A new species of Pomponatius Distant from Australia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae: Acanthocorini)

6 Pages·1996·1.5 MB·English

A NEW SPECIES OFPOMPONATIUSDISTANTFROM AUSTRALIA
(HEMIPTERA:HETEROPTERA:COREIDAE:ACANTHOCORINI)
H. BRAILOVSKYANDG.B.MONTEITH
Brailovsky, H. & Monteith, G.B. 199607 20: Anew species ofPomponatiusDistantfrom
Australia (Hemiptera:Heteroptera:Coreidae:Acanthocorini). Memoirs of the Queensland
Museum39(2):205-210. Brisbane.ISSN0079-8835.
The Australian PomponatiusDistant is redescribed and the distribution ofits type species
P.typicusDistant is extended to the Northern Territory and to New Guinea. P. luridus sp.
nov. is described from eastern and northern Australia. Distribution maps and a key are
included.FoodplantsareMelaleucaandCallistemon(Myrtaceae). Hemiptera, Coreidae,
Pomponatius, taxonomy, biologicalcontrol.
H. Brailovsky, Instituto de Biologia UNAM, Departamento de Zoologia. Apdo. Postal #
70153, Mexico, 04510 D.F.; G.B. Monteith, Queensland Museum, P.O. Box 3300, South
Brisbane, Queensland4101, Australia; received5February 1996.
Pomponatius Distant, 1904 of the Acan- (CNC); Coleccion Entomologicadel Institutode
thocoriniwasdescribedfromcoastalQueensland Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de
and is known only from the type species, P. Mexico (IBUNAM); Australian Museum, Syd-
typicusDistant,1904. It has been mentioned as a ney (AMS); Queensland Museum, Brisbane
garden pest, underthe common name ofthe cal- (QM); University of Queensland Insect Collec-
listemon tipbug, damaging cultivated species of tion, Brisbane (UQIC); University ofCalifornia,
the large Australian native plant genera Riverside (UCR).
Melaleuca and Callistemon (Jones & Elliot, All measurements are in millimetres.
1986).
BecauseMelaleuca quinquenervia (Cav.) S.T. PomponatiusDistant, 1904
Blake,hasbecomeasevereweedpestofwetlands
in Florida (Balciunas, 1990) the United States PomponatiusDistant, 1904:265.
Department of Agriculture undertook an inten-
sive search among native Australian insects for DESCRIPTION.Body elongate, narrowed
possiblebiocontrolagents. Thissearchidentified
posteriorly.
Pomponatiustypicus,underthecommonnameof
Head.Widerthan longacrosseyes,nearlypen-
the tip wilting bug, as one possible biocontrol
& tagonal, not produced beyond the antenniferous
agent (Balciunas Burrows, 1994).
tubercles and dorsally flat; tylus apically up-
Museum collections were found to contain a turned to form a small horn, with apex subacute
second undescribed species of Pomponatius or truncate; jugum unarmed, thick, apically
which widely overlaps in distribution and food globose,equalorslightlyshorterthantylus;inner
preferencewiththetypespecies.Thenewspecies margins of antenniferous tubercles with con-
is described below and the generic range is ex- spicuous and large lobe apically rounded and
tended to the Northern Territory and to New widely separated; antennal segment I robust,
Guinea. thickest and always longer than head, segments
The following abbreviations indicate institu- II and III cylindrical, regularly incrassate and
tions where specimens are deposited or which segment IV always fusiform or antennal seg-
generously lent material: Australian Biological ments I and II regularly incrassate and segment
Control Laboratory, Townsville (ABCL); III the thickestand gradually widening; segment
Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra IV the shortest, segment III shorter than I and II
(ANIC); Museum and Art Gallery of Northern and segment II usually shorterthan I; ocelli ses-
Territory, Darwin (NTM); Department of sile; preocellar pit deep; eyes moderately large,
Primary Industries, Mareeba (MDPI); Depart- semiglobose and sessileormoderately large and
ment of Primary Industries, Brisbane (QDPI); compressed at lateral margins; postocular
TheNatural HistoryMuseum,London (BMNH); tubercle relatively small; bucculae rounded,
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco short, not extending beyond anterior margin of
(CAS); Canadian National Collections, Ottawa eyes; rostrumreachinganteriormarginormiddle
206 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
Scutellum. Triangular, longer than wide, flat,
transversely striate; apex subacuteortruncate.
