Six new species and new distributional records of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Coreidae) from Central and North America

Abstract

Six new species of Acanthocephala Laporte, 1833 (Coreidae, Acanthocephalini) are described: Acanthocephala distanti sp. n. (Panama), Acanthocephala gamboensis sp. n. (Panama), Acanthocephala latiantennata sp. n. (Mexico and United States), Acanthocephala maculata sp. n. (Mexico), Acanthocephala nigra sp. n. (Costa Rica), and Acanthocephala rufa sp. n. (Panama). The descriptions include novel characters from the external morphology and from the male and female genitalia. For each species, we provide a habitus photograph of the adult, as well as photographs of diagnostic characters and of the male and female genitalia. Affinities with the other species of the genus are discussed. New distributional records of Acanthocephala heissi Brailovsky, 2006 from Guatemala and of Acanthocephala affinis (Walker, 1871) and Acanthocephala angustipes (Westwood, 1842) from Panama are provided.