Zaratus Distant, 1909

Yasunaga, Tomohide, 2012, Review of the phyline plant bug tribe Auricillocorini from Asia, with descriptions of a new genus and nine new species from Japan, Nepal and Thailand (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Zootaxa 3530, pp. 1-24 : 21

Zaratus Distant, 1909

( Figs. 1 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 12 )

Zaratus Distant, 1909: 59 (n. gen.), type species by original designation, Z. repandus Distant, 1909 ; Distant, 1910: 264 (redesc.); Schuh, 1974: 315 (note); Schuh, 1995: 211 (cat.).

Diagnosis. Recognized primarily by the following characters: body more or less antlike; basic coloration yellowish or amber brown; dorsum shiny, with sparse vestiture; head short; eyes small; vertex wide, about half as wide as head including eyes, with a narrow, but continuous, basal carina; pronotum shiny, medially constricted, with a narrow collar; scutellum small; hemelytron with white maculae or bands around scutellum and on posterior corium; cuneal fracture straight, horizontal; leg relatively long; parempodia weakly fleshy, apically convergent. Male genitalia: See description for the new species below. Female genitalia: Not examined; a sole, antique specimen (holotype of Z. repandus deposited in the Natural History Museum, London) collected a century before is only present (http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20l?id=AMNH_PBI00085521).

Discussion. Schuh (1984) and Kerzhner & Josifov (1999) imply that Zaratus and Cleotomiroides may be congeneric. However, present examination of the male genitalia of the following new species reveals these are undoubtedly independent genera. Based upon sharing the simple form of the endosoma and some synapomorphies, Zaratus is considered to be sister to Auricillocoris ( Fig. 12 ). Because a single specimen is merely available for each sex so far, no additional information is available.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus images of Artchawakomius species (A – D) and Zaratus hidekun (E – F), living individuals taken in Thailand. A – B A. pius: A, holotype male (AMNH _ PBI 00379513); B, female (00379514). C – D A. moteus: C, paratype male (00379512); D, holotype male (00379511). E – F Z. hidekun, holotype male (00379510).

FIGURE 3. Metathoracic scent-efferent system of 10 nominal species of Auricillocorini named on the figure.

FIGURE 7. Male genitalia of Cleotomiris tobii and Zaratus hidekun named on the figure.

FIGURE 8. Habitus images of species of Artchawakomius, Cleotomiris, Cleotomiroides, Wygomiris and Zaratus named on the figure.

FIGURE 12. Inferred phylogenetic relationships of Auricillocorini, modified from Schuh (1984). Numbers of apomorphic states of characters corresponding to those mentioned in Appendix section; homoplasious characters indicated by italics.