Hemelytra. Macropterous, almost reaching the
apex ofthe last abdominal segment; costal mar-
gin emarginate; apical margin almost straight or
clearlysinuate,withinnerthirdconcaveandouter
third straight; apical angle obtuse; hemelytral
membrane elongate with several longitudinal
veins orsmall withreticulate venation.
Abdomen. Connexival segments complete, not
extended as short spines; abdominal sternite
withoutmedial furrow.
Malegenitalia.Genitalcapsule:Posteroventral
marginprojectedinabroadorslenderlarge-sized
triangular lobe (Figs. 2F, 2G). Parameres: Body
simple and broad or with middle third narrow,
neck-like; apical projection with anterior lobe
convex and continuous with body and posterior
lobe conspicuously curved ordilated and ending
in a sharporblunt shortprojection (Figs. 2A-E).
Femalegenitalia. Abdominal sterniteVII with
plicaandfissura; plicatriangular, short,reaching
anterior third of sternite VII. Genital plate:
Gonocoxae I square, shorter than paratergite IX,
in caudal view closed, in lateral view slightly
convex; paratergiteVIII triangular, with spiracle
visible; paratergiteIXelongate,triangular, larger
FIG. 1.Dorsal view ofPomponatius luridus sp. nov.,
male,length 11.5mm. than paratergiteVIII.
DIAGNOSIS. Body elongate and narrowed
third of mesosternum; rostral segment I the posteriorly, antennal segments I to III regularly
shortest, segment III shorter than I and IV and incrassate,antenniferoustubercleswithadistinct
segment IV the longest or subequal to I; frons lobe on the inner margins, posterior margin of
with a deep central longitudinal incision. pronotum expanded on a short lip and femora
Thorax. Pronotum trapeziform, wider than apicallyincrassatewithadistincttoothnearapex.
long, moderately declivent; collar not clearly
marked; frontal anglesproduced forwardas long REMARKS. Kumar (1965) studied an undeter-
and broad or produced as medium sized and mined speciesofPomponatiusand described the
slenderconical projections; anteriormargin con- male and female genitalia as well as the glands
cavely sinuate; anterolateral margins clearly associated with the internal male organs.
emarginate or slightly upwardly reflected and
nodulose;humeralanglesrounded, notexpanded Pomponatiusluridus sp. nov.
and dorsally tuberculate; posterolateral margins (Figsl,2C-G,4)
slightly concave and smooth; posterior margin MATERIAL EXAMINED. HOLOTYPE
expanded on a short lip with the posteriorborder 6:
QMT13987: Central Qld: Mt. Moffatt NP, East
straightand smooth; calli notelevated, separated Branch, MaranoaR. (TopMoffattCamp), 26.ix.1986,
along midline by short longitudinal furrow. Monteith,Yeates&Thompson,inQM.PARATYPES:
Anteriorlobeofmetathoracic peritremeelevated Qld: QMT13988, 9, same data as holotype (QM);
and reniform, posterior lobe sharp, small; QMT13989, 9, LeversPlateau, viaRathdowney,6-ii-
mesosternumwithamedialgroove,extending to 1966, F.R. Wylie (QM); QMT13990,d, Mt Tam-
tanutLbeeerrgicsou.rlatFtheeirmdao.nrdaveanptircaallllyyarinmcerdaswsiatteh,addeinsstienlcyt bdE1ooi3ron.iraVnos.eol1,pe9ii72lg37lh,.yx,R.Jix1vi.H9.,5o179d3,7g59sS,m.oG.nB.ErG.(eoIerodBfdeUhGnNe(Ao(UMrQCg)MRe;)t;+olwI9cnB,J,3US3Nt1A9.GM9ve.)o1;r,9g7Ie62n,.-,
tooth nearapex; tibiae terete, conspicuously sul- G.B. & S.R. Monteith (UQIC); 9, 62 km W. Mt
cate. Garnet, 31.xii.1978, R.l. Storey, on Melaleuca sp.
NEW SPECIES OFPOMPONATIUSFROM AUSTRALIA 207
H,No
(NTM); locality, 25.ix.1896, A.L. Schrader
(AMS).
