Strongylocoris, BLANCHARD, 1840

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2012, The Halticini of the world (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): generic reclassification, phylogeny, and host plant associations, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (3), pp. 558-658 : 639-642

STRONGYLOCORIS BLANCHARD ( FIGS 4 , 57–58 )

Strongylocoris Blanchard, 1840: 140 (gen. nov.; type species: Strongylocoris leucocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 by monotypy); Costa, 1853: 48 (descr.); Puton, 1886: 53 (cat.); Atkinson, 1890: 119 (cat.); Reuter, 1891: 26, 157 (descr., key); Saunders, 1892: 258 (key, descr.); Hueber, 1906: 2, 32 (key, descr.); Kirkaldy, 1906: 130 (cat.); Reuter, 1910: 148 (cat.); Oshanin, 1910: 799 (cat.); Van Duzee, 1916: 211 (key); Van Duzee, 1917: 276 (cat.); Van Duzee, 1921: 135 (key spp.); Knight, 1923: 498 (key); Blatchley, 1926: 803 (key spp.); Stichel, 1933: 235 (key); Hedicke, 1935: 58 (key); Knight, 1938: 1 (note); Knight, 1941: 75, 78 (key, key spp.); Hsiao, 1942: 254 (key); China, 1943: 267 (cat.); Froeschner, 1949: 139 (key spp.); Slater, 1950: 52 (female genitalia); Kiritshenko, 1951: 127 (key); Wagner, 1952: 95, 99 (key, descr.); Carvalho, 1952: 74 (cat.); Carvalho, 1955: 68 (key); Wagner, 1956: 277 (descr., disc. of generic limits); Carvalho, 1958: 32 (cat.); Southwood & Leston, 1959: 246 (key); Wagner, 1961: 49 (key, diag.); Kerzhner, 1964a: 967 (diag., key); Wagner & Weber, 1964: 258 (syn., descr., key); Wagner, 1973: 18 (descr., key); Schuh, 1995: 71 (cat.).

Stiphrosomus Fieber, 1858: 312 [gen. (syn. by Reuter, 1888: 284); Carvalho, 1958: 33 (cat.)].

Stiphrosoma Fieber, 1861: 280 (emendation of Stiphrosomus Fieber, 1858 ).

Diagnosis: Characterized by the following combination of characters: head broad and short, posterior margin closely adpressed to pronotum; pronotum broad, with posterior margin weakly declivent and convex; pronotum and hemelytra punctate; bursa copulatrix complex ( Fig. 58G ).

Redescription: Broad and oval, both sexes macropterous, in some species male longer and more slender than female. Coloration ( Fig. 4 ): variable, often black, brown, or tinged red or blue, often with yellow or yellow-brown markings. Legs sometimes concolourous, sometimes partly yellow, yellow-brown, or red. Surface and vestiture ( Figs 4 , 57A–G ): body clothed in dark or pale simple setae; often with undercoating of short setae interspersed with longer setae; antennae and legs with semi-erect spines. Head glossy, sometimes finely rugulose; pronotum and hemelytron densely, shallowly punctate, callosite region bilaterally impunctate; scutellum sometimes rugulose or punctuate; remainder of body impunctate. Structure: head ( Figs 4 , 57A–C ): transverse, slightly broader than anterior of pronotum, broader than tall; vertex with transverse bisinuate depression, posterior margin slightly concave, carinate, generally touching pronotum or nearly so; eye short and tall; head height about two times eye height; frons medially rounded, laterally shallowly depressed; base of clypeus not strongly delimited from frons; bucculae very thin. Labium ( Fig. 57C ): LI thick, length approximately equal to genae height. Antennae ( Figs 4 , 57A ): insertion well below eyes; short, less than half body length; AI not swollen, length subequal to eye height. Thorax ( Figs 4 , 57A–D ): pronotum trapezoidal, broad, collar obsolete; callosite region weakly defined, humeral angles smoothly rounded, posterior margin weakly declivent, rounded or straight; mesoscutum not visible; scutellum small, weakly convex; metathoracic spiracle small and tear shaped, surrounded with thin strip of evaporative bodies; MTG obsolete. Hemelytra ( Fig. 4 ): broad, lateral margin evenly rounded; R + M vein long and close to costal margin; cuneus sort and broad; membrane short, with two cells; membrane and cuneus often steeply declivent. Legs ( Figs 4 , 57E ): short; pretarsi without pulvilli. Male genitalia ( Figs 57F, G , 58A–C ): pygophore conical, basally broad; both parameres extending somewhat from pygophore; left paramere L-shaped, sensory lobe broad and rounded, apophysis curved, sometimes twisted, apically hooked; right paramere extremely long, apically spoon-shaped; phallotheca short, thick, abruptly narrowing from midpoint to apex (in Strongylocoris leucocephalus apical portion compressed from all sides to form dorsal, ventral, and lateral carinas, dorsally with scale-like texturing); ductus seminis short and thick, with flexible ribbing; secondary gonopore elongate and cupped, with prised operculum opening ventrally; endosoma simple, in at least one species ( St. leucocephalus ) with three or four minute sclerotized spicules. Female genitalia ( Fig. 57D, E ): structure of bursa copulatrix complex; sclerotized rings laterally and posteriorly strongly sclerotized, becoming indistinct anteriorly, lateral and medial margins strongly upturned; DLP and VLP closely adpressed in parts, sclerotized, portions adjacent to either side of sclerotized rings folded upwards with rings, medial portion forming a curved, cylindrical enclosure; VLP adjacent to rami weakly sclerotized; DLP medially forming a weakly sclerotized plate; posterior wall simple and membranous, laterally sometimes with fields of spines; opening of vestibulum symmetrical, medial margins of first gonapophyses moderately swollen, medial margins of vestibular opening weakly sclerotized.

