Anthocoris kmenti, Moulet & Ghahari & Ostovan, 2017

Moulet, Pierre, Ghahari, Hassan & Ostovan, Hadi, 2017, A new species of Anthocoris from Iran (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 57 (2), pp. 473-478 : 474-477

Anthocoris kmenti sp. nov.

( Figs 1–7 )

Type locality. Iran, Mazandaran, Behshahr, 36°41′N 53°44′E, 57 m a.s.l.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ Holotype, Anthocoris kmenti Moulet, Ghahari & Ostovan n. sp., P. Moulet det. 2017 [printed, red label] / Behshahr, 36°41′N 53°44′E (Mazandaran province), 6.viii.2014, leg. H. Ghahari, on Rubus idaeus (Linnaeus) (Rosaceae) [printed, white label]’. The abdomen, pygophore and paramere are attached to the label with the specimen. PARATYPE: J, same labels as holotype, except ‘Paratype’. Both types are deposited in the Museum Requien, Avignon, France.

Description. General morphology. Body elongate, sides sub-parallel ( Fig. 1 ). Head black ( Fig. 2 ); apex of clypeus slightly paler (reddish brown); white, transparent, fine, stiff, long erect setae on clypeus, shorter elsewhere. Median line from posterior third of clypeus until “neck” glabrous. Eyes with some scarce stiff and very short setae. Ocelli red and very close to eyes. Antennae ( Fig. 3 ) with white semi-erect setae, the longest as long as the diameter of the 2 nd antennal segment at base; third and fourth antennal segments with numerous setae much longer and nearly perpendicular to the axis of the segment; first segment cylindrical, dark brown; second and third segments mostly yellowish, regularly widened from base to apex, second segment with base and apical quarter brown; third segment darkened on the apical half; fourth segment fusiform, uniformly more or less dark brown, very slightly paler at apex.

Pronotum black; collar broad, transversally striate; lateral margins slightly concave in posterior half; posterior margin deeply and broadly concave. Humeral angles pale brown to beige, broadly rounded. Disc not punctate, shagreened with very low gloss. Anterior rim smooth with few transverse striations, slightly raised relative to disc surface, and indistinguishable laterally, a very faint medial longitudinal furrow. Posterior part of pronotum (behind the rim) very slightly depressed in the middle; white or light yellow setae, semi-erect, separated from each other by a distance of 0.75–1.0 times the length of a seta.

Scutellum triangular, black, very finely punctured with fine, white, soft, erect or slightly curved setae, and apical part (from the middle to the apex) inclined relative to the basal part and weakly striate transversally.

Corium translucent, moderately shiny (incl. cuneus). Clavus light brown, slightly darker at ends; a pale lenticular spot along its external suture. Corium very slightly concave in its apical third; whitish on the apical half, light brown on the posterior half; exocorium brown with a discolored spot on the apical half. Cuneus dark brown, cuneal fracture yellowish. Scattered, stiff, semi-erect yellow or white setae, on cuneus and exocorium, even fewer and finer on corium. Membrane smoky brown except its base, which is whitish.

Dorsum and connexivum blackish-brown. Evaporatorium ( Fig. 4 ) auriculate; margins sinuous, convergent and forming an acute tip both externally and internally; surface of evaporatorium shagreened; ostiole short and narrow.

Femora brown, very slightly paler near the junction with tibia. Tibiae orange yellow to light brown; metatibiae slightly darkened (paratype). Tarsi 3-segmented, brownish; claws hooked. Ventral surface of abdomen completely black; coxae and trochanters yellowish; fore trochanters widely brown at the apex. First rostral joint dark brown; second cylindrical, becoming slightly paler from base to apex; third segment light brown.

Paramere ( Figs 5–7 ) yellow, lamellate, basal part finely striate. Apical part (above the furrow) wider than the basal part; superior margin sinuous; the tip in the form of a short, hooked beak.

Measurements (holotype / paratype, in mm). Body length: 3.43/3.52; head length: 0.48/0.48; head width across eyes: 0.49/0.49; length of antennal segments: I – 0.15/0.16, II – 0.49/0.51, III – 0.28/missing, IV – 0.39/missing; pronotal length: 0.57/0.60; pronotal width at the level of the anterior angles: 0.45/0.48; pronotal width at the level of the humeral angles: 1.09/1.12; scutellum length: 0.6/0.75, hind tibia length: 0.9/1.03.

Differential diagnosis. Anthocoris kmenti sp. nov. belongs to the A. nemorum species-group which consists of nine Palaearctic species: A. alpinus Zheng, 1984 ( China) , A. expansus Bu, 1995 ( China) , A. kerzhneri Bu & Zheng, 2001 ( China) , A. limbatus Fieber, 1836 (Palaearctic) , A. montanus Zheng, 1984 ( China) , A. nemorum (Linnaeus, 1761) (Palaearctic) , A. pericarti Bu & Zheng, 2001 ( China) , A. qinlingensis Bu & Zheng, 1990 ( China) and A. zoui Bu & Zheng, 2001 ( China) ( BU & ZHENG 2001).

Anthocoris kmenti is similar to other species of Palaearctic distribution, A. nemorum (Linnaeus, 1761) and A. limbatus Fieber, 1836 and the Chinese species, A. pericarti Bu & Zheng, 2001 . With respect to the general colouration, A. kmenti is close to A. limbatus and A. nemorum : corium pale, darker basally, clavus brown with lenticular pale spot; but the posterior part of the pronotum of A. limbatus is pale (unlike A. nemorum and A. kmenti ). The colour of the second antennal segment of A. limbatus (pale basal half, dark apical half) is different from that of A. kmenti which is dark only at base (narrowly) and apex (more broadly); in A. nemorum the segment II is pale except at the extreme apex. The paramere of A. kmenti is quite different from that of the other species of the group. In A. pericarti , the apical part is very broad, shorter than the basal part and does not reach the tip; the latter is differentiated into a strong and long hooked process. In A. limbatus and A. nemorum , the apical part of the paramere is broad and overlaps the basal part toward the tip; the tip is regularly tapered and not differentiated into a beak; the superior margin is regularly convex in A. limbatus and A. nemorum and sinuous in A. kmenti .

Etymology. The new species is kindly dedicated to Petr Kment (National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic) for helping the authors on multiple occasions.

Plant association. Rubus idaeus (Linnaeus) (Rosaceae) ( Fig. 8 ).

Biology. Based upon observations of the second author, A. kmenti was an active predator of the whitefly Pealius setosus Danzig, 1964 ( Hemiptera : Aleyrodidae ). These observations, however, do not necessarily indicate that A. kmenti is a specialized predator, as no other species of insects could be found on R. idaeus at the type locality. Pealius setosus was listed from Iran by EVANS (2007) and its main host plants are Juniperus spp. (Cupressaceae) , Fragaria vesca (Linnaeus) and Rubus spp. (Rosaceae) ( EVANS 2007).

Distribution. Anthocoris kmenti is so far known only from Mazandaran province, north Iran.

Figures

Figs 1–7. Anthocoris kmenti sp. nov. 1 – body in dorsal view (excluding head) (scale 1 mm); 2 – head in dorsal view (scale 0.5 mm); 3 – antenna (scale 0.2 mm); 4 – ostiole, peritreme and evaporatorium (scale 0.1 mm); 5–7 – paramere in different positions (scale 0.05 mm).

Fig. 8. The collecting site of Anthocoris kmenti sp. nov. in Behshahr (northern Iran) with growth of Rubus idaeus in front.