Myrmecophyes nasutus Drapolyuk, 1989

Konstantinov, Fedor V. & Simov, Nikolay, 2018, Review of the subgenus Plumiger of Myrmecophyes, with description of a new species (Heteroptera, Miridae, Halticini), ZooKeys 796, pp. 215-239 : 229-230

Myrmecophyes nasutus Drapolyuk, 1989 Figs 11-13, 27, 41-43, 47, 48, 54, 57, 61, 64

Myrmecophyes (Plumiger) nasutus Drapolyuk, 1989: 125; figs 40-45, 52, 53.

Material examined.

Holotype: GEORGIA: Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti: Korel’dash, 42.9183°N, 43.144°E, 26 Jul 1957, Akramovskaya, 1♂ (AMNH_PBI 00261441) (ZISP). Paratypes: GEORGIA: Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti: Korel’dash, 42.9183°N, 43.144°E, 26 Jul 1957, Akramovskaya, 2♀ (AMNH_PBI 00271200, AMNH_PBI 00271201) (ZISP); 30 Jul 1957, Akramovskaya, 1♂ (AMNH_PBI 00261442), 23♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261639-AMNH_PBI 00261661) (ZISP). Lentekhi, Svanetia, 42.78333°N, 42.7°E, 10 Aug 1957, Akramovskaya, 3♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261674-AMNH_PBI 00261676) (ZISP). Tsena, Svanetia, 42.8789°N, 43.1519°E, 25 Jul 1957, Akramovskaya, 15♀ (AMNH_PBI 00271197-AMNH_PBI 00271199, AMNH_PBI 00261662-AMNH_PBI 00261673) (ZISP). Zarsky Pass, Lentekhi Distr., 42.91666°N, 43.16666°E, 27 Jul 1957, Akramovskaya, 3♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261677-AMNH_PBI 00261679) (ZISP). Mtskheta-Mtianeti: Kazbek Mt., 42.68333°N, 44.46666°E, 17 Jul 1910, Unknown collector, 1♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261685) (ZISP).

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from other Plumiger spp. by the larger size (Figs 11-13), distinctly bulging clypeus (Figure 27), non-shiny head and abdomen, harpoon-shaped left paramere with two subapical recurved denticles (Figs 41, 42), and long, narrow, distinctly attenuate sclerotized rings of dorsal labiate plate (Figs 54, 57). The diagnosis and remarks for M. tomi include a discussion of the distinctive features.

Redescription.

Male. Total length 3.8-3.9. Coloration (Figure 11): Black, with pale brown apices of femora and dirty white transverse stripe along apex of wing pad. Surface and vestiture: As in generic diagnosis. Structure: Body 4.2-4.6 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Head: Clypeus strongly bulging apically, concave and apically rectangular in lateral view (Figure 27), apically dilated, broadly rounded in frontal view; vertex 2.1-2.2 × as wide as eye; antennal segment I strongly swollen, relatively long, 1.3-1.4 × as long as length of pronotum, segment II gradually curved along entire length and somewhat flattened apically, long, 1.8-1.9 × as long as I, 1.8-1.9 × as long as width of pronotum at middle, and 1.2-1.3 × as long as width of head. Thorax: Pronotum at middle 1.3-1.5 × as wide as long, 0.7 × as wide as head; hind tibia 3.8-4.2 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Genitalia: genital capsule about 0.4 of abdomen; left paramere as in M. tomi but slightly larger, with two subapical recurved denticles (Figs 41, 42); right paramere similar to that of M. tomi but larger and equipped with larger apical tooth on inner margin (Figure 43); endosoma of aedeagus voluminous, membranous, with three large, folded, minutely dentate and slightly sclerotized eversible lobes (Figs 47, 48).

Female. Body larger on average, total length 4.2-4.5. Coloration: Similar to male, but antennal segment I ranging from dirty orange to entirely black, coxae usually entirely or at least apically dirty orange, femora from entirely dirty orange to black, with apices dirty orange (Figs 12, 13). Surface and vestiture: As in M. tomi sp. n. Structure: Body 4.1-4.6 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Head: Clypeus convex, not bulging apically; vertex 2.0-2.4 × as wide as eye; antennal segment I slightly and uniformly swollen, short, equal to length of pronotum, segment II thin, straight and rod-shaped, 2.2-2.4 × as long as I, 1.4-1.6 × as long as width of pronotum at middle, and 1.1-1.2 × as long as width of head. Thorax: Pronotum at middle 1.5 × as wide as long, 0.7-.0.8 × as wide as head; hind tibia 3.2-3.3 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Genitalia: Sclerotized rings of dorsal labiate plate long and narrow, gradually curved, with apices gradually attenuated (Figs 54, 61); interramal sclerites flat, finely striated (Figure 57).

Distribution.

Known from several localities in northern Georgia along the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain range (Figure 64).

Discussion.

Drapolyuk (1989) diagnosed M. nasutus as having the aedeagus with a single spicula, although her figure 45 shows a membranous and finely dentate lobe of the endosoma. We observed that the eversible lobes of the endosoma in M. nasutus and M. tomi sp. n. are faintly sclerotized but effectively devoid of spiculae.