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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313652
Title: First North American record of the Palearctic Microplax albofasciata (Costa) (Hemiptera: Lygaeoidea: Oxycarenidae)

Author
item WHEELER JR., A. - Clemson University
item Henry, Thomas

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/15/2015
Publication Date: 3/23/2015
Citation: Wheeler Jr., A.G., Henry, T.J. 2015. First North American record of the Palearctic Microplax albofasciata (Costa) (Hemiptera: Lygaeoidea: Oxycarenidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 117(1):55-61.

Interpretive Summary: The seed bug treated in this paper belongs to a worldwide group containing about 150 species, several of which, such as the cottonseed bug, cause million of dollars in damage to cotton each year. The largely Mediterranean and North African cottonseed bug, has become established in South American and the West Indies, and now threatens to invade the United States. In this paper, we report the first North American record of yet another Mediterranean species of this family in southern California. Although the habits of this bug are poorly known, it is thought to feed on asters. This newly discovered bug is described and illustrated to help distinguish it from other seed bugs in North America. This information will be of wide interest to researchers working in pest management, biological control, and plant pest quarantine.

Technical Abstract: Microplax albofasciata (Costa), a Palearctic (mainly Mediterranean) species of the small family Oxycarenidae, is reported from California as the first record for the New World. Adults of this little-known lygaeoid bug were found in 2012 and 2013 at the Hastings Natural History Reservation in northern Monterey County. It is suggested that this immigrant heteropteran arrived from the Mediterranean Basin in shipments of ceramic tiles (or quarry products) and that California’s similar Mediterranean climate aided its establishment. A diagnosis, description, and illustrations are provided to facilitate the recognition of M. albofasciata in the Nearctic Region.