Insulaphylus, WEIRAUCH, 2006

WEIRAUCH, CHRISTIAN E., 2006, New Genera, New Species, and New Combinations in Western Nearctic Phylini (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), American Museum Novitates 3521 (1), pp. 1-44 : 11-13

Insulaphylus , new genus

Figures 1 , 2 , 4 , 6–9 , 11

TYPE SPECIES: Insulaphylus cruz , new species.

DIAGNOSIS: Distinguished from other Phylini by the following combination of characters: Medium to rather large size, elongate ovoid body shape, pale reddish to reddish brown coloration, pronotum and scutellum pale with irregular small dark spots, hemelytra without spots (fig. 1), vesica Sshaped and slender, with one apical blade, secondary gonopore of medium size, gonopore sclerite very long and slender, Y-shaped (fig. 4). Habitus somewhat similar to Quernocoris , new genus, but distinguished by having spots on the mesoscutum and scutellum and by the structure of male genitalia.

DESCRIPTION: Male: Moderate to rather large size (3.32–4.33), elongate ovoid, and moderately stout in lateral view. COLOR- ATION (fig. 1): General coloration pale, light brown and reddish, pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum with numerous small dark spots, pronotal callus often yellowish and lined with brown, anterior crescent-shaped portion of cuneus hyaline, remaining portion pale. Head: Vertex pale to light reddish with five paired transverse fasciae brown and additional brown mark on the interior margin of the eye, clypeus pale or light reddish with paired longitudinal stripes, subapical area castaneous, and apex white, labrum brown, mandibular plate pale or light reddish, maxillary plate and gena, including area surrounding antennal fossa brown, buccula whitish, gula brown with large lateral yellowish mark; antennal segment 1 whitish or yellowish with a basal and a subapical ring brown, segment 2 yellowish, with white ring at base, followed by an area suffused with brown, and apex suffused with brown, segments 3 and 4 brownish; labial segments 1 to 3 yellowish white, segment 4 suffused with brown. Thorax: Pronotum, mesoscutum, and scutellum pale, sprinkled with small dark marks, sometimes suffused with grey, orange, brown, or red, and sometimes with a whitish longitudinal line, with callus yellowish lined with brown, pleura brown, often with margin of procoxal cavity and dorsal margin of propleuron, dorsal rim of mesepisternum and posterior rim of mesepimeron and evaporatory area lighter brown, whitish, or yellowish, with peritreme sometimes orange. Legs: Pale yellowish with extreme base of coxae and tibia distally suffused with brown, base of tibiae often and distal tarsomere usually brown, dark marks on femur and tibial spines with dark base. Hemelytra: Corium including clavus yellowish, suffused with red and brown toward the costal fracture, cuneus proximally transparent or whitish with the remaining parts reddish. Abdomen: Venter, pygophore, parameres, and phallotheca brown, ventral connexival laterotergites usually with yellow marks, pygophore yellowish and brown. SURFACE AND VESTITURE (fig. 9C): Dorsum weakly shining, with rather dense, subadpressed setae of moderate length and stoutness, some (black asterisk) stouter than others (white asterisk), with stout and more erect black setae on head and pronotum, bases of setae usually associated with dark roundish marks on pronotum and scutellum. STRUCTURE: Head (figs. 2C, 4): Triangular in dorsal aspect, vertex wide, slightly convex and almost straight behind, clypeus moderately produced, maxillary plate slightly sunken, buccula short, buccal cavity large and ovoid, gula short; eyes a little more than 3/4 of height of head, of moderate size, emarginate posterior to antennal fossa, posterolateral margin contiguous with anterolateral margin of pronotum; antennal segment 1 short and relatively slender, segment 2 long, more slender than segment 1, diameter slightly increasing toward apex, segments 3 and 4 combined shorter than segment 2; apex of labium reaching base of metacoxa. Thorax (figs. 7C, 8C): Pronotum trapeziform, anterior margin straight, lateral margins convex, posterior margin slightly sinuate, anterior and posterior pronotal lobes weakly demarcated, callus slightly developed, metapleural evaporatorium with mushroomlike cuticle area well developed, mushroomlike cuticle anterior to mesothoracic spiracle well developed (fig. 7C). Legs: Slender; claws slender, pulvilli low but long, covering more than half of ventral claw surface, parempodia setiform, slender and moderately elongate, unpaired, very short seta medially on the ventrodistal surface of pretarsus represents the dorsal arolium (fig. 8C). Hemelytra: Subparallel, cuneus elongate triangular. Abdomen: Abdomen reaching to apex of cuneus. GENITALIA (fig. 4): Pygophore: Of moderate size and stoutness. Parameres: Right paramere typically phyline lanceolate; left paramere with anterior process short and stout, posterior process relatively long and slender with apex distinctly pointing ventrad. Phallotheca: Moderately elongate and slender, L-shaped, apex tapering and pointed, with ventral opening slitlike. Vesica: S-shaped and slender, with one apical blade, secondary gonopore in apical third, of medium size and ovate, either facing left or caudad, gonopore sclerite present, long slender, and Y-shaped.

