Orthocephalus sefrensis Reuter

Namyatova, Anna A. & Konstantinov, Fedor V., 2009, Revision of the genus Orthocephalus Fieber, 1858 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae) 2316, Zootaxa 2316, pp. 1-118 : 86-87

Orthocephalus sefrensis Reuter

Figures 4, 9, 13, 17

Orthocephalus sefrensis Reuter, 1895: 138 -139 .

DIAGNOSIS: Male recognized by the following combination of characters: uniformly dark brown hemelytra (fig. 4), pale brown tibiae, dark brown antennal segment I, male genitalia with two spicules, long spicule longer than dorsal wall of theca, slightly curved and twisted basally, short spicule half as long as longer spicule, comma-shaped (fig. 9). Female recognized by the same characters in color pattern, but hemelytra has pale brown stripe along claval suture (fig. 4); in addition, female can be distinguished by the presence of scalelike setae on femora and the shape of medial sclerites: twin-coned, distinctly longer than sclerotized ring, with somewhat sinuous apical process (fig. 17). It is most similar in appearance to O. fulvipes and O. saltator , but the former species can be distinguished by the always yellowish antennal segment I, whereas males of the latter species can be distinguished in having the long spicule basally straight and not twisted (fig. 8). Females of both species are barely recognizable from O. sefrensis (see discussion), but can be separated by the absence of scalelike setae on femora and the shape of medial sclerites (figs. 15, 16, 17).

REDESCRIPTION: Male: Macropterous; length 5.6. COLORATION (fig. 4): Head: Dark brown, spot near inner margin of eye indistinct, stripe along posterior margin of eye brownish, antennae and labium uniformly dark brown. Thorax: Pronotum and pleurites dark brown; evaporatorium yellowish; scutellum dark brown; coxa dark brown; femur brown, paler than coxa; tibia pale brown with darker apices; tarsus dark brown; hemelytra dark brown, paler than head, pronotum and scutellum; membrane uniformly pale brown. Abdomen: Uniformly dark brown. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: As in O. bivittatus (as in figs. 22 A-C, E, 23 A, D). STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Body 4.4× as long as width of pronotum. Head: Shape of head and eye similar to those of O. bivittatus (as in figs. 20 B, 21 A, G), 1.2.× as wide as high, vertex 1.8× as wide as eye; depression along hind margin of vertex distinct; eye located a short distance from anterior pronotal margin; antennal fossa located close to inferior margin of eye; antennal segment I as long as or somewhat longer than diameter of eye, segment II thin, not incrassate, 1.3× as long as basal width of pronotum, 1.4× as long as width of head; labium reaching middle coxa. Thorax: Pronotum 1.6× as wide as long, 1.1× as wide as head with posterior margin slightly concave, lateral margin not carinate, calli slightly raised; hind femur relatively narrow, approximately 1.5× as wide as middle femur. GENITALIA: Aedeagus with two curved spicules, long spicule twisted at middle and at base, nearly equal in length to dorsal wall of theca; short spicule half as long as long one, comparatively thin, strongly curved at middle (fig. 9); parameres as in figure 13.

Female: Brachypterous; length 4.1–4.3. COLORATION: Similar to male, but spots near inner margin of eye distinct, corium somewhat paler than clavus, with dirty yellow stripe along claval suture and outer margin of corium. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: As in male, but in addition femora clothed with scalelike setae. STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Brachypterous, body 2.5–3.6× as long as width of pronotum. Head: 1.2× as wide as high, vertex 1.9× as wide as eye. Thorax: Pronotum 1.7–2.0× as wide as long and 0.8– 1.2× as wide as head; hemelytra reaching abdominal segment VIII, cuneus of brachypterous specimens weakly delimited, claval commissure as long as inner claval margin, posterior and lateral margins of hemelytra rounded or somewhat truncate. GENITALIA: Sclerotized rings oval, medial sclerites twin-coned, distinctly longer than sclerotized ring, with somewhat sinuous apical process (fig. 17); posterior wall of bursa copulatrix with uniformly sclerotized trapeziform sclerite, incision on the anterior margin not reaching middle of sclerite, anterior angles of this sclerite somewhat dentate, posterior margin without sclerites (as in fig. 18, O. bivittatus ); vulva with curved sclerites forming a circle (as in fig. 19, O. vittipennis ).

DISTRIBUTION: Known from the two localities in the Saharan Atlas Mountains of Algeria.

HOST: Unknown

DISCUSSION: O. fulvipes , O. saltator , and O. sefrensis are very similar to each other both in appearance and genitalic structures, and it is rather hard to distinguish males and especially females in this group. Although some distinctions were found in the shape of medial sclerites (figs. 15, 16, 17), they became vague in some cases due to the considerable degree of interpopulation variability found in O. saltator . The last two species and O. fulvipes can be distinguished by the color-pattern and structure of the male genitalia. Specifically, O. fulvipes is distinguished by having antennal segment I always pale brown or yellowish and a twisted long spicule, whereas O. saltator has a dark brown to black antennal segment I and straight long spicule. Both species have rather wide, largely overlapping distributional ranges, with both species recorded from Algeria. Orthocephalus sefrensis is a poorly sampled species known exclusively from the Saharan Atlas Mountains, Algeria. Two males and two females were available for investigation; all specimens have the same antennal coloration as O. saltator , but the structure of male genitalia is similar but not identical to O. fulvipes . Moreover, females of O. sefrensis have relatively long and wide yellowish stripe along the claval suture (fig. 4), a character, never shared by O. fulvipes or O. saltator (figs. 2, 3). Thus, although examination of additional material from Algeria is highly desirable, we suggest that O. sefrensis should be a distinct species.

SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Lectotype: ALGERIA: Naama: Ain Sefra , 32.75 ° N 0.58333 ° W, collector unknown 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00235289 ) ( MNHN).

Paralectotypes: ALGERIA: Naama: Ain Sefra , 32.75 ° N 0.58333 ° W, collector unknown, 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00254840 ) ( MNHN) 1♂ ( AMNH _ PBI 00148178 ), 1♀ ( AMNH _ PBI 00254840 ) ( MNHN) .

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL: ALGERIA: Laghouat: 40 km N Aflou, 34.476 ° N 2.096 ° E, 26 Apr 1966, Eckerlein , 1♂ ( AMNH _ PBI 00268225 ) ( MHNG) .