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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #361662
Research Project: Systematics of Hemiptera and Related Groups: Plant Pests, Predators and Disease Vectors

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new species of the plant bug genus Falconia Distant (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae) from Mexico and the United States and the first U.S. record of F. maculipennis Maldonado in Florida

Author
item Henry, Thomas
item HALBERT, S. - FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES
item GARCIA, OLGA - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)
item ANTO, JUSTIN - FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/2019
Publication Date: 4/26/2019
Citation: Henry, T.J., Halbert, S.E., Garcia, O., Anto, J. 2019. A new species of the plant bug genus Falconia Distant (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae) from Mexico and the United States and the first U.S. record of F. maculipennis Maldonado in Florida. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 121(2):178-188. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.121.2.178.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.121.2.178

Interpretive Summary: Plant bugs represent the largest family of true bugs and include numerous agriculturally important species. Many, such as lygus bugs, are serious crop pests, causing enormous economic losses in the United States annually. The two species treated in this paper and recently discovered in Florida feed on a plant commonly known as wild lime, a member of the plant family containing commercial orange. In this paper we describe one new species based on specimens collected in Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and report another species, previously known only from Puerto Rico, for the first time in the United States from Florida. The host plants and distribution of these two potentially destructive plant bugs. Both species are capable of causing heavy foliar chlorosis or leaf spotting to their hosts, sometime turning the foliage nearly white. This information will be of interest to all researchers, regulatory personnel, and Federal and state departments of agriculture studying commercial and ornamental citrus crops.

Technical Abstract: Two species of the plant bug genus Falconia Distant recently discovered in the United States are reported. Falconia maculipennis Maldonado, a species described from Puerto Rico, is documented for the first time in the United States, based on collections from Broward, Hendry, and Miami-Dade counties, Florida. Falconia collaris, new species, is described, based on specimens from Florida (Miami-Dade Co.), Texas (Cameron Co.), and Mexico (Nuevo Leon and Veracruz). A diagnosis, description, dorsal habitus and male genitalic images are given for each species, both of which are associated with wild lime, Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) Sarg. [Rutaceae]. Host plants and potential economic importance are discussed.