Female (fig. 1): Color pattern similar to male but coloration paler, body shape slightly more ovoid and larger than male, with pronotum wider, eyes smaller, antennal segment 2 more slender, increase in diameter toward the apex more pronounced than in male. GENITALIA (fig. 6): See description of type species Insulaphylus cruz , new species.

ETYMOLOGY: Named for the distribution of the two included species, which are so far known only from the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California, combined with the generic name Phylus to emphasize its systematic position within Miridae . The gen- der of the name is masculine.

DISCUSSION: This new genus of oak-inhabiting Phylini is clearly distinguished from other Phylini collected on Quercus in the western United States by the habitus and male genitalic structures. Furthermore, this taxon is so far known only from the Channel Islands.

The two species in the genus Insulaphylus do not occur sympatrically on the Channel Islands. Insulaphylus cruz is known only from Santa Cruz Island, whereas the much smaller and dark-colored I. meridianus , new species, is so far known only from the two more southerly Islands, Santa Catalina and San Clemente (fig. 11). The apparent restriction of I. meridianus to the two southernmost Channel Islands represents an interesting biogeographic pattern. Even though the two islands are only 35 km apart, they share only 27% of their total species inventory of Lepidoptera ( Powell 1994) , with none of the lepidopterans endemic to either island shared by the other. The phyline species described here might be an example of an endemic shared between the two islands.

Additional host-documented specimen records from the Channel Islands and, ideally, records from San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands as well, would be very valuable in assessing the distribution and host association of species of this apparently island endemic taxon.

In Lepidoptera , only 3.3% of the species occurring on the Channel Islands are endemic ( Powell 1994). Assuming that the currently known distribution of Insulaphylus reflects reality, rather than a sampling bias, this genus of Phylini represents one of the few known instances of Channel Island endemics.

KEY TO SPECIES OF INSULAPHYLUS

1. Rather large, total length 3.82–4.33 mm, pale to reddish brown (fig. 1), male vesica large and stout, basal half not strongly twisted (fig. 4) .......................................... cruz , n.sp.

– Medium size, total length 3.32–3.66 mm, reddish coloration often dark (fig. 1), male vesica rather small and slender, basal half strongly twisted (fig. 4) ..... meridianus , n.sp.

Figures

Fig. 1. Habitus photographs of Galbinocoris caepa, Hamatophylus guttulosus, Insulaphylus spp., Maculamiris spp., Quernocoris caliginosus, and Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 2. Lateral aspect of head and pronotum, scanning micrographs, scale measurements in mm. A. Galbinocoris caepa. B. Hamatophylus guttulosus. C. Insulaphylus cruz. D. Maculamiris baja. E. Quernocoris caliginosus. F. Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 4. Head and male genitalic structures of Insulaphylus spp. and Maculamiris spp. Insulaphylus cruz, head in frontal and lateral view, right and left paramere, phallotheca, and vesica; I. meridianus, vesica and apex of vesica in caudal view; Maculamiris baja, head in frontal and lateral view, right and left paramere, phallotheca, and vesica; M. insulanus, vesica.

Fig. 6. Female genitalic structures, with bursa copulatrix in dorsal view and vestibulum in frontal view. Galbinocoris caepa, Hamatophylus guttulosus, Insulaphylus cruz, Maculamiris baja, Quernocoris caliginosus, Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 7. Mesothoracic spiracle and metathoracic scent gland evaporatory area. A. Galbinocoris caepa. B. Hamatophylus guttulosus. C. Insulaphylus cruz. D. Maculamiris baja. E. Quernocoris caliginosus. F. Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 8. Pretarsus, in frontal (above) and lateral (below) aspect. A. Galbinocoris caepa. B. Hamatophylus guttulosus. C. Insulaphylus cruz. D. Maculamiris baja. E. Quernocoris caliginosus. F. Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 9. Detail of setae comprising hemelytral vestiture, where two types of setae are present, the black asterisk indicates the stouter seta, the white asterisk the more slender seta. A. Galbinocoris caepa. B. Hamatophylus guttulosus. C. Insulaphylus cruz. D. Maculamiris baja. E. Quernocoris caliginosus. F. Vesperocoris paddocki.

Fig. 11. Distribution of species of the genera Insulaphylus and Maculamiris. The species distributions are mapped onto distribution maps of some of their hosts.