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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #382056
Research Project: Systematics of Hemiptera: Plant Pests, Predators, and Disease Vectors

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new orthotyline plant bug genus and species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) from Arizona, USA

Author
item Henry, Thomas

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2021
Publication Date: 4/28/2021
Citation: Henry, T.J. 2021. A new orthotyline plant bug genus and species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) from Arizona, USA. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 123(2):334-340. https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.123.2.334.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.123.2.334

Interpretive Summary: Plant bugs are a megadiverse group of insects representing the largest family of true bugs, which includes numerous agriculturally important species. Many, such as lygus bugs, are serious pests of crops and ornamental plantings, causing enormous economic losses in the United States annually. In this paper, a bug new to science is described based on specimens from southern Arizona. This pale, red-spotted plant bug is superficially similar to bugs in another large genus known known from the Southwest, but it readily distinguished by several unique characters requiring placement in a new genus. This paper will be important in providing new character information to help better understand the phylogenetic relationships of this diverse group of plant bugs, and will be of interest to a wide range of researchers working on plant-feeding insects in the arid southwestern United States.

Technical Abstract: The new orthotyline genus and species Pseudothenicus rubropunctatus, new genus and new species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) is described from two counties in southern Arizona. Provided are diagnoses and descriptions of the new genus and new species, habitus images of the adult male and female, and male genitalia to help distinguish this new bug from all other western U.S. Miridae.