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Review of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) of America North of Mexico with a Key to Species

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Review of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) of America North of Mexico with a Key to Species Zootaxa 2835: 30–40 (2011) ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2011 · Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) Review of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) of America north of Mexico with a key to species J. E. McPHERSON1, RICHARD J. PACKAUSKAS2, ROBERT W. SITES3, STEVEN J. TAYLOR4, C. SCOTT BUNDY5, JEFFREY D. BRADSHAW6 & PAULA LEVIN MITCHELL7 1Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas 67601, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 3Enns Entomology Museum, Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 4Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois 61820, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 5Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology, & Weed Science, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 6Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Panhandle Research & Extension Center, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69361, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 7Department of Biology, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733, USA. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract A review of Acanthocephala of America north of Mexico is presented with an updated key to species. A. confraterna is considered a junior synonym of A. terminalis, thus reducing the number of known species in this region from five to four. New state and country records are presented. Key words: Coreidae, Coreinae, Acanthocephalini, Acanthocephala, North America, review, synonymy, key, distribution Introduction The genus Acanthocephala Laporte currently is represented in America north of Mexico by five species: Acan- thocephala (Acanthocephala) declivis (Say), A. (Metapodiessa) confraterna (Uhler), A. (M.) femorata (Fabricius), A. (M.) terminalis (Dallas), and A. (M.) thomasi (Uhler) (Froeschner 1988). A. terminalis has the widest distribu- tion, including much of the Midwest. A. confraterna has been reported from the Carolinas south to Florida and west to Texas and A. thomasi from Texas to California. A. declivis and A. femorata are primarily southern but have been reported as far north as Missouri (A. declivis) and Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri (A. femorata) (Froeschner 1988). Species of Acanthocephala are among the largest of the coreids in America north of Mexico, reaching lengths up to 34 mm (Torre-Bueno 1941). Little has been published on their life histories (A. terminalis being the excep- tion), although they apparently are phytophagous. Most plant records are associations rather than feeding records (see discussions of these coreids below). Published keys to species of Acanthocephala have limited geographic coverage (e.g., Blatchley 1926 [eastern North America], Froeschner 1942 [Missouri], Drew & Schaefer 1962 [Oklahoma], Hoffman 1975 [Virginia], and Baranowski & Slater 1986 [Florida]. The only key that covers America north of Mexico is that of Torre-Bueno (1941). He listed the five species, although he used the name A. granulosa (Dallas) for A. thomasi Uhler, having overlooked Barber’s (1926) clarification of the status for these names. Barber (1926) resurrected A. thomasi Uhler from synonymy under A. granulosa (Dallas), which he stated was a mistake by Distant (1881) and mistakenly fol- lowed by Uhler (1886). Barber (1926) also synonymized A. granulosa (Dallas) under A. femorata (Fabricius). We here reduce the number of species from five to four (A. confraterna is considered a junior synonym of A. terminalis) (see synonymic note under section on A. terminalis), provide an updated key to these four species, and 30 Accepted by D. Rider: 23 Mar. 2011; published: 28 Apr. 2011 include additional diagnostic characters. We add to the ranges of these species based on museum material and for Illinois specimens of A. declivis and A. femorata, we provide label information because the state represents the known northern limits of their ranges. We also provide updated life history information where available. Key to species of Acanthocephala Laporte in America north of Mexico (Figs. 1–4) 1. Metatibiae broadly dilated for almost entire length, ending abruptly near apex (Figs. 5–8) . 2 1'. Metatibiae broadly dilated in basal 1/2, gradually narrowing beyond middle toward apex (Figs. 9–12) . 