Proteatingis minuta Shofner and Cassis 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Shofner, Ryan
name: Cassis, Gerasimos
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Tingidae
Proteatingis
Proteatingis minuta

description: Proteatingis minuta Shofner and Cassis sp. nov.
(Figs 13K, L, 14K, L, 16, 18)
Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 3C43C61F-180E-4D86-BE9C-2B1D3F4B19E5.
Type material
Holotype: AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Bronte Park, 7.8 km E of Marlborough Hwy on Serpentine Rd, 42.08998°S 146.5667°E, 972 m, 23 Feb 2014, G. Cassis and J. Karras, Hakea sp. (Proteaceae), 1 ♂ (UNSW_ ENT 00046255) (TMAG).
Paratypes: AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Bronte Park, 7.8 km E of Marlborough Hwy on Serpentine Rd, 42.08998°S 146.5667°E, 972 m, 23 Feb 2014, G. Cassis and J. Karras, Hakea sp. (Proteaceae), 3 ♂ (UNSW _ ENT 00046257, UNSW _ ENT 00046259, UNSW _ ENT 00046261), 2 ♀ (UNSW _ ENT 00046263, UNSW _ ENT 00046265) (TMAG), Hakea sp. (Proteaceae), 3 ♂ (UNSW _ ENT 00046256, UNSW _ ENT 00046258, UNSW _ ENT 00046260), 3 ♀ (UNSW _ ENT 00046262, UNSW _ ENT 00046264, UNSW _ ENT 00046266) (UNSW).
Other material examined
AUSTRALIA: Tasmania: Bronte Park, 7.8 km E of Marlborough Hwy on Serpentine Rd, 42.08998°S 146.5667°E, 972 m, 23 Feb 2014, G. Cassis and J. Karras, Hakea sp. (Proteaceae), 2; nymph (UNSW _ENT 00046267, UNSW _ENT 00046269) (TMAG), Hakea sp. (Proteaceae), 2; nymph (UNSW _ENT 00046268, UNSW _ENT 00046270) (UNSW).
Diagnosis: Proteatingis minuta is recognized by the following combination of characters: small body size, less than 2.8 mm; head black; eyes black; anterior margin of collum curved, projecting forward; collum moderately inflated, forming a hood, hood subequal to slightly exceeding height of pronotal disc; costal area uniseriate; metasternal carinae straight, parallel, width between metasternal carinae equal to width between mesosternal carinae.
Male: Macropterous; 2.66 ± 0.04 mm (N = 7) (Table 3). COLORATION. Greenish grey, pronotal disc golden-brown. Head: black; spines dark golden-brown, black distally; bucculae straw-coloured, clypeus black, genae black; eyes black to reddish-black. Antennae: black. Labium: mottled brown and black, with LIV darkening to black. Pronotum: disc golden-brown, areolae darkening to dark brown on posterior projection; calli black; collum and paranota brown, areolae silvery to translucent; lateral carinae brown to golden-brown, straw-coloured posteriorly; medial carina brown anteriorly, with black macula at apex of disc, with dark brown band posterior to disc, straw-coloured on the posterior projection. Thoracic pleura and sterna: proepisternum golden-brown anteriorly, black posteriorly, proepimeron and supracoxal lobes golden-brown; mesepisternum mostly black, mesepimeron and supracoxal lobes golden-brown; metepisternum black to golden-brown on supracoxal lobes; peritreme of metathoracic gland straw-coloured; pro-, meso-, and metasternum black; sternal carinae straw-coloured. Hemelytra: discoidal area either greenish grey or brown, occasionally variable; costal area dark brown to brown; proximal juncture R + M vein and cubitus vein dark brown to black; cubitus vein with dark brown band medially. Legs: tarsi black, tarsal claws brown; tibiae dark brown proximally, fading to golden-brown distally; femora dark brown to black; coxae black. Abdominal venter: golden-brown; abdominal sterna mostly golden-brown, darkening to black dorsally, posterior edge of sternites II–VIII dark brown across length; spiracles dark brown to black; pygophore brown darkening to black posteriorly. VESTITURE. Head: straw-coloured arcuate setae in bands from antenniferous tubercles to occipital spines and from frontal spines along either side of medial spine to back of head; bucculae with arcuate setae; dense globules of wax encircling eye, and from frons to apex. Occipital and medial spines with golden-brown decumbent setae, erect distally. Antennae: AI–AIII with white sparse, decumbent setae, AIV with white semi-erect to erect aciculate setae; distal ends of AII and AIII with dense ring of microtrichia. Pronotum: anterior margin glabrous, rarely with short setae; paranotal margins, medial and lateral carinae, and disc with arcuate scale-like