Lasiacantha vittata Cassis &amp; Symonds 2011, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Cassis, Gerasimos
name: Symonds, Celia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Tingidae
Lasiacantha
Lasiacantha vittata

description: <i>Lasiacantha vittata</i>, sp. nov. (Figs 1, 3b, 6) <b>Holotype.</b> &amp;male;, <b>AUSTRALIA: Queensland:</b> Charters Towers, 20.07651 <b>°</b> S 146.2614 <b>°</b> E, 22 Nov 1967 – 30 Nov 1967, J. and M. Sedlacek (43022) (BPBM). <b>Diagnosis.</b> <i>Lasiacantha vittata</i> (Fig. 6) is recognised by the following combination of characters: un-mottled dorsal colouration, mostly stramineous to golden brown, with distinctive dark brown band across costal and subcostal areas; major setiferous tubercles on pronotum and hemelytra short, terminal seta less than half length of tuberculate base; keel of collum and pronotal carinae with major setiferous tubercles; costal area with setiferous tubercles extending almost to posterior hemelytral margin; carinate margins of discoidal area with major setiferous tubercles, posterior angle without clump of setiferous tubercles; head with elongate scalelike setae; pronotum with hairlike setae only on all surfaces; hemelytra with hairlike setae, sparse, restricted to base of wing, costal and subcostal areas; hairlike setae moderately elongate, slightly thickened on pronotal disc; abdominal venter with pale, short, scalelike setae, shaped lanceolate; cephalic spines greatly elongate, medial spine straight; collum subtriangular, just smaller than medial carina; all carinae two areolae wide, mostly; paranota three areolae wide; costal area three areolae wide; subcostal area mostly one areole wide; areolae on paranota and costal area small and uniformly round shaped; areolae small over entire hemelytra; sternal carinae with metasternal carinae convex and more widely separated. <b>Description.</b> Moderately large size, macropterous (Fig. 6); male 3.4. COLOURATION. Overall pale brown, golden brown to stramineous brown, dorsum with distinctive dark brown banding across subcostal and costal areas <i>Head:</i> red brown; spines red brown; bucculae mostly orange brown, edge stramineous; labium orange brown, apex dark brown; antennae AI–AII red brown, AIII paler orange brown, AIV unknown. <i>Pronotum:</i> red brown, diminishing posteriorly orange brown and then stramineous brown; collum, paranota and pronotal carinae uniformly pale brown to stramineous. <i>Thoracic pleura and sterna:</i> red brown; sternal carinae stramineous. <i>Legs:</i> femora red brown; tibiae paler orange brown; tarsi red brown to dark brown. <i>Hemelytra:</i> mostly uniformly pale golden brown to stramineous; prominent dark brown band across costal and subcostal areas, at 1/3 distance from hemelytral base. <i>Abdomen:</i> red brown. VESTITURE. <i>Head:</i> dense distribution of elongate, straight, lanceolate, cream coloured, scalelike, setae, adpressed; setae absent in longitudinal rows between occipital and medial spines; antennae with minor setiferous tubercles, pale colour, AI–AII with double row of setiferous tubercles with moderately elongate curved terminal seta, AIII setiferous tubercles with greatly elongate with straight terminal seta. <i>Pronotum:</i> paranota margins with short major setiferous tubercles, terminal seta less than half length of base; two setiferous tubercles either side of apex of collum on anterior pronotal margin; keel of collum and pronotal carinae with major setiferous tubercles; all pronotal surfaces (collum, paranota, carinae and disc) with dense distribution of moderately elongate, creamy gold, hairlike setae; disc with setae very slightly thickened. <i>Thoracic pleura and sterna:</i> pleura with dense distribution of elongate scalelike setae as on head; supracoxal lobes and mesosternum with dense distribution of short, creamy gold, scalelike setae, lanceolate. <i>Legs:</i> minor setiferous tubercles, terminal seta pale colour, elongate, erect, bristlelike; femora with thickened, truncate terminal setae. <i>Hemelytra:</i> costal margins with major setiferous tubercles as on paranota, extending almost to posterior margin of hemelytra; major setiferous tubercles on carinate margins of discoidal area and cubitus + R+M vein, not clumped at anterior angle of discoidal area; setae sparse, hairlike, restricted to a cluster at the wing base and sparse covering of the costal area and to a lesser extent subcostal area; white microtrichae absent. <i>Abdomen:</i> short, scalelike setae as on supracoxal lobes and mesosternum. STRUCTURE. <i>Head:</i> spines greatly elongate; frontal spines slightly curved inwards, longer than AI, projected forwards, straight; medial spine straight; occipital spines projected upwards and weakly curved backwards; labium moderate length, extending to anterior margin of metasternum; antennae, AI short and only slightly longer than AII, AIV unknown. <i>Pronotum:</i> moderately convex; collum sub-triangular, lower in height to medial carina; carinae highly elevated, two areolae wide, uniseriate posteriorly; lateral carinae not thickened; paranota linear semi-circular, three areolae wides, areolae small, uniformly round. <i>Thoracic sterna:</i> metasternal carinae concave, slightly wider than mesosternal carinae, both straight. <i>Hemelytra:</i> areolae small, uniformly round, subequal size over entire hemelytra; costal area three areolae wide, at least medially; subcostal area one areole wide, mostly; discoidal area four areolae wide; sutural area six areolae wide. <i>Male genitalia:</i> unknown. MEASUREMENTS. For 1 &amp;male; is given in Table 6. <b>Host plant.</b> Unknown. <b>Distribution.</b> The only specimen is known from one locality in semi-arid, northern Queensland, just east of the Great Dividing Range (Fig. 3b). <b>Etymology.</b> After the Latin <i>vittatus</i> meaning decorated with a stripe, for the distinctive dark brown band on the hemelytra. <b>Remarks.</b> <i>Lasiacantha vittata</i> is most closely related to the Queensland species, <i>L. serraseta</i>, but mostly differs in colour characters, including: cephalic spines unicolourous, entirely red brown; pronotal carinae not medially darkened, entirely light brown; discoidal and sutural areas of hemelytra not darkened, light brown, sutural area with only a very slight trace of dark brown. See also remarks on colouration for <i>L. serraseta</i>. <i>Lasiacantha vittata</i> also differs from <i>L. serraseta</i> in the lateral pronotal carinae being two areolae wide (only one areolae wide in <i>L. serraseta</i>), the minor setiferous tubercles on AI and AII being moderately elongate (as opposed to short and clavate in <i>L. serraseta</i>), and a greater number of setiferous tubercles adjacent to the apex of the collum on the anterior pronotal margin.
description: Published as part of <i>Cassis, Gerasimos &amp; Symonds, Celia, 2011, Systematics, biogeography and host plant associations of the lace bug genus Lasiacantha Stål in Australia (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) 2818, pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 2818 (1)</i> on pages 45-46, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.2818.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5289063