DESCRIPTION.MALE.Dorsalcoloration.Pale
yellow,withpuncturesdarkorangeandfollowing
areas creamy yellow: anterolateral margins of
pronotum and apex of scutellum; antennal seg-
mentIorangeyellow withtuberclesreddish, seg-
ment II orange yellow with apical third and
tuberclesreddish,segmentIIIwithapicalhalfand
apical join pale yellow and basal halfincluding
thetuberclesdarkorangereddishandsegmentIV
pale yellow; following areas black: longitudinal
stripe close to the anterior third of anterolateral
margins ofpronotum, and anteriorthird ofcostal
margin ofcorium; connexival segments and ab-
dominal sternite VII pale yellow with punctures
dark orange; abdominal segments I to VI bright
orange.Ventralcoloration: Paleyellowwithpink
diffuse areas and with following areas black:
apex of rostral segment IV, one small discoidal
spot on propleura and mesopleura, two lon-
gitudinalseriesofdiscoidalspotsrunninglateral-
ly to the midline on mesosternum and irregular
spots on mesocoxa, metacoxa, mesotrochanters
andmetatrochanters;tuberclesoffemorablackor
reddish brown orpale pink.
Structure. Antennal segments I to IIIregularly
incrassate; eyes moderately large, semiglobose,
sessile but not compressed at lateral margins.
Pronotum: Frontal angles produced forward as
long and broad conical projection; anterolateral
margins clearly emarginated. Hemelytra: Apical
margin clearly sinuate, with inner third concave
and outer third straight; hemelytral membrane
FIG.2.Malegenitalia.A-B,parameresofPomponatius elongate with several longitudinal veins.
typicus Distant. C-E, parameres of Pomponatius
Genital capsule. Posteroventral margin
luridus sp. nov. F-G, dorsal and lateral views of
genitalcapsuleP.luridussp.nov.(Scalelinesinmm.) projecting as a large broad triangular lobe (Fig.
2F,G). Parameres (Fig. 2C-E).
FEMALE. Coloration. Similar to male. Ab-
((MADNPIIC));;I\d61 95,9B9iggenDdeegni,lb1o2.xCiik.„1971B,igHg.eFnrdaeunc,a dominal segments IV to VII bright orange with
4N..xBiui.nld9a7b1e,rHg.,F2r7a.uicva.1(9,A5N9I,CT).;G.1C6a\mpMbulellelt(CAkN.I,C3)1;m<iJ., ttowothpealceonbnreoxwinvadlisscoeigdmaelntosr;irsreeggumleanrtspVotIsI,Icdlaorske
Calliope R. Xing, N. ofGladstone, ii.1965,E.J. Reye, orange and segment IX dark reddish brown with
on bottle brush (ANIC); c?, Brisbane, 24.viii. 1976, longitudinal stripeorange, closeto midline; con-
B.K. Cantrell (QDPI); 9, Kingaroy, 7. xi.1983, J. nexivalsegmentsItoVIIpalereddishbrownwith
Wessels, on Melaleuca armillaris (QDPI); 2cT, Stan- upper margin mostly pale yellow; connexival
thorpe, 6.xii.l926 (QDPI); 9, Indooroopilly, segments VIII and IX mostly yellow; abdominal
15.1.1962,J.H. Barrett(QDPI); 9,JamesCook Univ., sternaandgenital platespaleyellowwithfollow-
Tvoiwminnsavliilsle(,AB4C.iLx).;l9<839,,CSh.eJl.mNere,wmBrains,baonen,C1a5l.liixs.t1e9m9o2n, ingareasblack:irregularspotsonsternaIIItoVII
M. Purcel], on Callistemon viminalis (ABCL). NSW: andclosetomidlineaswellastheinternalmargin
9,Oatley, 15.vi.1950,Deuquet(AMS);,Enfield,Syd- of fissure and the area close to upper margin of
ney, E.P. Ramsay (IBUNAM); 29 9, Rivertree, plica.
10.viii.1921 (QDPI). NT: 6, Edith Falls, Katherine
Gorge NP, 6.xii.l980, M.B. Malipatil & I. Archibald VARIATION. 1, Antennal segment IV with dis-
208 MEMOIRSOFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
DISTRIBUTION (Fig. 4). From Sydney along
coastal and inland Queensland to the Northern
Territory.
