turrana Distant, 1911

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2022, Turrana ejuncida, a new species of Acanthocorini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) from Cape Range, Western Australia, with discussion of its systematic position and host plant associations, Zootaxa 5092 (1), pp. 85-96 : 87

Turrana Distant, 1911

Type species: Turrana abnormis Distant, 1911 , by monotypy.

Turrana Distant, 1911: 579 (original description); Bergroth, 1913: 147 (catalogue); Cassis & Gross 2002: 98 (catalogue); Brailovsky 2007: 173-178 (diagnosis, key); CoreoideaSF Team 2021 (catalogue, type photograph)

Diagnosis. Body slender, elongate, nearly parallel-sided; head longer than wide, with apices of maxillary plates rounded apically, extending well beyond depressed clypeus, latter without apical spine; thickened antennae, with AIII either longer or subequal to AI; labium reaching between base of prosternum to beyond midpoint of mesosternum; labial groove terminating at midpoint or posterior margin of mesosternum; monomorphic and short legs, femora unarmed; metathoracic external efferent system auriculate; brachypterous wings, not reaching abdominal terminalia; pronotal disc, clavus, and corium with uniform distribution of setigerous punctures, setae scalelike; abdomen weakly tapered caudally.

Redescription. Colouration (fig 1). Body mostly yellowish brown to orangish brown, sometimes with yellowish/orange and dark brown banding on abdominal connexiva; tibiae paler yellowish brown, with apices embrowned.

Texture and vestiture (figs 1; 2; 3A). Head and callosite region of pronotum granulate, without punctures; pronotal disc, clavus, and corium with uniform distribution of setigerous punctures, punctures deep and separated, setae pale yellow/white, short and scale-like; femora finely tuberculate, tibiae finely and obscurely granulose; male pygophore with dense distribution of bristlelike setae, densest on posterior margin of genital opening (fig 3A).

Structure. Elongate, narrow, male parallel-sided, female broader medially; dorsoventrally compressed (fig 1A–D). Head (figs 1; 2A–C): subrectangular in dorsal view, longer than wide; dorsally mostly flat; frons with short midline sulcus; clypeus vertical, barely visible from above, without apical spine; mandibular plates (= jugae) large, apically rounded, projecting well beyond clypeus, separated at midline; maxillary plates small and tumescent, projecting anteriorly just beyond clypeus; ocelli small and flattened with a diagonal slit-like scar; bucculae small with margins arcuate. Eyes (figs 1A–D; 2A–D): small, suboval, positioned between midpoint of head or caudal to the midpoint. Antennae (figs 1A–D; 2C): greatly enlarged, inserted at front of head; subequal to length of head to apex of scutellum; AI–AIII cylindrical, thickened, and subequal in length; AIV clavate and shortest antennomere Labium (figs 1B, D; 2A, C): extending between posterior margin of prosternum or beyond midpoint of mesosternum. Thorax (figs 1A–D; 2A–B, D–E): pronotum nearly flat, with lateral margins weakly divergent caudally; anterolateral angles acute; humeral angles rounded; callosite region medially divided by pair of longitudinal sulci; pronotal disc with pair of minor swellings; posterior margin rounded with medial concavity; scutellum short, flat, with or without midline weakly raised or keel-like; pro- and mesosternum with conspicuous midline furrow to receive labium. Hemelytra (fig 1A, C): brachypterous, narrower than abdomen, contiguous with the medial margin of the laterotergites, reaching abdominal terga V–VI; clavus short, commissure a little longer than scutellum; corium with raised veins and closed cells; membrane with anastomosing venation. Legs (fig 1B, D): short, slender, and cylindrical; monomorphic, with hind legs a little longer; femora unarmed. Abdomen (fig 1A–D): elongate, narrow, tapering caudally, proctiger flat and broadly rounded, almost fully covering pygophore. Male genitalia (fig 2A–C): pygophore cupshaped, caudal margin projecting, partly visible from above, genital opening dorsal in orientation. Female genitalia (fig 4A–C): elongate, tubelike.

Distribution. Two species distributed in Australian Monsoonal Tropics ( fig. 5 ).

Remarks. Brailovsky (2007) hypothesised that Turrana is allied to Postleniatus , because of the elongate head (longer than wide), absence of a postocular tubercle, the concave posterior margin of the pronotum, the short legs, the unarmed femora, the flat ocelli and the deeply punctate hemelytra. Brailovsky (2007) distinguished Turrana from Postleniatus by AIII being longer than AII, the smaller eyes, the shorter labium (not reaching beyond the prosternum), the labial groove not extending to the metasternum, and the elongate female terminalia. Brailovsky (2007) also differentiated the other Australian acanthocorine genus Pomponatius from Turrana by its transverse head, ventrally armed femora, and the presence of a postocular tubercle, as well as it having shallower punctures. We have observed armed femora in Pomponatius , which were not illustrated in the habitus images of Brailovsky (2007). Turrana ejuncida sp. nov. is mostly consistent with the diagnostic characters given by Brailovsky (2007) but differs by the longer labium, which reaches near the posterior margin of the mesosternum: this character state separates it from T. abnormis and is more like Postleniatus glycosmisus . Nonetheless, T. ejuncida sp. nov. is undoubtedly congeneric with T. abnormis , and the revised diagnosis of Turrana herein excludes the very short labium character as given in Brailovsky (2007). Both Turrana species also have a clavate AIV as opposed to the fusiform shape found in Postleniatus glycosmisus .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Map of point localities of Turrana abnormis Distant (triangles) and T. ejuncida sp. nov. (circle). Localities of T. abnormis from Cassis & Gross (2002).