An illustrated key to the lace bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae) from “Oriental Galapagos” (the Ogasawara Islands, Japan), with descriptions of three new species of the endemic genus Omoplax Horváth, 1912

By

Souma, Jun

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-8-29

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1250

Pages

243--284

Subjects

Allopatric distribution , East Asia , Endemic taxa , host plant , Lauraceae , Oceanian Region , oceanic island , phytophagous insect

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1250.160064

 

Abstract

The lace bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae) from the Ogasawara Islands, Japan, which are known as “Oriental Galapagos”, are taxonomically revised. The following eight species belonging to the two endemic genera, Acanthomoplax Souma & Kamitani, 2021 (Tinginae, Tingini) or Omoplax Horváth, 1912 (Tinginae, Tingini) are recognized from the islands: A. tomokunii Souma & Kamitani, 2021, O. desecta (Horváth, 1912), O. hisasueisp. nov., O. inugususp. nov., O. karubei Souma, 2022, O. kobugashisp. nov., O. majorcarinae Guilbert, 2001, and O. mukojimensis Souma, 2022. In previous studies published in the 2020s, O. inugususp. nov. and O. kobugashisp. nov. were misidentified as O. majorcarinae, while O. majorcarinae, re-diagnosed in the present study, was confused with O. desecta. Host plants for seven of the eight species, excluding O. mukojimensis, were revealed based on field and captive observations. Five of these seven species—A. tomokunii, O. hisasueisp. nov., O. inugususp. nov., O. kobugashisp. nov., and O. majorcarinae—feed on evergreen lauraceous trees. An illustrated key is also provided to identify all eight lace bug species from the Ogasawara Islands. Moreover, differences in host plants and distribution ranges of the eight endemic species are also discussed. Future research directions necessary for the conservation of endemic lace bugs are proposed.