Atracodes indutus Melichar 1902
Creators: name: Levia, Nathaniel N.
name: Bartlett, Charles R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Flatidae
Atracodes
Atracodes indutus

description: Atracodes indutus Melichar, 1902
(Figs 2–6)
Type locality. St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
Amended description. Color. General color from mottled brown, to greige, to ivory, with an irregular waxy pruinescence (which obscures surface color patterns; Fig. 4). Head in lateral view (Fig. 2B, 3B) with a dark line extending anteriorly from eye to dark apical callosity. A similar line pronotum from posterior margin of eye to tegulae (may be irregular or obscured by wax). Mesonotum anteriorly embrowned, bearing three darkened lines tracing carinae to apical margin and bearing pair of dark spots near anterior margin, a second pair near lateral margin behind midline, and a third pair on either side of midline near scutellum. Holotype (Fig. 2) forewing bearing dark markings on tegulae and angled lines on forewing, obscured or wanting on other specimens (Fig. 4); holotype forewing with irregular dark spots in clavus; a curved dark line from A1 to CuP; a dark spot is located at 1⁄4 the length of the CuP from the basal cell, with a lighter patch behind it, where the CuA splits; a lateral runs down from the CuP to MP, and runs along MP; dark patch located in the middle of the cells between Pc+CP and ScP; dark line running from MP to MP 1.
Structure. Body length (with wing) male: 7.0–13.0 mm; female: 9.0–15.0mm. Head (in dorsal view, Figs 2A, 3A) narrow, distinctly projecting in front of eyes for distance greater than eye width; apex bluntly pointed bearing callosity. Vertex roughly quadrate, length and width subequal; median carina present, appearing apically forked into strongly serpentine carinae directed laterad to meet lateral carinae of vertex, lateral margins subparallel, slightly foliate, linear for most of length, subapically appearing medially inflected into strongly serpentine carinae reaching median carina; in lateral view, lateral carinae of vertex meeting lateral carinae of frons at sharp angle, ~30 degrees); posterior margin appearing concave, hidden by anterior margin of pronotum. Frons nearly quadrate, from ventrofrontal view (e.g., Figs 2C, 3D), broadest near level of antenna, narrowed distally and proximally; apex bluntly rounded at callosity, lateral carinae foliate, median carina absent; frontoclypeal suture truncate. Clypeus triangular, bearing median carina. Rostrum reaching hind trochanters. Hind tibiae (Fig. 3C) with 4 lateral teeth (proximal tooth small); apical spinulation 6(2+4)-7-2.
Pronotum approximately triangular from dorsal view, anterior margin convexly rounded and carinate (carina extending diagonally laterad to form lateral margin of pronotal disc), posterior margin broadly and narrowly concave; length subequal to vertex at midline; faintly tricarinate, a pair pits on either side of midline in anterior half of disc; in lateral view pronotum near same level as vertex, Fig. 3B); paradiscal region broad, approximately quadrate, bearing transverse carinae between eye and tegulae. Mesonotum broad, from dorsal view roughly lozenge-shaped (from lateral view raised above level of pronotum), obscurely tricarinate. Forewings broad, leading margin expanded into board postcostal cell bearing many crossveins (mostly simple, except forked near wing apex), lateral margin undulate, humeral angle expanded into anteriorly projecting lobe; distal portion of wing inflected downward at nodal line; nodal line and subapical marginal vein arched and irregular, forming 2 rows of elongate apical cells; a proximal bulla (bearing cluster of pustules) on proximal portion of Sc+R; clavus exceeding midlength of wing, A 1 close to marginal A 2; CuA forked well before wing midlength; MP twice forked before wing midlength; RP-MP, Sc+RA, and PC+CP, run to marginal vein without branching.