FOODPLANTS. Seediscussion below.
ETYMOLOGY.Latinluridus,paleyellow;foritslight
coloration.
Pomponatiustypicus Distant, 904
1
(Figs 2A-B, 3, 4)
PomponatiustypicusDistant, 1904: 266.
MATERIAL EXAMINED. NSW: Bulahdelah,
11.xi.1932 (IBUNAM); Hat Head, nr. Kempsey,
3J.1970 (ANIC). QLD: HOLOTYPE 2, Townsville
(BMNH); Acacia Ridge, 16.L1973; Lockerbie Area,
Cape York, 13- 27.iv.1973; Jardine River road cross-
ing, 16-27.ix.1974; Brisbane, 24.x.1916; Lakefield
NP, 75 km N. of Laura, 15-28.vi.1980; Kuranda,
3.x.1920; Nth Keppel Island, track to Mazie Bay,
3.ix.l987 (QM); Archerfield, 19.ix.1964; St Lucia,
6.ix.l965; Bowen, 2.vi.l965; Brisbane, 20.V.1959
(UQIC); Black Ml Rd (Kuranda), 24.1.1970; Cairns,
22.vii-24.xii.1969 (CNC); Townsville 5.ii.l945
(CAS); Watalgan Range, via Rosedale, 6.iv.l974;
Baldwin Swamp Fauna Reserve, Bundaberg,
k 27.xi.1971; Goodwood, Isis Shire, 5.iv. 1974; Gum-
dale,Brisbane, 11.xi.1968;LadysmithYardatTumoff
Lagoon, 18.ix.1930 (ANIC); Bridge Ck, Cook High-
way, 29.V.1974, on Melaleuca; Kurrimine Beach Rd,
FIG. 3.Dorsal view of Pomponatius typicus Distant, 26.vi.1974; Mareeba, l.ii.1979, at light; Home Hill,
female, length 15.1mm. 28.vii.1947 (MDPI); Chandler, Brisbane, 2911976,
damaging new growth of Callistemon sp.; Mareeba,
tal half pale yellow and basal half pale orange 2v9i.miinx.al1i9s8;1;nr.ToGwnasmvbiololle,a vHi.iiS..,19238.4v,iio.n198C2a,ll(iQsDtPeIm)o;n
yellow. 2, Humeral angles black or dark brown. Coombabah, 14.ii.1990 & 4.ix.l990, on tips of
3, Endocorium with black discoidal spot some- Melaleuca quinquenervia; Burpengary, 12.xi.1992,
what diffuse. 4, Scutellar disc with or without feeds on M. quinquenervia', Chelmer, 15.ix.1992, on
median black stripe. 5, Abdominal sterna and M. quinquenervia; Centenary Park, Cairns, 8.V.1991,
genital plates of female pale yellow, with pale tips of M. quinquenervia; 16.9 km ESE of Tully,
pink marks or with only the internal margins of 31.viii.1994 and 2.viii.l994, ex Af. quinquenervia;
fissure and the areas close to the plica black. 6, same locality, 27.vi,1994, ex M. dealbata; 14.3 km S.
AbdominalsegmentVIIIoffemalebrightorange. Tully,31.viii.1992;21.8kmS.Tully,4.xi.1993,exM.