3 2. Humeral angle of pronotum broadly rounded (Fig. 1), strongly extended laterally, elevated in posterior view (Fig. 13); metati- bial expansions as in Figs. 5–6 . .A. declivis 2'. Humeral angles of pronotum more narrowly rounded, moderately extended laterally (Fig. 4), horizontal to slightly declivent in posterior view (Fig. 14); metatibial expansions as in Figs. 7–8 . A. thomasi 3. Metafemora of both sexes slightly expanded toward apex (occasionally parallel-sided or narrowed apically in males); both sexes lacking darkened areas beneath metacoxae on abdominal sternum 3 (second visible); antennal segment 4 red to yellow; metatibial expansions as in Figs. 9–10 . .A. terminalis 3'. Metafemora of males strongly incrassate, widest at middle, those of females slightly expanded; both sexes often with darkened areas beneath metacoxae on abdominal sternum 3; antennal segment 4 varying from concolorous with proximal segments to yellowish; metatibial expansion as in Figs. 11–12 . A. femorata . Biological information1 2 3 Acanthocephala (Acanthocephala) declivis (Say) (Figs. 1, 5, 6, 13) Rhinchus declivis Say, 1832, Ins. La., p. 10. Acanthocephala (Acanthocephala) declivis: Stål, 1870, K. Svens. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 9(1): 150. Diagnosis. Length: 28–34 mm. This species can be recognized by the humeral angles of the pronotum, which are broadly rounded and strongly extended laterally. The metatibial expansions are broadly dilated for most of their length, ending abruptly near the apex. Distribution. AL, AR, AZ, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MO, NC, NM, SC, TX, VA (El Salvador, Greater Antilles, Guatemala, Mexico [Durango, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas]) Discussion. Little is known about the biology of this species. It has been collected from December through August in Florida (Blatchley 1926, Baranowski & Slater 1986). Froeschner (1942) reported two specimens from Missouri, one collected in St. Louis on 26 August 1938, the other in Columbia on 17 November 1941, the latter having been "freshly smashed on a sidewalk." Hoffman (1992) reported it from Virginia. Published information on plant associations is limited. Palmer (1987) conducted a survey of the phytophagous insect fauna associated with Baccharis neglecta Britton (Rooseveltweed, false willow) and B. halimifolia Linnaeus (eastern baccharis, groundseltree) in Texas, Louisiana, and northern Mexico. He reported A. declivis as a rare ectophagous species on B. neglecta without indicating a specific location but, apparently, this was observed in Texas. Also, Blatchley (1926) reported beating specimens from foliage of Persea borbonia (Linnaeus) (red bay) along margins of wet hammocks. Eberhard (1998) stated that males of A. declivis guatemalena Distant battled other males at feeding and mating sites, primarily on trunks and branches of Cordia elaeagroidei (probably a mis- spelling of Cordia elaeagnoides A. DeCandolle) (Boraginaceae) in Jalisco, Mexico, this behavior being similar to that observed for A. femorata (Mitchell 1980). 1. All body lengths taken from Torre-Bueno (1941). 2. Geographic distributions from Froeschner (1988) unless noted otherwise (all new records appear in bold). 3. A substantial amount of host plant and life cycle information is provided by Paula Levin Mitchell from her unpublished field notes and from observations given to her by T. P. Friedlander (see Acknowledgments). Unless noted otherwise, all data were recorded in Austin, TX, at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory of the University of Texas. Observations from Friedlander are identified as PLM/TPF. Data gathered elsewhere are noted specifically in the text. REVIEW OF ACANTHOCEPHALA Zootaxa 2835 © 2011 Magnolia Press · 31 FIGURES 1–4. Habitus photographs of male Acanthocephala spp. 1. A. declivus. 2. A. femorata. 3. A. terminalis. 4. A. thom- asi. 32 · Zootaxa 2835 © 2011 Magnolia Press McPHERSON ET AL. FIGURES 5–12. Hind tibiae of Acanthocephala, male and female respectively. 5–6, A. declivis. 7–8, A. thomasi. 9–10, A. ter- minalis. 11–12, A. femorata. REVIEW OF ACANTHOCEPHALA Zootaxa 2835 © 2011 Magnolia Press · 33 FIGURES 13–14. Humeral angles of Acanthocephala, posterior view. 13. A. declivis. 14. A. thomasi. PLM (unpublished data) provides the following information: This species was found with A. terminalis on Celtis laevigata Willdenow (sugarberry) (1978) in "mixed sex aggregations with adults observed feeding on sap through the bark" on 29 March (PLM/TPF). It also was found on Baccharis neglecta (1976) (4 adults, February– March, November) from the same locality, but no nymphs or feeding was observed. CSB here reports adults of this species from Prosopis (mesquite) (TX), Gossypium hirsutum L (cotton) (GA), and Glycine max (Linnaeus), (soybean) (GA). RWS notes a specimen in the Enns Entomology Museum collected at UV Light (TX, Lake Mathis). Arnaud (1978) reported that A. declivis is parasitized by the tachinid fly Trichopoda pennipes (Fabricius). Recently (2009), three specimens (2 adults, 1 5th instar) were collected on the Southern Illinois University- Carbondale (SIU) campus and one (an adult) on
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