Integrative taxonomy of the Lauraceae-feeding species of the genus Stephanitis (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae) from Japan

Abstract

Stephanitis Stål, 1873 (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae, Tinginae, Tingini) is one of the most diverse lace bug genera in East Asia with over 50 species, many of them feeding on Ericaceae and Lauraceae. The Japanese species feeding on Lauraceae have high intraspecific and poor interspecific variation, so identification of some previous distribution records (mainly S. (Norba) aperta Horváth, 1912 and closely related taxa) is doubtful. In the present study, 5,080 specimens of Lauraceae-feeding species of Stephanitis from Japan were identified to species based on morphology, and DNA barcodes of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit (COI) region for 53 of those individuals were also obtained. The combined morphological and molecular evidence dataset showed that 10 species of Stephanitis feed on lauraceous trees in Japan: S. (Stephanitis) ambigua Horváth, 1912, S. (Norba) aperta, S. (N.) exigua Horváth, 1912, S. (N.) hayashiisp. nov., S. (N.) hiurai Takeya, 1963, S. (N.) ishikawaisp. nov., S. (N.) mendica Horváth, 1912, S. (S.) tabidula Horváth, 1912, S. (S.) takeyai Drake & Maa, 1955 and S. (S.) tomokuniisp. nov. Additionally, a new synonymy, S. (S.) fasciicarina Takeya, 1931, syn. nov. with S. (S.) tabidula, is proposed, a key for identifying the 10 species is provided and their distribution ranges and host plant relationships are presented.