First North American Records of the Eastern Palearctic Flat Bug Mezira subsetosa Josifov and Kerzhner (Hemiptera: Aradidae: Mezirinae) from the Mid-Atlantic States and Northern Georgia, with a Redescription, Diagnosis, and a Revised Key to the U.S. Species of Mezira

Abstract

Mezira subsetosa Josifov and Kerzhner, a mezirine aradid native to the East Palearctic Region, is newly reported from North America. Beginning in 2015, by-catch specimens were extracted from Lindgren funnel trap samples in Maryland as part of a state surveillance program monitoring for the presence of exotic bark and ambrosia beetles and other wood-boring insects. This is the first confirmed record of this aradid in the New World. Subsequent collections from similar pest surveillance trapping in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia, coupled with verifiable online images of M. subsetosa photographed at various locations in the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, support the establishment of this species in the Mid-Atlantic states. A diagnosis, redescription, high-resolution images of the adult male and female, and a revised key to U.S. species of Mezira are provided.