102 Invasive Stink Bugs and Related Species (Pentatomoidea)
the abdomen. All three thoracic sterna are sulcate with the prosternal sulcus sharply margined on both
sides. The head is acuminate and elongately triangular. The male parameres are strongly F-shaped, each
with the upper ramus broad and truncate, and the middle ramus platform-shaped. The aedeagus has a
small thecal shield, and the medial penial plates are thin and rod-like.
Gross (1975b) stated that this group was clearly related to the Kumbutha group. He also indicated
that this group might be related to the Menestheus group or the Aeliini (See Section 2.2.10.7.2), based
on male genital characters. He noted that some workers had treated Macrocarenus as a member of the
Scutelleridae due to the greatly enlarged scutellum, but the male aedeagus and parameres were distinctly
pentatomoid rather than scutelleroid.
2.2.10.7.44.5 Menestheus Group This group was originally proposed to contain six Australian gen-
era. Gross (1975b) characterized the group as having the head elongate, narrowed anteriorly, with the
juga narrowly rounded, acuminate, and frequently longer than the tylus and often meeting anterior to
the tylus. The antennifers are not visible from dorsal view, and the bucculae are strongly elevated. All
thoracic sterna are sulcate with the prosternal sulcus margined on both sides by an elevated sharp ridge
that projects forward as a small tooth onto the base of the head. The scutellum is subtriangular. The
parameres are strongly C-shaped. The male aedeagus lacks a thecal shield but does possess a pair of
thin, sclerotized rods.
This group has had an interesting taxonomic history. Stål (1876) first associated several of the included
genera with the genus Dymantis, an African genus now placed in the Myrocheini (they share the sulcate
mesosternum). Kirkaldy (1909) recognized the same general group under the name Aeptini; the type
genus Aeptus is another African genus with a sulcate mesosternum, a somewhat elongate head, but its
members usually are brachypterous. Gross (1975b) also related this group with the Aeliini, but ultimately
concluded that the Australian genera had enough differences to warrant placement in their own group.
Based on Kirkaldy, we treat these genera as members of the Aeptini (see Section 2.2.10.7.3), but we are
currently studying this affiliation. Along with its possible relationship with Aeptus, there are also simi-
larities with groups with the mesosternum sulcate (e.g., the African tribe Diploxyini, the Myrocheini,
and, perhaps, the South American genus Poriptus) (see Sections 2.2.10.7.20 and 2.2.10.7.29, respec-
tively). Also, there are few characters of any significance that reliably separate this group from the
Ochisme group. Additionally, several Indian genera (Adria, Bonacialus, and Gulielmus) may also be
related to this group. Further research is needed.
2.2.10.7.44.6 Ippatha Group Gross (1975b) proposed this grouping to hold two Australian genera -
Ippatha and Bachesua. Both of these genera have the scutellum enlarged, covering most of the abdominal
dorsum (Figure 2.24F). The thoracic sterna are all sulcate, but the margins of the sulcus are not sharply
keeled; the margins are either bluntly rounded or they are depressed. Gross (1975b) further indicated that
these two genera were similar in appearance to members of the Scutelleridae, but their broad heads with
explanate margins were more reminiscent of members of the Kapunda group in the Pentatomidae. The
male parameres are flattened and strongly T-shaped. The female spermathecal duct has a dilation with a
sclerotized rod, and the spermathecal bulb is simple, ball-shaped, and lacks diverticula.
Musgrave (1930) treated these genera as members of the subfamily Graphosomatinae (= Podopinae)
(See Section 2.2.10.9), another group that often has enlarged scutella. Gross (1975b) treated the
Podopinae as two other groups at the same level as the Ippatha group - the Tar isa group and the Podops
group. He indicated that these two groups have more sharply raised margins to the thoracic sulci, and
the male genitalia do not “reveal any particular relationships with those of other groups of Australian
Pentatominae.”
2.2.10.7.44.7 Dictyotus Group This group was proposed to accommodate three Australian genera –
Dictyotus Dallas (Figure 2.22H), Paradictyotus Gross, and Utheria Gross. Its members have the tho-
racic sterna sulcate, but the sulci are lacking strongly elevated margins. The head is rather broad with the
apex broadly rounded, and the jugal margins are explanate and somewhat reflexed; these margins also
have a blunt tooth in front of each compound eye. The anterolateral pronotal margins are straight or only
feebly concave or convex (except in Utheria) and somewhat explanate. The scutellum is subtriangular.