Abstract
Piesma costatum (Uhler) is a rarely collected piesmatid whose adults have been known only from the brachypterous morph; its host plants also have remained unknown. During fieldwork in the Nebraska Sandhills (2016–2018), nymphs and adults were found near Valentine in Cherry County on desert goosefoot (Chenopodium pratericola Rydb.; Chenopodiaceae). Males outnumbered females (26♂: 17♀) in late June 2017, with nearly equal numbers (23♂: 24♀) observed in mid-September. The presence of fifth instars in June and September indicate that the piesmatid is bivoltine. The first macropters (1 male, 1 female) were discovered, but they represented less than 2% of adults (n 5 115). Brachypterous adults are flightless, with their hind wings rudimentary and auricular. The bug's low vagility and patchy distribution of its host plant help explain the rareness of P. costatum in collections. Nebraska's vast Sandhills are considered a stable habitat that might favor the evolution of flightlessness, which might minimize the loss of dispersing adults and be energetically advantageous in the nearly constant winds of the Sandhills.
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