Geocoris (Geocoris) montandoniellus Kiritshenko, 1915

Linnavuori, Rauno E., 2011, Studies on the Cimicomorpha and Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Khuzestan and the adjacent provinces of Iran, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 51 (1), pp. 21-48 : 34-37

Geocoris (Geocoris) montandoniellus Kiritshenko, 1915

( Figs. 2–5 )

Ophthalmicus luridus (misidentification): FERRARI (1874): 153; MONTANDON (1913): 249.

Geocoris montandoniellus Kiritshenko, 1915: 92 (as a new name for G. luridus sensu Fer r ar i (1874)); Kir it shenko (1924): 14 (duplicite proposal of the new name).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE: 1 ♀, Persia, G. Doria ( Coll. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale “ Giacomo Doria ”, Genoa, Italy).

Additional material examined. FARS: 10 km S of Deh Bid, 2000 m a.s.l., 1J (macropterous), 1J (brachypterous), 1 ♀, 14.vi.1996.

Redescription. Length: JJ 3.0– 3.25 mm, ♀ 3.5 mm.

Colouration. Shiny. Yellow-brown. Eyes pale greyish with reddish tinge. Antennomere 1 in female yellow, laterally darkened, other segments blackish, extreme apex of antennomeres

2 and 3 whitish; antennomeres 2 and 3 in male broadly yellow-brown. Rostrum dark brown. Punctures of pronotum and scutellum dark. Membranes of hemelytra pale. Dorsum of abdomen blackish, paratergites pale. Venter in J blackish, laterally pale, in ♀ paler. Legs pale.

Structure. Body in J 2.5–2.9 times, in ♀ 2.6 times as long as basal width of pronotum. Head and anterior part of pronotum with short pale hairs. Head 1.05–1.14 (J) or 1.03 (♀) times as broad as basal width of pronotum, 2.5–2.6 times as broad as long in middle; ocular index 2.32–2.57 (J), 2.82 (♀). Antennae with short pale hairs; proportions between antennomeres 11: 25: 20: 30 (J), 15: 28: 21: 29 (♀); antennomere 2 (J ♀) 0.33 times as long as basal width of pronotum. Rostrum extending to middle coxae. Pronotum (J ♀) 1.53–1.75 times as broad as long, lateral margins slightly insinuated; disk, excluding calli and basal margin, densely and coarsely punctate. Scutellum 1.1–1.2 times as long as broad, densely and strongly punctate with T-shaped impunctate area. Puncturing on hemelytra finer, clavus with a row of punctures; corium, excluding lateral margins, densely punctate; membranes of brachypterous form extending to apex of tergite VI. Ventral surface of thorax densely punctate; abdominal venter covered with dense pale hairs. Male genitalia: pygophore and paramere as in Fig. 5 A–B . Differential diagnosis. A revision of the genus Geocoris Fallén, 1814 from the former USSR and Mongolia was published by KERZHNER (1979). Geocoris montandoniellus is apparently closely related to G. limbatellus (Horváth, 1895) ( Fig. 7A ) from Central Asia. Geocoris limbatellus is somewhat bigger, length 3.5–3.7 mm, generally with dark areas on dorsum and brachypterous; pronotum with very sparse large punctures. Other pale-coloured related species differ in the following characters: Geocoris pattakumensis Kiritshenko, 1914 (Central Asia) has totally pale antennae, sparser puncturing on pronotum and scutellum, and corium basally Fig. 6. Geocoris fedtschenkoi Reuter , largely impunctate. Geocoris fedtschenkoi Reuter, 1885 1885 , female. (Figs. 6, 7B–G) (Eremian, extending from North Africa to Central Asia) resembles G. montandoniellus in colouration, but it is bigger, length 3.5–4.2 mm, has finer and sparser puncturing on pronotum and scutellum, corium with two puncture rows along claval suture, mesocorium with a few fine punctures only apically, and a row of punctures along radius. Colouration of G. fedtschenkoi is also variable as in Fig. 7B–E , and male genitalia ( Fig. 7F–G ) are different. Geocoris phaeopterus (Germar, 1838) ( Fig. 8A–E ) (Saharo-Sindien, extending from the Mediterranean area to tropical Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan), 3.2–4.0 mm long, is pale-coloured, and differs in the finer and very dense puncturing and corium with two rows of punctures along claval suture, otherwise being largely impunctate; and with the unique pronotal middle carina.

Comments. Collected in a mountain meadow. Endemic to Iran.

Figures

Figs. 2–5. Geocoris montandoniellus Kiritshenko, 1915. 2 – general habitus, female; 3 – dorsal view of head and apical part of pronotum of female; 4 – general habitus, male; 5 – male genitalia (A – pygophore; B – paramere).

Fig. 7. A – Geocoris limbatellus (Horváth, 1885); B – G. fedtschenkoi Reuter, 1885: B–E – variability of colouring of head, pronotum and scutellum; F – pygophore; G – paramere (after KERZHNER 1979).

Fig. 8. Geocoris phaeopterus (Germar, 1838):A – male; B–E – variability of head, pronotum and scutellum (after PÉRICART 1999).