Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
In 1883, William Lucas Distant (
Wiki) tentatively described this pale Dysdercus as a new species: Dysdercus spendidus. He acknowledged that he would not be surprised if it was eventually proved to be a form of the highly variable species Dysdercus concinnus.
The only later reference I found to "Dysdercus spendidus" was by Hussey & Sherman (1929) who placed it as a variety of D. mimus: Dysdercus mimus var. splendidus Distant
Numbers
Eight spp. of Dysdercus north of Mexico per
Nearctica, but only seven spp. per other references:
(1),
(2),
(3)Range
Rio Grande Valley, Texas south to Columbia per Distant (1880-1893)
Food
Mallows, often on Turk's Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus)
Print References
Barber, H.G. 1906. Hemiptera from Southwestern Texas. Science Bulletin of the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1(9): 255-289.
Distant, W.L. 1880-1893. Biologia Centrali-Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Volume I. R.H. Porter, London.
Eaton, E.R. & K. Kaufman. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 392 pp.
Hussey, R.F. & E. Sherman. 1929. General Catalogue of the Hemiptera: Fascicle III. Pyrrhocoridae. Smith College, Northhampton, MA. 144 pp.
Van Doesburg, Jr., P.H. 1968. A revision of the New World species of Dysdercus Guérin Méneville (Heteroptera, Pyrrhocoridae). Zoologische Verhandelingen 97: 1-215.
Van Duzee, E.P. 1918. Catalogue of the Hemiptera of American North of Mexico: Excepting the Aphididae, Coccidae and Aleurodidae. Vol. 2. University of California Press, Berkeley. i-xiv + 902 pp.
Internet References
Dysdercus concinnus mundus immature - ZipcodeZoo, Bill Bouton, Santa Ana NWR, McAllen, Texas
Dysdercus concinnus - Flickr, Steve Collins, Santa Ana NWR, McAllen, Texas
Stainer Bug at the NABA Butterfly Park, Mission, TX
Dysdercus concinnus Stål, 1861 - dorso, verso of Type Specimen, Swedish Museum of Natural History