dealbata; 15 km ESE Tully, 27.xi.1994, ex M. quin-
quenervia;JamesCook Univ.,Townsville, 17.iv.1990
& 18.i.1993, feeding on Callistemon viminalis; same
MEASUREMENTS. 6first, then 9: Head locality,4.vii.l991 and2.ii.l992,ex. Melaleucaquin-
length: 1.08, 1.32; width acrosseyes: 1.36, 1.56; quenervia (ABCL). NT: 48 ml. SW of Daly River,
interocular space: 0.80, 0.91; interocellar space: 30.viii.1968;9km NEofMudginbarry HS,26.V.1973
0.25, 0.27; length antennal segments: I, 2.40, (ANIC);WildmanRivercashewplantation, 17.X.1989,
2.72; II,2.48, 2.64; III,2.08,2.24; IV,2.00, 1.88. ex adjacentMelaleucarcgrowth; Mary R., 37 ml. Eof
Pronotum: Total length: 2.12, 2.76; widthacross Pine Creek, 9.vii.l971; Darwin, 9.viii.1983, ex Lep-
tospermum (NTM); Crystal Falls - BiddlecombeCas-
frontal angles: 1.20, 1.44; width across humeral
cades, Nitmiluk NP, 17-18.iii.1995, ex Melaleuca
angles: 2.40, 3.08. Hemelytra: Total length of viridiflora (QM); Howard River, Darwin, 24.x.1986,
hemelytral membrane: 3.76, 4.40. Scutellar ex Melaleuca nervosa (ABCL). PNG: Rouku,
length: 1.00, 1.40; width: 0.92, 1.32. Total body Morehead River, Western District, PNG, 19.iii-
length: 11.52, 14.65. 28.v.1962(ANIC).
NEWSPECIES OFPOMPONAT1USFROM AUSTRALIA 209
the terminal shoot and its young leaves. This
effect is often useful evidence for locating
specimensonplantsandhasleadtotheircommon
name of *tip wiltingbugs'.
All records for Pomponatius species are from
plants ofthe Family Myrtaceae, as follows:
Pomponatiusluridus—Melaleuca sp. (MtGar-
net); Melaleuca armillaris (Kingaroy); Callis-
temonviminalis(Townsville,Chelmer);onbottle
brush (Calliope R.).
Pomponatiustypicus-Melaleucaquinquener-
via (Coombabah, Burpengary, Chelmer, Cairns,
Tully District, Townsville); Melaleuca dealbata
(Tully district); Melaleuca viridiflora (Nitmiluk
NP);Melaleucanervosa(Darwin);Melaleucasp.
(Cook Highway, Wildman R); Callistemon
viminalis (Townsville) Callistemon sp. (Chel-
mer); Leptospermumsp. (Darwin).
Almost all records are from the closely related
Melaleuca and Callistemon.Theonlyconfirmed
Callistemon is Cviminalis which is sometimes
• Pomponatiustypicus assignedtoMelaleuca. Theonly othergenerafor
A Pomponatiusfundus which records exist are Leptospermum (one
I record from Darwin which may have been a
garden plantandforwhichactual feedinghasnot
been confirmed) and a prolonged infestationofa
FIG.4.Distribution mapofPomponatiusspecies. garden plant of Calolhamnus in Brisbane by a
speciesofPomponatiuswhich was notidentified
DIAGNOSIS. Antennal segment III gradually (GBM obs.). Calothamnus is related to
widening and uniformly pale orange yellow, Melaleuca but is naturally restricted to south-
hemelytralmembraneshort,withreticulatevena- western Australia beyond the known range of
tion, anterolateral margins of pronotum slightly Pomponatius.
reflected, and propleuraand mesopleura without Circumstantial evidence for Pomponatius
black discoidal spot. Genital capsule: feeding on other plant species in the form of
Posteroventralmarginprojectedinalargeslender characteristicallydamagedgrowingtipshasbeen
triangularlobe. Parameres (Fig. 2A-B). noted by the USDA survey staff on Melaleuca
arcana, M. argentea, M. bracteata and Callis-
DISTRIBUTION (Fig. 4). This species was first temonpolandii (Burrows pers. comm.).
