Acanthocheila

Taxonomy

Acanthocheila Stål, 1860

Type species: Monanthia armigera Stål

Diagnostic characters

Head short, clypeus not surpassing apical half of first antennal segment; long occipital spinesoccipital spines:
a cephalic spine (one of a pair) located on the occiput or arising a short distance forward so as to be between the eyes
present; bucculaebucculae:
an elevated ridge on either side of the first labial segment
closed anteriorly, incurved; pronotumpronotum:
dorsal sclerite of the first thoracic segment
usually unicarinateunicarinate:
bearing only a median carina on pronotum; occurs when lateral carinae are absent
, lateral carinaecarinae:
elevated ridge or keel
, if present, confined to posterior projection of pronotumpronotum:
dorsal sclerite of the first thoracic segment
; pronotal hoodhood:
term used to describe the modified anterior area of the pronotum, which is sometimes tectiform and sometimes bulbous, with numerous intermediate conditions.
absent; paranotaparanota:
lateral extension of pronotum; may be carinate, explanate, or reflexed
expanded, not reflexedreflexed:
bent or curved backwards, as in a reflexed paranotum
, uniseriateuniseriate:
arranged in a single row, as in uniseriate areolae
, armed laterally with 5-10 long, stout spines; hemelytrahemelytra:
one of the basally thickened forewings of Hemiptera
with claval areaclaval area:
parallel-sided and sharply pointed anal area of hemelytron
weakly developed, almost entirely covered by posterior margin of pronotumpronotum:
dorsal sclerite of the first thoracic segment
; discoidal areadiscoidal area:
area of the forewing posterior to the subcostal area
flat, short, not extending beyond the middle of hemelytra; hypocostal laminaehypocostal laminae:
a ridge produced ventrally along costal margin
not extending to the apex of abdomen (Froeschner 1995Froeschner 1995:
Froeschner, R. C. 1995. Review of the New World lace bug genera Acanthocheila Staring;l and Carvalhotingis new genus (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 97: 331-339).

Distribution

Nearctic, Neotropical (Drake and Ruhoff 1960Drake and Ruhoff 1960:
Drake, C. J., and F. Ruhoff, A. 1960. Lace-bug genera of the world (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 112., Froeschner 1995Froeschner 1995:
Froeschner, R. C. 1995. Review of the New World lace bug genera Acanthocheila Staring;l and Carvalhotingis new genus (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 97: 331-339, Knudson 2018Knudson 2018:
Knudson, A. H. 2018. The Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of southern Central America (with an emphasis on Costa Rica). Master#39;s thesis. North Dakota University. https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/handle/10365/28773)

Interceptions at US ports of entry 1984 to 2018

Intercepted species	Shipment origin(s)	Inspected host(s)
Acanthocheila armigera (Stål, 1858)	Colombia, Mexico	Artemisia dracunculus, Brassica campestris, Brassica oleracea, Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis, Brassica sp., Chamaedorea sp., Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum sp., Origanum vulgare, Persea americana, Psidium sp.
Acanthocheila sp.	Mexico	Lactuca sativa, Ocimum basilicum

References

Drake and Ruhoff 1960Drake and Ruhoff 1960:
Drake, C. J., and F. Ruhoff, A. 1960. Lace-bug genera of the world (Hemiptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 112., Froeschner 1995Froeschner 1995:
Froeschner, R. C. 1995. Review of the New World lace bug genera Acanthocheila Staring;l and Carvalhotingis new genus (Heteroptera: Tingidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 97: 331-339, Knudson 2018Knudson 2018:
Knudson, A. H. 2018. The Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of southern Central America (with an emphasis on Costa Rica). Master#39;s thesis. North Dakota University. https://library.ndsu.edu/ir/handle/10365/28773

Additional images

Acanthocheila images at the Smithsonian