Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006

Forero, Dimitri, 2021, Two newly introduced Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera) species in Colombia: Brachyplatys subaenus (Plataspidae) and Thaumastocoris peregrinus (Thaumastocoridae), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 61, pp. 1-7 : 2-4

Thaumastocoris peregrinus Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006 ( Fig. 2 )

Remarks: Thaumastocoris peregrinus was described based on specimens collected in Argentina but acknowledging its Australian origin ( Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006). Noack & Coviella (2006) simultaneously reported a Thaumastocoris species from Buenos Aires ( Argentina) but misidentified it as T. australicus Kirkaldy , which was later identified as T. peregrinus (Noack et al., 2011) . Carpintero & Dellapé (2006) also assigned to T.peregrinus specimens found in South Africa but also misidentified as T.australicus . The taxonomy of this Australian endemic genus Thaumastocoris was clarified by Noack et al. (2011), in which they provide a revised diagnosis and comparative notes for T. peregrinus .

Most of the host plant associations of Thaumastocoris are with species of Myrtaceae , in which nearly all species are associated with species of Eucalyptus L’Hér. (Noack et al., 2011) . Thaumastocoris peregrinus has been documented to feed on one species of Corymbia K.D. Hill & L.A.S. Johnson and at least 13 species of Eucalyptus ( Jacobs & Neser,2005; Noack & Coviella,2006;Noack et al., 2011; Nascimento-Machado et al., 2019). The Colombian examined specimens were collected in an unidentified species of Eucalyptus . In all places in which T. peregrinus has been accidentally introduced,it has caused damages to ornamental or cultivated Eucalyptus species (Machado et al., 2020), and it is likely that biological control might be the best management option ( Nadel & Noack, 2012; Souza et al., 2012). Pinzón-Florián (2020) reviewed the pest species of Eucalyptus in Colombia, for which the only Heteroptera listed as pest was the mirid Monalonion velezangeli Carvalho & Costa. Thaumastocoris peregrinus is the only other Heteroptera pest species associated with Eucalyptus in Colombia.

Distribution: Originally from Australia, but accidentally introduced in South America ( Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile), North America ( Mexico, USA), Africa ( South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe), Reunion Islands, Israel, New Zealand, and more recently in Europe ( Italy, Portugal, Spain, Albania, Greece) ( Carpintero & Dellapé, 2006; Noack et al., 2011; Nascimento-Machado et al., 2019). Newly recorded from Colombia from a single locality in the high Andes (Bogotá).

Examined material: 5 males, 3 females, 1 nymph, 1 adult of undetermined sex (damaged abdomen), COLOMBIA, Bogotá D. C., parque Santa Helena de Baviera , 04.7313°N, 74.0569°W, 2,559 m, 26 Mar 2019, D. Forero ; ex. Eucalyptus sp. , MPUJ _ ENT0065771 – MPUJ _ ENT0065780 ( MPUJ _ ENT) .

Figures

Figure 2. Thaumastocoris peregrinus, female specimen from Bogotá (Bogotá, D.C., Colombia).(A) Dorsal view; (B) ventral view [MPUJ_ENT0065778]; (C) detail of the male pygophore in ventral view [MPUJ_ENT0065773].