described from Townsville (Distant, 1904) and Although both species of Pomponatius have
later recorded from Rockhampton (Blote, 1935) been recorded from both Melaleuca and Callis-
and Heathlands in Cape York Peninsula (Cassis, temon itwouldappearfrominferenceswhichcan
1993). It is now known to be widespread in be drawn from the data that, in the wild, Pom-
NSW
Australia from northern along the coast to ponatius luridus is virtually restricted to Callis-
north Queensland. It is also now recorded from temon viminalis, and Pomponatius typicus is
the Northern Territory and New Guinea. similarlyrestrictedto 'paperbarkteatrees' ofthe
Genitalia of specimens from the Northern Ter- M. leucadendra complex as defined by Blake,
ritoryandsouthern NewGuineaagreewiththose 1968.ForP.luridustherecordfromM.armillaris
from eastern Australia. is from a garden plant outside its natural range
while many of the collection localities where
FOOD PLANTRECORDS
plant associations were not recorded are habitats
G
where viminalis is abundant, e.g. Calliope R.,
Pomponatiusfeeds by sucking sapfrom young Maranoa R., Degilbo Ck, Mullet Ck. Similarly
stemsattheendsofbranches,especiallywhenthe with P. typicus all Callistemon records are from
apical shoothasa flushofsoftnew growth. Their unnaturalsuburbansituations, whilemostnatural
feeding causes wilting and sometimes death of occurrences of the bug are from habitats where
210 MEMOIRS OFTHEQUEENSLANDMUSEUM
latevenation andwithitsbasal margin uniform-
lycurved;dark longitudinal stripeson proster-
numatleasttwice width ofrostrum; apicallobe
ofeachparameredilatedandendingin asharp
orbluntprojection (Fig. 2A,B)
PomponatiustypicusDistant(Fig. 3)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thankstothefollowingindividualsandinstitu-
tions for loans and other assistance: J. Balciunas
(ABCL), T.A. Weir (ANIC), G. Brown (NTM),
R. Storey(MDPI),J. Donaldson (QDPI),G.Cas-
sis (AMS), Janet Margerison-Knight (BMNH),
Norman D. Penny (CAS), Michael D. Schwartz
(CNC), Margaret Schneider (UQIC) and Saul
Frommer(UCR). Weareespecially grateful toJ.
Balciunas foraccess to the melaleuca insect sur-
veydataaccumulatedbyhisgroup. Biol. Ernesto
Barrera, Cristina Urbina, and Felipe Villegas
(IBUNAM)preparedthedorsalviewillustrations
andgenitaliadrawings.TheConsejoNacionalde
Ciencia y Tecnologia, Mexico (CONACT)
provided financial assistance to HB.
LITERATURECITED
BALCIUNAS, J. 1990. Australian insects to control
FIG. 5. A living 9 ofPomponatiusluridus sp.nov. on melaleuca. Aquatics 12:15-19.
its foodplant Callistemonviminalisin Brisbane. BALCIUNAS, J. & BURROWS, D. 1994. USDA
Australian Biological Control Laboratory 1994
paperbarks predominate. This includes the PNG Annual Report. 32pp.
record. BLAKE, S.T. 1968. A revision of Melaleuca
This apparent food plant dichotomy between leucadendron and its allies (Myrtaceae). Con-
the two Pomponatiusspecies is suggested as the tributionsofthe Queensland Herbarium 1:1-114.
mechanism which maintains their specific in- BLOTE, H.C. 1935. Catalogue ofthe Coreidae in the
tegrity throughoutalmost identical distributions. Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Histoire. Part 1.
Coreinae, First Part. Zoologische Mededelingen
KEY TO THE KNOWN POMPONATIUS 18: 181-227.
CASSIS, G. 1993. A report on the Heteroptera and
SPECIES DcrmapterafromthesurveyofCapeYorkPenin-
sula, pp. 109-123. InCapeYorkPeninsulaScien-
l.Antennal segment III not noticeably moreswollen tificExpedition,WetSeason 1992Report,Vol.2.
than II, and bicoloured with apical halfpaler RoyalGeographical Society ofQueensland.
thanbasal half;hemelytral membraneelongate, DISTANT,W.L. 1904.RhynchotalNotes.22.Heterop-
longerthan3.20mm, with several longitudinal terafromnorthQueensland.AnnalsandMagazine
veins,and with itsbasal margin strongly sinuate; ofNatural History, ser. 7 13: 263-276.
darklongitudinal stripeson prosternum about JONES, D. & ELLIOT, R. 1986. 'Pests, diseases and
same widthas rostrum; apical lobeofparamere ailments of Australian plants*. (Lothian Press:
notdilated and withoutasmall projection (Figs Melbourne)333p.
2C-E) . . Pomponatiusluridussp. nov. (Fig. 1) KUMAR, R. 1965. Aspects of the Morphology of
Antennal segmentIII noticeably moreswollen Coreoidea and theirvalue in its higherclassifica-
thanII andnotbicoloured;hemelytral tion. Proceedings of the Royal Society of
membrane short, lessthan 3.20mm, with reticu- Queensland 76(3): 27-91.