Neotropical Myodochini (Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae): description of three new genera and five new species.

DELLAPÉ, P.M.; MELO, M.C.

Rio de Janeiro

Workshop; IV Workshop Sudamericano de Heteroptera; 2019

Fiocruz

The cosmopolitan tribe Myodochini is among the most diverse group of Rhyparochromidae, with 36 genera and 117 species occurring in the Neotropics. Some myodochines are abundant and commonly collected in disturbed habitats, they generally climb vegetation whereas some are strict geophiles presumably in specialized habitats. The actual diversity of this group is much higher than present numbers indicate, as many taxa remain to be described. We studied myodochine specimens from several collections (Museo de La Plata, Argentina; American Museum of Natural History, USA; National Museum of Natural History, USA; Triplehorn Insect Collection, USA; and Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), and we discover two undescribed genera, one to locate two new Southamerican species, and another to included three new species mainly from Central America. We also studied the species included in Dushinckanus Brailovsky, 1979, a poorly known and seldom collected genus that includes six species. After studying the type species, D. ocellatus, and additional material of the genus, and after a detailed analysis of morphological and genital characters we concluded that the Argentinean species Dushinckanus mesopotamicus Dellapé & Melo 2005 does not fit in the genus or any other known Myodochini genus. Accordingly, we describe a new genus to include this species. Color images were captured using a cellphone Sony Xperia A1 Ultra attached to an Olympus stereomicroscope SZX7. Multiple focal planes were merged using HeliconFocus software. Measurements are given in millimeters. The genital structures were dissected under a stereomicroscope, cleared in a 10% KOH aqueous solution, washed in distilled water, and preserved in a vial with glycerin. As shown in the studied taxa, the male genitalia and particularly the aedeagus shows a set of valuable characters to stablish phylogenetic relationships among myodochine genera. We are working on a more thorough and general analysis of the male genitalia integrated in a modern phylogenetic analysis to clarify the relationships among the mydochines.