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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374593
Research Project: Systematics of Hemiptera and Related Groups: Plant Pests, Predators and Disease Vectors

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Falconia poetica Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): First host record, a new distribution for Mexico, and determination of nymphal instars

Author
item ARAGON-SANCHEZ, MIGUEL - UNIVERSIDAD MICHOACANA DE SAN NICOLAS DE HIDALGO
item FIGUEROA, JOSE ISAAC - UNIVERSIDAD MICHOACANA DE SAN NICOLAS DE HIDALGO
item MARTINEZ, A.M. - UNIVERSIDAD MICHOACANA DE SAN NICOLAS DE HIDALGO
item Henry, Thomas
item PINEDA, SAMUEL - UNIVERSIDAD MICHOACANA DE SAN NICOLAS DE HIDALGO

Submitted to: Southwestern Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/5/2020
Publication Date: 12/15/2020
Citation: Aragon-Sanchez, M., Figueroa, J., Martinez, A., Henry, T.J., Pineda, S. 2020. Falconia poetica Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): First host record, a new distribution for Mexico, and determination of nymphal instars. Southwestern Entomologist. 45(4):1069-1077. https//doi.org/10.3958/059.045.0423.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3958/059.045.0423

Interpretive Summary: The family commonly call plant bugs, representing the largest family of true bugs, includes numerous agriculturally important species. Many, such as lygus bugs and the cotton fleahopper, are serious pests of crops and ornamental plantings, causing enormous economic losses in the United States annually. In this paper, we provide a new distribution record for Mexico and the first host association for a species of plant bug belonging to group known to cause severe foliar damage to their hosts. The host, castor bean, is a widespread, often invasive, plant in the Neotropics, whereas in some areas it has become important in the production of biofuels. Also, using leg measurements and Discrimant Analysis, the number of nymphal instars was determined. This information will be of interest to a wide range of researchers, regulatory personnel, horticulturalists, and Federal and state departments of agriculture studying destructive and beneficial insects.

Technical Abstract: Little information is available about the distribution and biology of Falconia poetica Distant, 1884 (Hemiptera: Miridae). In this study, a new distribution and the number of nymphal instars of this species are reported. On September 2018, nymphs and adults of an unknown species belonging to the family Miridae were collected on Ricinus communis L. (castor bean) plants in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico. The specimens were identified as F. poetica. Using lengths of the forefemora and foretibiae and Discriminant Analysis, it was determined that F. poetica has five nymphal instars. This study represents the second record of F. poetica in Mexico and the first one to report this mirid feeding on R. communis.