setae; disc with numerous punctures with six to eight triangular tuberculate processes distributed evenly around internal rim; calli with short golden-brown setae, globules of wax often covering calli. Thoracic pleura and sterna: anterior portion of proepisternum, proepimeron, posterior portion of mesepisternum, mesepimeron, and metepisternum with arcuate setae and tubercle-lined punctures as on pronotal disc; anterior portion of pro- and mesepisternum glabrous; sternal carinae with sparse distribution of arcuate setae; all surfaces covered with globules of wax, propluron heavily coated with wax. Legs: coxae to tibiae with white to straw-coloured arcuate setae; ventral surface of tarsi with semi-erect aciculate setae. Hemelytra: costal margins sparsely covered with arcuate setae; discoidal area veins with sparse distribution of arcuate setae; sutural area veins glabrous or occasionally with very sparse distribution of arcuate setae. Abdominal venter: moderate distribution of arcuate setae, with white wax coating entire abdomen. STRUCTURE. Head: spines rounded apically; frontal spines upright, parallel or convergent distally, less than half the length of AI; medial spine straight, stout, height 2× that of frontal spines, width about one-quarter to one-third of height; occipital spines straight, up to half their length protruding beyond collum. Antennae: AI and AII short, AI 2× longer than AII; AIII longer than the pronotal width across humeral angles, AIV weakly clavate. Labium: moderate length, exceeding anterior margin of metasternum. Pronotum: strongly convex; collum apex inflated to subglobose, height equal to disc; medial and lateral carinae appearing decurrent to disc but weakly areolate, carinae areolate over posterior third, uniseriate; medial and lateral carinae equal thickness, lateral carinae divaricating; paranota curved, following disc, hardly upturned, mostly one areole wide, two areolae wide anteriorly, not exceeding height of hemelytra. Thoracic sterna: mesosternal and metasternal carinae elevated, uniseriate, areolae rectangular; mesosternal carinae straight, parallel, metasternal carinae curved, slightly ovate, convergent posteriorly. Legs: legs thin; femora tapered proximally. Thoracic pleura: peritreme large, loop-like, strongly depressed medially, with dorsal extension reaching hemelytral margin. Hemelytra: areolae small and uniformly sized in discoidal and subcostal areas, increasing in size in subcostal area posterior from juncture of R + M and cubitus veins; sutural area areolae similar to discoidal area proximally, increasing in size to 5× distally; costal area areolae large, rectangular; costal area uniseriate, subcostal area mostly biseriate, discoidal area increasing from one to six areolae wide, sutural area one to eight areolae wide. Male genitalia: pygophore (Fig. 19A, B); parameres (Fig. 19C–E); dorsal plate Y-shaped (Fig. 19F); aedeagus with paired mid-size endosomal lobal sclerites (Fig. 19F–H).
Female: Macropterous; 2.67 ± 0.03 mm (N = 5) (Table 3). COLORATION. Mostly as in male. Discoidal area of hemelytra with more pronounced dark brown mottling than in male; costal area veins dark brown, with costal margin banded straw-coloured and dark brown. VESTATURE. As in male. STRUCTURE. As in male.
Plant associations: Recorded from Hakea sp., 16 specimens (Proteaceae).
Distribution: Known from near Bronte Park in the Top Marshes Conservation Area, Tasmania, Australia (Fig. 16).
Etymology: Named for its diminutive size in relation to all other species of this genus.
Remarks: This species is diminutive compared to all other Proteatingis; however, it is extremely similar both genetically and morphologically to Pr. burckhardti and in the absence of molecular data can only be reliably differentiated via its body size and geographic location.
description: Published as part of Shofner, Ryan & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2024, Phylogenetics and taxonomy of the Indo-Australian genus Ulonemia sensu Drake (Hemiptera: Tingidae), with the recognition of new genera and species collected from Proteaceae in Australia, pp. 360-425 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 200 (2) on pages 411-412, DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad080, http://zenodo.org/record/11240237