Phymatopsallus Knight, 1964

Schuh, Randall T., 2006, Revision, Phylogenetic, Biogeographic, And Host Analyses Of The Endemic Western North American Phymatopsallus Group, With The Description Of 9 New Genera And 15 New Species (Insecta: Hemiptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2006 (301), pp. 1-115 : 71-74

Phymatopsallus Knight

Phymatopsallus Knight, 1964: 127 (n.gen.).

Type species: Phymatopsallus strombocarpae Knight (5 Psallus tuberculatus Van Duzee ).

Sonoraphylus Carvalho and Costa, 1992: 119 (n. gen.). NEW SYNONYMY.

Type species: Sonoraphylus hermosillensis Carvalho and Costa, 1992 (5 Phymatopsallus patagoniae Knight, 1964 ).

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the pale green to lime green coloration, often turning yellowish in preserved specimens, in conjunction with the marmorate membrane (fig. 3), the pygophore always with a tubercle on left side (fig. 29E, F), and consistently by the following characters of the male genitalia: the vesical shaft with a slender ‘‘medial’’ spine located proximad of the secondary gonopore (figs. 30–34), the phallotheca ornamented with numerous small protuberances on dorsal margin near the apex and a blunt, fingerlike projection (‘‘spine’’) on the anterior surface, and the left paramere with a distinctive projection on the dorsal margin of the anterior surface (figs. 29G, H, 30–34). Distinguished from nearly all other Phylinae by its possession of a medial vesical spine, a feature found elsewhere only in species of Pilophorus Hahn , the produced dorsal margin of the anterior surface of the left paramere, and the small protuberances on the apicodorsal margin of the phallotheca. Similar in general appearance and size to the monochromatic taxa Angelopsallus gregalis and Knightopsallus portalensis , but males easily distinguished by the presence of a seta-covered tubercle on the left side of the pygophore in Phymatopsallus and the absence of that structure in K. portalensis and A. gregalis , and by the distinctive features of the vesica, phallotheca, and left paramere, as mentioned above, in Phymatopsallus .

REDESCRIPTION: Male: Size very small to moderate among Phymatopsallus -group taxa, weakly to moderately elongate, nearly parallel-sided, total length 1.92–3.11, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 1.34–2.03, width pronotum 0.68–1.01. COLORATION (fig. 3): Body and forewings light green to lime green, often faded and yellowish in preserved specimens; eyes often carmine, sometimes silvery or pale; appendages pale, weakly yellowish to greenish; femora with scattered weak brown spots; tibial spines pale, with small weakly brown spots at bases; membrane weakly marmorate, veins tinged with green. SURFACE AND VESTITURE (figs. 3, 29C): Dorsal body surface smooth, impunctate, weakly shining. Dorsal vestiture of reclining, pale, simple setae intermixed with recumbent, silvery, sericeous setae. STRUCTURE: Head: Short, transverse, closely conforming to anterior margin of pronotum; frons at most barely protruding beyond anterior margin of eyes; posterior margin of vertex rounded (fig. 3); eyes in most species large in dorsal and lateral views (fig. 3), sometimes smaller and with greater interocular distance (e.g., acaciae ) (fig. 3, 29A); antennae inserted just above ventral margin of eyes, eyes not emarginate at antennal insertion (fig. 29A); antennal segment 2 cylindrical, not tapered, about the same diameter as antennal segment 1 (fig. 3); labium reaching from posterior margin of middle trochanters to posterior margin of hind trochanters. Thorax: Mesothoracic spiracle and metathoracic scent-efferent system as in figure 29B. Legs: Claws moderately elongate, rather strongly curving, pulvilli small, attached near base of claws and extending slightly past midpoint of claw, parempodia setiform (fig. 29D). Abdomen: Broad. GENITALIA (figs. 29E–H, 30–34): Pygophore: Relatively large, occupying about half the length of abdomen, on left side with a distinct tubercle beset with numerous long setae (fig. 29E, F). Vesica: Formed of a single relatively slender strap, appearing tubular over much of length, varying from C-shaped to J-shaped, with at most one-half twist, with a simple spine of varying length located proximad of secondary gonopore, apically attenuated and extending well beyond secondary gonopore; secondary gonopore well sclerotized, ovoid, without distinct gonopore sclerite. Phallotheca: With apical portion rather short and blunt, dorsal margin near apex ornamented with many small spines or protuberances, weakly keel-like, anterior surface with a thumblike process (‘‘spine’’). Parameres: Left paramere with a distinctive broad projection on the dorsal margin of the anterior surface near apex, anterior process elongate, attenuated, posterior process elongate, truncate; right paramere relatively large, elongate, apex weakly to moderately broad, pair of apical processes weakly developed, and paramere lying over phallotheca and left paramere in repose.

Female: Elongate ovoid in contrast to nearly parallel-sided male; total length 1.95– 3.30, length apex clypeus–cuneal fracture 1.38–2.30, width pronotum 0.66–0.99. COL- ORATION (fig. 3): As in male. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: As in male. STRUC- TURE: Hemelytra just covering abdomen; eyes smaller than those of male, frons more prominently bulging anterior to eyes, head projecting below eyes by distance roughly equal to diameter of antennal segment 1; antennal segment 2 more slender than in male, tapered toward base (fig. 3). GENI- TALIA (figs. 30, 34): Sclerotized rings large, more or less quadrangular; vestibulum short, with vestibular sclerites connecting from base of ovipositor valves directly to bursa copula- trix; posterior wall simple, anterior portion with microtrichia, posterior third with overlapping crescentic pattern with marginal microtrichia.

HOSTS: All known host records for Phymatopsallus spp. are from the Fabaceae .

DISCUSSION: Knight (1964) diagnosed his new genus Phymatopsallus as having simple as well as sericeous, woolly pubescence on the dorsum, a tubercle on the left side of the pygophore, a conspurcate (5 marmorate) membrane, and dark spots at the base of the tibial spines. Although all of the species here placed in Phymatopsallus possess those characters, none is unique to the group, and as a consequence many of the species placed in Phymatopsallus by Knight (1964) are here placed in other genera. The medial spine on the vesica and the broad dorsal projection on the anterior surface of the left paramere allow Phymatopsallus sensu stricto to be distinguished unequivocally; these characters are therefore incorporated into the revised generic diagnosis.

Carvalho and Costa (1992) described the genus Sonoraphylus on the basis of two specimens from near Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. This taxon is clearly congeneric with Phymatopsallus Knight , based on size, coloration, and the structure of the vesica with a medial spine and is therefore being treated as a junior synonym.

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