Heteroptera: Coreidae) Joseph Clarence Schaffner Iowa State University
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1964 A taxonomic revision of certain genera of the tribe Alydini (Heteroptera: Coreidae) Joseph Clarence Schaffner Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Schaffner, Joseph Clarence, "A taxonomic revision of certain genera of the tribe Alydini (Heteroptera: Coreidae) " (1964). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 2686. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/2686 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been 64—10,664 microfilmed "exactly as received SCHAFFNER, Joseph Clarence, 1930- A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF CERTAIN GENERA OF THE TRIBE A LYD INI (HETEROPTERA: CO RE IDAE). Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ph.D., 1964 Zo6m^rsity Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF CERTAIN GENERA OF THE TRIBE ALYDINI (HETEROPTERA: COREIDAE) by Joseph Clarence Schaffner A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Subject: Entomology Approved: ' Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Majo Signature was redacted for privacy. Head of Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. Deai of Graduate College Iowa State University Of Science and Technology Ame s, Iowa 1964 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 LITERATURE AND HISTORICAL REVIEW 4 TAXONOMIC MORPHOLOGY 7 MATERIALS AND METHODS 14 KEY TO SUBFAMILIES OF COREIDAE 19 KEY TO TRIBES ALYDINAE. .• 20b TRIBE ALYDINI (STAL) 21 Genus Alydus Fabricius 26 Genus Tollius Stal 81 Genus Megalotomus Fieber 85 Genus Burtinus Stal 91 Genus Stachyocnemus Stal ' . 95 Neomegalotomus, New Genus 99 Genus Euthetus Dallas 104 Genus Zulubius Bergroth Ill Genus Nariscus Stal 114 Genus Nemausus Stal 118 Genus Hypselopus Burmeister 121 Genus Tenosius Stal 126 Genus Sjostedtina Schouteden 130 Genus Eremoplanus Reuter 133 Genus Camptopus Amyot et Serville 135 Genus Daclera Signoret 140 Genus Hamedius Stal 143 Genus Apidaurus Stal 147 Genus Tupalus Stal 154 Genus Mirperus Stal 170 Genus Melanacanthus Stal 183 iii Genus Hyalymenus Amyot et Serville 187 Genus Riptortus Stal 202 LITERATURE CITED 299 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 324 ILLUSTRATIONS 325 1 INTRODUCTION The position in which the alydines have been placed in relation to the family Coreidae has long been a matter of choice with individual authors. Those who consider the group to represent a subfamily of Coreidae justify this position, pointing out the many similarities be tween the two groups. These similarities include antennophores which are placed relatively close together, a four-segmented antenna, the presence of ocelli, a scutellum which is shorter than the clavus, similarities in the veination of the membrane of the forewing and the presence of a similar trichobothrial arrangement cn the underside of the abdomen. Conversely, those who elevate the alydines to family rank prefer to emphasize the differences which include relative lengths of the bucculae, exposure and non-exposure of the male parameres in relation to the shape of the genital capsule, the general body form, the structure of the eggs and also in the total number of chromosomes. If these characters justify the elevation of Alydinae to family rank, then a total of two of the five remaining subfamilies of Coreidae would also qualify for family status. I choose to follow the conservative approach used by China and Miller (1959) and consider the alydines as a sub family of Coreidae. The subfamily Alydinae contains three rather easily separated tribes, the largest and perhaps the most distinctive of which is the tribe Alydini. This tribe, as considered here, now consists of 23 genera containing a total of around 141 described species. The number of known species in the individual genera ranges from 1 to 28 with the majority having less than ten described species. Members of the group are distributed around the world except for the arctic, antarctic and certain island areas. The majority of the species are found in the tropics with the largest number occurring in Africa. Only a single 2 species which belongs to the genus Alydus is established in both hemi spheres. The genus Megalotomus occurs in both areas although the species are each restricted to one or the other hemispheres. Amazingly little is known about the biology of the tribe. All of the forms are primarily plant feeders although several species have been reported feeding on dung and dead animals. The general body form has prompted the suggestion that some of the members of the tribe might be predaceous, however, there is no evidence to indicate that this is true. Very few of the host plants are known but existing records tend to suggest that these insects are not particularly host- specific. Some species considered as economic pests have been re ported on cotton, rice and various legumes although there seems to be no published records of these causing any widespread damage. The nymphs of some genera, possibly all, appear to be successful ant mimics and several accounts of their having been taken in ant nests have been published. Practically nothing is known regarding the over wintering habits or number of generations occurring per year. With the exception of the European and North American forms, the identification of individuals appears to have been largely a matter of faith. No single complete key to the genera has been constructed since 1869 at which time only nine genera were recognized. Some of the genera have been poorly described and it is almost impossible to recognize them from the existing descriptions. The taxonomy of the species is much worse* The few existing keys are designed mainly for determination of forms found in Europe and North America. It is prob able that determinations in the past have been made largely on the basis of the locality from which the specimen was taken rather than by the use of morphological characters. Only a small percentage of the African, Australian, Indonesian and South American material can be correctly identified by use of existing literature. Approximately 75 per cent of 3 the original descriptions were based on characters, mainly colors, which are inadequate for specific recognition. At present, only about 15 per cent of the forms can be considered as well "de scribed and less than 15 species of the tribe have had accurate illustrations prepared of even a part of them. The purpose of the present paper is to provide a means for the reasonably accurate identification of genera as well as the species of the several genera which have been revised. In an effort to fulfill this purpose, a key to the existing genera has been constructed and, with one exception, all of these genera have been redescribed if not new. The species of five genera have been revised with all known members being described. In addition, a catalog has been prepared for those known species of genera for which a revision has not yet been completed or of genera for which a revision is not needed. With the exceptions noted in the text, the list of synonymy given for the various taxa includes only those names which I believe to be correct beyond reasonable question. Citations which I cannot verify have been placed at the end of the respective genus in which they are presumed to belong. The inclusion of a name in this list of unverified citations does not necessarily imply that it is believed to be in error but may merely indicate that I have not seen the specimen on which the record is based, or that I have been unable to recognize the species described. • ' 4 LITERATURE AND HISTORICAL REVIEW The genus Alydus was described by Fabricius (1803). Twelve species were placed in the genus, eight of which had previously been described in the genus Cimex and later Lygaeus by Linnaeus and Fabricius. The first suprageneric assignment of the Alydinae was used by Amyot and Serville (1843) as "Alydides" in their account of the natural history of insects. Dallas (1852) was the first to use the name Alydidae in which family he placed the present-day Alydini and Micrelytrini. Stal (1867, 1868) used the name Alydidae in the present tribal sense with out designating any particular suprageneric rank and included it in the subfamily Alydinae. Oshanin (1912) was the first to use the rank of tribe for Alydaria which had been used as a division by several earlier workers. The earliest compilatory work concerning the alydines was made by Dallas (1852) in his list of specimens in the British Museum. Species present in the Museum collection were listed and several new species were described. In addition, he provided a key which included the four existing genera in the group. The literature up to this time consisted mainly of local records and descriptions. Stal (1860) formulated a key to nine genera, several of which he described as new. The only work to date that approaches being a world-wide revision was also made by Stal (1870, 1873) in his well known "Enumerato". Part of this work was in the form of a catalog. Keys were given to the described genera and in some instances keys to the species known to Stal were included. New genera and species were also described in this highly creditable piece of work. The second and only other major revisionary work was done by Fracker (1918) in a monograph on the subfamily Alydinae of North America.