The lace bug Corythaica bellula Torre-Bueno is one of four North American species in this mainly Neotropical genus. All species known from Canada and the United States are seldom collected and their bionomics little known. Adults and nymphs of C. bellula were collected from Scribner's panicgrass (Dichanthelium oligosanthes subsp. scribnerianum [Nash] Freckmann and Lelong; Poaceae) in 12 counties of the Nebraska Sandhills. Its collection in South Dakota from this host represents a new state record. The panicoid grass is the tingid's second host plant identified to species level. All adult males (n = 51) were brachypterous, as were 90 of 91 females; the single macropter was collected in mid-July. The collection of nymphs in May and July suggests bivoltinism. Nymphs and adults of a congener, C. venusta (Champion), were syntopic with C. bellula at a site in Grant County, Nebraska, which is the first specific locale recorded for C. venusta in the state. Corythaica bellula, whose adults are only 1.98 (brachypters) to 2.20 mm long (macropters), is part of the hidden biodiversity of the vast Nebraska Sandhills.
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29 January 2021
Corythaica bellula Torre-Bueno (Hemiptera: Tingidae): Scribner's Panicgrass, Dichanthelium oligosanthes subsp. Scribnerianum, as a Host Plant in the Nebraska Sandhills
A. G. Wheeler Jr.
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Corythaica venusta
lace bug
new records
Poaceae
South Dakota