Atheas

Taxonomy

Atheas Champion, 1898

Type species: Atheas nigricornis Champion

Diagnostic characters

Head short, clypeus not surpassing apical half of first antennal segment; cephalic spinescephalic spines:
a spine on the head
absent; antenniferous processesantenniferous processes:
the socket in which antenna is inserted in the head; also known as antennophore, antennal tubercles, or antennal process
prominent; pronotumpronotum:
dorsal sclerite of the first thoracic segment
tricarinate; pronotal hoodhood:
term used to describe the modified anterior area of the pronotum, which is sometimes tectiform and sometimes bulbous, with numerous intermediate conditions.
absent; paranotumparanotum:
lateral extension of pronotum; may be carinate, explanate, or reflexed
narrowly expanded from apex of collarcollar:
term used by some authors to refer to the anterior part of the pronotum, which may or may not be modified. In this work, we avoid using the term "collar" and use the term “hood,” for the anterior part of the pronotum when it is modified
to base of hemelytrahemelytra:
one of the basally thickened forewings of Hemiptera
, without marginal spines; bucculaebucculae:
an elevated ridge on either side of the first labial segment
closed anteriorly; rostrumrostrum:
a beak or snout, applied especially to the piercing mouth-parts of bugs and elongated snouts of weevils
short, never extending beyond the mesocoxae; hemelytrahemelytra:
one of the basally thickened forewings of Hemiptera
with claval areaclaval area:
parallel-sided and sharply pointed anal area of hemelytron
weakly developed, almost entirely covered by posterior margin of pronotumpronotum:
dorsal sclerite of the first thoracic segment
; discoidal areadiscoidal area:
area of the forewing posterior to the subcostal area
flat, long, at least half the length of hemelytrahemelytra:
one of the basally thickened forewings of Hemiptera
(Hurd 1946Hurd 1946:
Hurd, M. E. P. 1946. Generic classification of North American Tingoidea (Hemiptera-Heteroptera). The Iowa State College Journal of Science 20: 429-493., Miller, 2001)

Distribution

Nearctic, Neotropical (Drake and Ruhoff 1960Drake and Ruhoff 1960:
Drake, C. J., and F. Ruhoff, A. 1960. Lace-bug genera of the world (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 112., Miller 2001Miller 2001:
Miller, L. 2001. A taxonomic study of the genus Atheas Champion (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Insecta Mundi 15: 167ndash;179., Knudson and Rider 2017Knudson and Rider 2017:
Knudson, A. H. and Rider, D. A. 2017. First report of the genus Atheas Champion (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) in Canada. Entomological News 126: 337-342., Knudson 2018Knudson 2018:
Knudson, A. H. 2018. The Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of southern Central America (with an emphasis on Costa Rica). Master#39;s thesis. North Dakota University. https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/handle/10365/28773)

Interceptions at US ports of entry 1984 to 2018

Intercepted species	Shipment origin(s)	Inspected host(s)
Atheas fuscipes Champion, 1898	Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico	Anethum graveolens, Crotalaria longirostrata, Mentha piperita, Mentha sp., Monarda sp., Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sp., Origanum vulgare, Zea mays
Atheas insignis Heidemann, 1909	Ecuador	Aster sp.
Atheas nigricornis Champion, 1898	Guatemala, Mexico	Artemisia dracunculus, Chenopodium sp., Chrysanthemum sp., Coriandrum sativum, Limonium sp., Mentha piperita, Ocimum basilicum, Opuntia sp., Rubus sp., Tillandsia usneoides
Atheas sp.	Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico	Anethum graveolens, Apium graveolens, Cucurbita sp., Delphinium sp., Helianthus sp., Mentha arvensis, Mentha sp., Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sp., Tillandsia sp., Solidago sp., Solidaster sp.

References

Drake and Ruhoff 1960Drake and Ruhoff 1960:
Drake, C. J., and F. Ruhoff, A. 1960. Lace-bug genera of the world (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 112., Hurd 1946Hurd 1946:
Hurd, M. E. P. 1946. Generic classification of North American Tingoidea (Hemiptera-Heteroptera). The Iowa State College Journal of Science 20: 429-493., Knudson and Rider 2017Knudson and Rider 2017:
Knudson, A. H. and Rider, D. A. 2017. First report of the genus Atheas Champion (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Tingidae) in Canada. Entomological News 126: 337-342., Miller 2001Miller 2001:
Miller, L. 2001. A taxonomic study of the genus Atheas Champion (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Insecta Mundi 15: 167ndash;179., Knudson 2018Knudson 2018:
Knudson, A. H. 2018. The Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of southern Central America (with an emphasis on Costa Rica). Master#39;s thesis. North Dakota University. https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/handle/10365/28773

Additional images

Atheas images at the Smithsonian