Pygofer from lateral view (Fig. 2D) broad and irregularly shaped, broadest subventrally, caudal margin convexly curved; anterior margin sinuately convex; medioventral process absent (ventral view), margin distinctly concave (similar to Fig. 10D). Gonostyli in lateral view broad, exerted portion roughly quadrate bearing large elongate, falcate capitulum (on subapical dorsal margin); apex concave (with indentation near ventral margin); in ventral view gonostyli diverging (defining median triangle, similar to Fig. 10D); narrowed distally, inner margins linear, lateral margin weakly sinuate. Phallotheca bilaterally symmetrical; apex (in dorsal or ventral view) appearing wide and broadly bilobed (from dorsal, Fig. 6B, or ventral view, Fig. 6C); upturned apically (from lateral view) (Fig. 6A) bearing subapical dorsal spine just before upward inflection; phallotheca bearing four pairs of retrorse processes; three pairs extending from phallotheca distal apex, one stout pair reading phallotheca midlength and two shorter pair (one pair slender, one pair flattened and bladelike); last pair originating from subapical ventral margin, slender and elongated, distally upcurved exceeding phallotheca midlength, apex usually resting above dorsal margin of phallotheca. Aedeagus appearing medioventral (visible from ventral view, Fig. 6C), apex attenuated to a point and upcurved between lateral lobes of phallotheca. Anal tube (lateral view, Fig. 2D) hood-like (distal half downturned), relatively slender, ventral margin concave, dorsal margin convex; ental surface bearing small ventral projection in distal third (Fig. 2D); paraproct short cylindrical, epiproct rounded.
Remarks: Atracodes indutus is most similar to Atracodes albus comb. nov. but can be distinguished by size (A. indutus is about two thirds the size of A. albus comb. nov.), A. indutus has dark spots in each of the marginal cells, at the costal margin in the forewing, whereas A. albus comb. nov. has dark spots in only some of the marginal cells. The anal tube in A. albus comb. nov. (Caldwell & Martorell 1951, plate 48a) from lateral view has a large ventral lobe on the lateral margin just before midlength (absent in A. indutus). The gonostyli in A. indutus extend further past the carinae, than in A. albus comb. nov. Atracodes albus and A. indutus can be most easily differentiated from the other eight species in the Atracodes, by the dark lateral lines distad and proximad to the eyes.
Atracodes indutus was briefly described by Melichar (1902) with a dorsal habitus illustration (viz. plate 8, fig. 7). Specimens from Guana Island, and Virgin Gorda Island, do not closely fit the patterning (viz. The dark markings on the forewings), or coloration of the original description. Specimens range from brown to greige, to ivory, with irregular and often obscure patterning.
Plant associations. Guana Island specimens were collected at U.V. lights near Coccoloba uvifera (L.) L. (seagrape, Polygonaceae).
Distribution. US Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), British Virgin Islands (Frenchman’s Cay, Guana, Virgin Gorda).
Type material examined. Holotype, male: St. Thomas / Coll. Signoret // indutus / det. Melichar // Atracodes / indutus // Coll. Nat.-Mus. Wien // Holotype / Atracodes / indutus / det. ♂ Melichar— NHMW.
Other material examined. BRITISH VIRGIN ISL. / Guana Island, 0– 80m. / 13–26 July 1986 / S.E. Miller & M.G. Pogue // North Bay, Coccoloba / forest, U.V. light / trap, sea level / 15–25 July 1986 // USNM // Atracodes / indutus Melichar, 1902 / Det. NNLevia 2023 // UDCC _TCN 00101345, 00101346, 00101362–00101369, 00101371, 00101373 (USNM, 12 Males). BRITISH VIRGIN ISL. / Guana Island, 0– 80m. / 13–26 July 1986 / S.E. Miller & M.G. Pouge // USNM // Atracodes / indutus Melichar, 1902 / Det. NNLevia 2023// UDCC _TCN 00101336– 00101344, 00101355–00101361, 00101265, 00101266, 00101372 (USNM, 12 Male, 7 Female). BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS / Virgin Gorda Island / V. Gorda Peak, ca. 400m / 17–19 July 1986 / S.E. Miller & M.G. Pogue // USNM // Atracodes / indutus Melichar, 1902 / Det. NNLevia 2023 // UDCC _TCN 00101374 (USNM, male). BRITISH VIRGIN IS. / Guana Island / July 1986 / Scott E. Miller // Pseudoflatoides / albus Caldwell / Det: CRBartlett ‘99 // UDCC _TCN 00103107 (NCSU, male). BRIT. VIRGIN ISLS. / Guana Island / 1–14 July 1984 / S.E.&P.M. Miller // Atracodes / indutus Melichar, 1902 / Det. NNLevia 2024 // UDCC _TCN 00103111–00103115, 00102961 (USNM, 4 male, 1 female, 1 nymph).
description: Published as part of Levia, Nathaniel N. & Bartlett, Charles R., 2025, A review of the genera Atracodes Melichar and Pseudoflatoides Metcalf (Hemiptera: Flatidae: Flatoidinae) from the Caribbean region, pp. 231-255 in Zootaxa 5590 (2) on pages 237-242, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5590.2.4, http://zenodo.org/record/14953032