Alloiothucha artocarpi
Creators: name: Souma, Jun
name: Cho, Geonho
name: Lee, Seunghwan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Tingidae
Alloiothucha
Alloiothucha artocarpi

description: Alloiothucha artocarpi (Horváth, 1926)
(Figs. 1A, B, 2A–C, 3A–C, 4A–C)
Holophygdon artocarpi Horváth, 1926: 327. Holotype, ♀: Indonesia: Java Island, Buitenzorg; Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary (HNHM).
Alloiothucha artocarpi (Horváth, 1926): Drake & Poor (1939: 207) (new combination).
Material examined. Non-types (2 ♂ 1 ♀, SNU; 1 ♂, ELKU), LAOS: Bolikhamsai, Thaphabath, 13 National Rd., Thabok vlg., alt. 161 m, 1822'23.89'' N 10312 '01.20''E, 23.xii.2013, leg. Duwal et Lee.
Diagnosis. Recognized among other species of Alloiothucha by a combination of the following characters: head without spine (Fig. 1B); hood gourd-shaped, more constricted in middle part, with dorsal margin sinuate in lateral view (Fig. 2A, B); paranotum with two rows of areolae in middle part and a single row in remaining parts; anterior margin of hemelytron strongly curved in basal part (Figs. 1A, 2C); costal area with four rows of areolae at widest part; and discoidal area with five rows of areolae at widest part.
Description. Macropterous morph. General color brown; compound eye red; apex and posterior part of hood, basal part of costal area of hemelytron, and apical part of discoidal area dark brown; areolae of pronotum and hemelytron transparent (Figs. 1A, B, 2A–C, 3A–C).
Body (Fig. 1A, B) 1.4 times as long as maximum width across hemelytra. Head without spine. Antenniferous tubercles angular, curved inward. Antennae smooth, covered with pubescence; segment I cylindrical; segment II narrower than segment I throughout length; segment III narrowest; segment IV fusiform, as wide as segment II at widest part; pubescence on segment IV irregular, longer than pubescence on other antennal segments. Buccula coarsely punctate, without distinct areolae. Rostrum (Fig. 3A) reaching posterior margin of abdominal sternite II.
Pronotum (Fig. 2A, B) 2.3 times as long as maximum width across paranota. Pronotal disc coarsely punctate. Hood gourd-shaped, more constricted in middle part, with five rows of areolae at highest part; dorsal margin sinuate in lateral view. Median carina straight, completely concealed by hood. Calli smooth. Paranotum with two rows of areolae medially and single row in remaining parts; outer margin curved outward throughout length. Posterior process triangular.
Hemelytron (Figs. 1A, B, 2C) 1.9 times as long as maximum width; maximum width across hemelytra 1.3 times as much as maximum width across paranota; anterior margin strongly curved in basal part; costal area with four rows of areolae at widest part; subcostal area with single row of areolae throughout length; discoidal area with five rows of areolae at widest part; sutural area with three rows of areolae at widest part.
Thoracic pleura coarsely punctate (Fig. 1B). Ostiolar peritreme (Fig. 4C) well-developed, oblong. Prosternum (Fig. 3A) narrowed posteriorly; mesosternum widened posteriorly; metasternum as wide as mesosternum at widest part. Sternal laminae lower than buccula, nearly straight; pro- and mesosternal lamina open in anterior and posterior ends; prosternal lamina lower than metasternal lamina; mesosternal lamina higher than metasternal lamina; metasternal laminae continuous at posterior ends, nearly parallel to each other. Legs (Fig. 1A) smooth; femora thickest at middle; tibia thickest at apex.
Abdomen ellipsoidal; sternites without transverse furrow. Pygophore (Figs. 3B, 4B) compressed dorsoventrally, semicircular in ventral view, bulged evenly in venter, concave at anterior margin of dorsum; outer margin covered with pubescence. Paramere (Fig. 4A) expanded in middle part, apically curved inward; outer and inner margins covered with pubescence medially. Female terminalia (Fig. 3C) pentagonal in ventral view, covered with pubescence; ovipositor without ovivalvula; paratergite IX unilobed.
Measurements. Body length with hemelytra 2.6–2.8 mm; maximum width across hemelytra 1.8–2.0 mm; pronotal length 1.4–1.6 mm; pronotal width across paranota 0.6–0.7 mm; hemelytral length 2.0– 2.1 mm; hemelytral width 1.0– 1.1 mm; length of antennal segments I to IV 0.1 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.7–0.8 mm, and 0.5 mm, respectively.
Brachypterous morph unknown in both sexes.
Remarks. The structure of the male genitalia in Alloiothucha is described here for the first time based on A. artocarpi. Alloiothucha species can clearly be distinguished from other tingid genera by the structure of the pronotum and hemelytron, although there appear to be no significant morphological difference with respect to the general ground plan of the pygophore and paramere between Alloiothucha and other genera such as Galeatus Curtis, 1833 and Uhlerites Drake, 1927 (cf. Lee 1969). Accordingly, the usage of male genital structures for the purposes of species identification and classification should be assessed with an emphasis on their phylogenetic relationships.
In the strongly constricted hood (Fig. 2A, B), A. artocarpi is different from the other species of Alloiothucha, but only the hood of A. necopinata is weakly constricted (Fig. 6A, B). Therefore, because the morphological differences in the hood of A. artocarpi is striking, but the existence of species with intermediate characteristics is expected, we placed A. artocarpi in Alloiothucha.
Distribution. Indonesia (Java Island) (Horváth 1926); Laos (new record). The photographs of living individuals on jackfruit in Singapore provided by Kwan (2021) and “ Stephanitis charieis ” recorded by Tigvatnanont (1990) putatively match Alloiothucha artocarpi, thereby indicating that this lace bug seems to be widely distributed in southeastern Asia. The previous record from Sumatra Island, Indonesia (Drake & Ruhoff 1965b) do not list the examined specimens and appear to be erroneous.
Host plant. In Laos, all specimens of Alloiothucha artocarpi were collected from jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Moraceae), which is accordingly assumed to be a host plant. On the other hand, this species has been collected from Ar. integer (Thunb.) Merr. in Java Island, Indonesia (Horváth 1926).
Jackfruit is the presumed primary host plant of the new species. It is an economically important crop in the tropics, the fruits and seeds of which are highly prized (Swami & Kalse 2018). Although there have currently been no reports to indicate that Alloiothucha artocarpi damages jackfruit, the incidence of this species in jackfruit plantations should be monitored to assess the potential for any detrimental effects.
Biology. Adults were collected in August and December (Horváth 1926; present study). Nymphs have yet to be collected.
description: Published as part of Souma, Jun, Cho, Geonho & Lee, Seunghwan, 2022, Alloiothucha artocarpi (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) found on jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Moraceae): first representative of the genus from Laos, and the synonymy of Cetiothucha Drake & Ruhoff, pp. 369-381 in Zootaxa 5099 (3) on pages 371-374, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5099.3.5, http://zenodo.org/record/6079080