Species Ugyops aristella (Kirby, 1900)

Ugyops aristella (Kirby), adult, colour faded through storage in ethanol

© Copyright Murray Fletcher, Orange Agricultural Institute.

Museums

Regional Maps

• Bidis aristella Kirby, W.F. 1900. Homoptera. pp. 130-138 in Andrews, C.W. (ed.). A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): physical features and geology; with descriptions of the fauna and flora by numerous contributors. London : British Museum (Natural History) xiii 337 pp. [136].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) BMNH sex, quantity unknown (coll: ix.1897), Christmas Island, East Coast; BMNH sex, quantity unknown (coll: 1898), Christmas Island, Flying Fish Cove
  Comment: four syntypes in total.

Generic Combinations

• Ugyops aristella (Kirby, 1900). —
  Izzard, R.J. 1936. The Hemiptera of Christmas Island. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 10 17: 577-600 [595]

Introduction

A pale yellowish brown species with black carinae endemic to Christmas Island. Unlike other Australian species of Ugyops, this species has fully developed wings.

Distribution

Other Regions

Christmas Island terrestrial & freshwater

Ecological Descriptors

All stages: phloem feeder.

Diagnosis

Long. corp. 4 mm; exp. al. 12 mm. Testaceous, the two joints of the antennae long, cylindrical, of equal length, and set with very short brown bristles; the second joint slightly thhicker than the first, subannulated, and with two long brown bands, not extending to either extremity; it is followed by a bulb bearing a very fine bristle, longer than the two joints together. Vertex and front quadricarinate, the carinae brown, and the centre of the front and the narrowest space between the central carinae, on the vertex, brown. Beyond this point, the central carinae unite with the outer ones, and run backwards parallel to the eyes, the space between which is very deeply concave behind; there is also a brown spot between the carinae, where they diverge. Pronotum with three black carinae, one central, the others starting from it in front, curving round each eye. Mesonotum with five longitudinal black carinae, the two outer ones slightly diverging, and followed by a brown line on the sides of the pronotum. Both the pronotum and mesonotum have very prominent lateral angles, before which is a brown line. Abdomen testaceous, with red central and terminal carinae, the latter preceded by broad brown bands; the two terminal segments are blackish, bordered behind with testaceous. Ovipositor of the female blackish, upcurved; above it is a long, broad, blackish process, set with rather long bristles, and bifid at the extremity. Tegmina yellowish hyaline, the nervures and fringes set with short bristles, and alternately brown and yellow for rather long spaces. There is a large brown spot in the middle of the clavus, and in the female the space between this and the base is also brown. There is also a brown curved nervure marking the apical area, and the space between this and the apex is much clouded with brown, especially in the female; and nearer the base the dark portions of the nervures are more or less clouded with brown. Wings hyaline, mostly with brown nervures. Legs testaceous, end of tibiae, and the tarsi mostly brown. (Kirby 1900)

Diagnosis References

Kirby, W.F. 1900. Homoptera. pp. 130-138 in Andrews, C.W. (ed.). A Monograph of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean): physical features and geology; with descriptions of the fauna and flora by numerous contributors. London : British Museum (Natural History) xiii 337 pp. [136–137]

History of changes