Description of One New Species of Chileria and Three New Species of Orthotylus, with Nomenclatural and Distributional Notes on Neotropical Orthotylinae (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylini)

Plant bugs, plant interactions and the radiation of a species rich clade in south-western Australia: Naranjakotta, gen. nov. and eighteen new species (Insecta : Heteroptera : Miridae : Orthotylinae)

New surveys from the Bush Blitz and Planetary Biodiversity Inventory programs has revealed a largely unknown biota of plant bugs in Australia. The mirid subfamily Orthotylinae has exploded in Australia, in association with perennial shrubs in arid and semi-arid Australia. This work documents the discovery of a new clade of 18 new species of the plant bug subfamily Orthotylinae. These new species belong to Naranjakotta, gen. nov., which was analysed phylogenetically and found to be monophyletic. The distribution of Naranjakotta and included species are documented, and analysed in reference to the distribution of all other orthotylines across continental Australia. A paralogy-free subtree analysis was conducted based on a recent phytogeographic classification, which resulted in the recognition of eastern and western subclades, with Tasmania and the Eyre Peninsula unresolved. The host plant associations were optimised at generic and ordinal levels to the Naranjakotta phylogeny and an ancestral Lamiales association for Naranjakotta and an ancestral Acacia association for a subclade of Naranjakotta were found. The eighteen new species described in this work are: N. bicolorata, sp. nov., N. chinnocki, sp. nov., N. cryptandraphila, sp. nov., N. dimorpha, sp. nov., N. graphica, sp. nov., N. hakeaphila, sp. nov., N. hibbertiaphila, sp. nov., N. hyalina, sp. nov., N. keraudrenia, sp. nov., N. lochada, sp. nov., N. macfarlanei, sp. nov., N. minor, sp. nov., N. myrtlephila, sp. nov., N. rosa, sp. nov., N. splendida, sp. nov., N. unicolorata, sp. nov., N. wanarra, sp. nov. and N. watheroo, sp. nov. Orthotylus sidnicus (Stål) is transferred to Naranjakotta.

Systematics, biodiversity, biogeography, and host associations of the Miridae (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha)

The Miridae, a hyperdiverse family containing more than 11,020 valid described species, are discussed and the pertinent literature is reviewed. Diagnoses for the family and subfamilies are given. Color habitus photos are presented for representatives of most of the 35 currently recognized tribes. Key morphological character systems are discussed and illustrated, including pretarsal structures, femoral trichobothria, external efferent system of the metathoracic glands, male and female genitalia, and molecular markers. A historical comparison of tribal classifications and the most up-to-date classification are presented in tabular form. A brief history of the classification of each of the eight recognized subfamilies is presented. Distributional patterns and relative generic diversity across biogeographic regions are discussed; generic diversity by biogeographic region is presented in tabular form. Taxonomic accumulation graphs are presented by biogeographic region, indicating an ongoing need for taxonomic work in the Southern Hemisphere, and most particularly in Australia. Host plant associations are evaluated graphically, showing high specificity for many taxa and a preference among phytophagous taxa for the Asteridae and Rosidae.