Megalodactylus
Creators: name: Li, Xiao-Ming
name: Liu, Guo-Qing
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Miridae
Megalodactylus

description: Megalodactylus Tuponia Reuter, 1875: 98.
Tuponia:Wagner, 1995a: 262; Wagner, 1975: 416; Linnavuori, 1993: 276; Menard et al., 2013:16; Schuh and Menard, 2013: 21.
Type species: Tuponia tamarisci (Perris, 1857)
Diagnosis. Recognized by the small to medium sized for Phylinae, total length 1.8−4.0; body elongate to ovoid; coloration completely white to heavily greenish; dorsum with dark or sericeous setae; labium relatively long and reaching or extending past meta-coxa; antennal segment II uniform diameter; all femora without spots or with few contrasting dark spots apically; pulvillus absent.
Redescription. Coloration: Dorsum usually without dark spots, general coloration varying from completely white to dark greenish, mesoscutum often orange laterally.
Surface and structure: Dorsum smooth, often with dark or sericeous setae; head transverse and barely projecting beyond anterior margin of eye; frons weakly bulgy, clypeus generally invisible in dorsal view; eyes relatively small, width smaller than interocular distance; antennal segment I short, constricting at base, segment II slender, diameter of segments III and IV about equal to half of segment II; labium extending from meta-coxa to abdominal sternum; pronotum flat or weakly sloping anteriorly; all femora without spots or with few contrasting dark spots apically; tibial spines usually black, rarely pale, with or without black bases; tarsal segment I short, segment II often longer than or equal to segment III; claws long and thin, bent close to apex, parempodia always setiform, pulvillus absent; abdomen broad basally, weakly tapering toward pygophore.
Male genitalia: Pygophore small relative to total size of abdomen, apex pointed or somewhat truncate, often conical, sometimes with distinctive ornamentation, except for T. cristifera, two fingerlike projections at base of pygophore; endosoma L- or S-shaped, with one or two apical sclerotized spines at apex, weakly or strongly twisted medially, often bifurcating at point even with distal end of secondary gonopore, apical spine sometimes with membranous margin, secondary gonopore often situated near apex or middle of endosoma; left paramere always boat-shaped and with an elongate posterior lobe and a sclerotized, triangular anterior lobe; right paramere simple, lanceolate, apically often with a short fingerlike lobe; phallotheca often with one or two keels.
Discussion. According to the latest suprageneric classification system, the genus Tuponia belongs to the tribe Exaeretini (Menard et al., 2013; Schuh and Menard, 2013). The analyses of RAxML and POY found a relationship between Moissoni a Reuter and Tuponia (Menard et al., 2013). Morphological characters supports this node, including the labium reaching or exceeding meta-coxa, the twisted, more or less S-shaped endosoma and the dorsum with dark or sericeous setae. However, the left paramere of Moissonia has an elevated posterior lobe, and the hemelytron is often transparent in Moissonia. Megalodactylus Fieber was allied with Tuponia by Wagner (1975) based on the elongate claws without pulvilli. Megalodactylus is a small genus, only 2 species have been described. Megalodactylu s has a similar external appearance to some Tuponia spp. with a median fuscous stripe on clavus. Distinguished from Tuponia by ventral surface of meta-femur with a row of brownish spots along anterior margin, pro- and meso-tibia darkened apically, and a series of rectangular teeth on the endosoma.
description: Published as part of Li, Xiao-Ming & Liu, Guo-Qing, 2016, The genus Tuponia Reuter, 1875 of China (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae: Exaeretini) with descriptions of three new species, pp. 101-122 in Zootaxa 4114 (2) on pages 102-103, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4114.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/271588