Diversity and distribution: Strongylocoris exhibits a Palaearctic distribution, with most of the 16 species found in the Mediterranean.

Included species: Strongylocoris amabilis ( Douglas & Scott, 1868) Egypt; Israel

Strongylocoris atrocoeruleus ( Fieber, 1864) south Europe

Strongylocoris cicadifrons Costa, 1853 Europe; Israel

Strongylocoris coerulescens Lindberg, 1940 Morocco

Strongylocoris enki Linnavuori, 1984 Iraq

Strongylocoris erythroleptus Costa, 1853 Italy

Strongylocoris ferreri Ribes & Pagola-Carte, 2007 Spain

Strongylocoris franzi Wagner, 1955 Spain

Strongylocoris leucocephalus ( Linnaeus, 1758) * Palaearctic

Strongylocoris luridus ( Fallén, 1807) * Europe

Strongylocoris niger ( Herrich-Schäeffer, 1835) Europe

Strongylocoris oberthuri Reuter, 1905c France

Strongylocoris obscurus ( Rambur, 1839) Mediterranean

Strongylocoris raimondoi Carapezza, 1991 Italy

Strongylocoris seabrai Schmidt, 1939 Portugal; Spain

Strongylocoris steganoides ( Sahlberg, 1875) * Austria; Russia; Sweden

Biology and host plant associations: Host species are recorded for nine species of Strongylocoris ( Table 1). Virtually all are associated with asterids, whereas a single species, St. luridus , has been collected on the rosid species Calicotome villosa (Fabaceae) ( Pericart, 1965).

Remarks: Three species of Strongylocoris were dissected in this study ( St. leucocephalus , St. luridus , and St. steganoides ). In all three the female genitalia bear the same diagnostic characters, most notably the unique structure of the bursa copulatrix. More specimens must be examined in order to determine the degree of variation in this character complex across the genus.

Figures

Figure 4. Photographs of Halticini genera: Labops–Strongylocoris. Abbreviations: F, female; M, male.

Figure 57. Scanning electron micrograph images of Strongylocoris niger (male). A, head and pronotum, dorsal view; B, head, anterior view; C, head and thorax, lateral view; D, meso- and metathorax, lateral view; E, tarsus; F, pygophore, lateral view; G, pygophore, ventrolateral view.

Figure 58. Male and female genitalia of Strongylocoris leucocephalus. A, left paramere; B, right paramere; C, aedeagus; D, secondary gonopore; E, posterior wall; F, first gonapophyses, ventral view; G, bursa copulatrix, dorsal view.