Comparative description of the immature stages of two very similar leaf footed bugs, Holymenia clavigera (Herbst) and Anisoscelis foliacea marginella (Dallas) (Hemiptera, Coreidae, Anisoscelini)

Abstract

Comparative description of the immature stages of two very similar leaffooted bugs, Holymenia clavigera (Herbst) and Anisoscelis foliaceamarginella (Dallas) (Hemiptera, Coreidae, Anisoscelini). Holymeniaclavigera (Herbst, 1784) and Anisoscelis foliacea marginella (Dallas,1852) (Hemiptera, Coreidae) present a remarkable similarity regardingegg and nymphal morphology. On the contrary, their adult stages areremarkably different. This study describes and compares the immaturestages of these two coreid species. Excepting for the last instar andthe shape of the hind tibia from third to last instar, nymphs of bothspecies were identical in their gross morphologies and ultrastructures.However, H. clavigera was significantly larger than A. foliaceamarginella in all stages. Thus, we suggest that these species may haveevolved through evolutionary convergence, parsimony between the immaturestages after speciation, Mullerian mimicry or genetic drift.