MIRIDAE ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE

Symonds, Celia L. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2018, Systematics And Analysis Of The Radiation Of Orthotylini Plant Bugs Associated With Callitroid Conifers In Australia: Description Of Five New Genera And 32 New Species (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2018 (422), pp. 1-229 : 29-31

MIRIDAE ASSOCIATIONS WITH THE CUPRESSACEAE

In comparison to the Northern Hemisphere, few Miridae have been recorded from southern conifers. In southern Africa the cupressaceous species Widdringtonia nodiflora (L.) E. Powrie harbors the isometopine species Myiomma milleri (Hoberlandt) and the phyline species Widdringtoniola kirstenboschiana Schuh ( Schuh, 1974, 2002 –2013). In contrast, seven orthotyline genera have been recorded from Cupressaceae in the Northern Hemisphere, most notably Orthotylus in Europe and North Africa and Dichaetocoris Knight in western North America. Nine species of European Orthotylus ( Schuh, 2002 – 2013) have been recorded on Cupressus L., Juniperus L., and Tetraclinis Mast. The two Orthotylus species ( O. callitris Lindberg and O. carinatus Wagner ) recorded from Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Mast. do not appear to be closely related based on male genitalic illustrations and Wagner (1973) placed them in different subgenera.

Dichaetocoris comprises 16 species, which are all associated with conifers, in genera belonging to the Cupressaceae and Pinaceae ( Asquith and Lattin, 1993; Schuh, 2002 –2013). Some species bear a striking resemblance to Callitricola , with body green, yellow on the wing membrane veins, and slight yellowing of the middle of the cuneus (fig. 13). Endosomal spicule and paramere morphology are also not dissimilar between these two disjunctly distributed genera and a more detailed comparison would be of interest. We note however that the male genitalic descriptions and illustrations of two Dichaetocoris species are different enough (see Asquith and Lattin, 1993; Schwartz and Scudder, 2003) to warrant an investigation of the monophyly of the genus. In the nominotypical tribe of the Mirinae , Dichrooscytus Fieber species are mostly associated with the cupressaceous genus Juniperus , as well as Pinus L. species. In contrast, the megadiverse genus Phytocoris Fallén has a more diverse hostplant range, but also has species associated with Juniperus and Pinus ( Schuh, 1995, 2002 –2013).

In Australia, phylines and mirines are commonly collected on Callitris , but they are largely undescribed, aside from the leucophoroptorine species Arafuramiris queenslandensis Menard and Schuh , which was recorded from Callitris intratropica ( Menard and Schuh, 2011) . However, this record is likely incidental (Katrina Menard, personal commun.).

BODY COLOR AND HOST-PLANT ASSOCIATIONS IN MIRIDAE CLASSIFICATION

Body color is used in the classification of the Miridae , particularly in differentiating species, but its classificatory value is confounded by convergence of this cryptic coloration. For example, many Orthotylini , including the callitroid-inhabiting species described in this work, are primarily green, some of which are undoubtedly distantly related. There are also independent orthotyline lineages that possess red markings against a green background color. For example, the callitroidinhabiting genus Erysivena and the myrtaceousinhabiting genus Myrtlemiris are primarily green with red markings on the hemelytron. However, many features of the male genitalia of these two groups are indicative of a distant relationship.

Where orthotylines are associated with flowers, their body color is similarly camouflaged, as in the Australian genus Acaciacapsus , which are mostly yellow, in accord with the flowers of their Acacia host plants, to which they are restricted ( Cassis and Symonds, 2014a). In this example, body color and male genitalic characters are corroborated and genus defining. Conversely, body color is of no use in the diagnosis of Naranjakotta , whose host-plant range is remarkably broad, encompassing 12 different families, while characters of the male genitalia are paramount for defining the genus ( Cassis and Symonds, 2016).

Similar patterns are found in the subfamily Phylinae in Australia. For example, many taxa of the subtribe Cremnorrhinina are often closely matched in color with the leaves of the Australian endemic genus Eremophila R. Br. , both mostly pale green ( Schuh and Schwartz, 2016). Conversely, where phyline genera have a wider host range (e.g., Wallabicoris Schuh and Pedraza ), across multiple plant families ( Schuh and Pedraza, 2010), the external morphology and coloration of the species is diverse.