Lobicris Putshkov, 1977

Konstantinov, Fedor V., 2023, Plant bugs with swollen antennae: a morphology-based phylogenetic analysis of Heterocapillus Wagner, 1960 and related genera (Hemiptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 81, pp. 845-879 : 845

5.7. Lobicris Putshkov, 1977 stat. nov.

Lobicris Putshkov, 1977: 368 (as a subgenus of Salicarus ).

Type species.

By original designation: Neocoris basalis Reuter, 1878.

Diagnosis.

Recognized by the following combination of characters: head strongly declivent, with slightly attenuate posterior margin of vertex (Fig. 5C ); antenna short, segment II distinctly shorter than basal width of pronotum in both sexes; dorsum dark brown, hemelytron with narrowly whitish claval suture and wide whitish stripe at base of cuneus (Fig. 4F, G ); hind tibia with darkened base; dorsum clothed with moderately flattened, apically acuminate silver scalelike setae; claw with relatively wide base, strongly bent apicad midpoint, pulvillus large, surpassing midpoint of claw, apically free (Fig. 7J ); vesica strongly bent at middle, composed of three straps (Fig. 10Q-S ); lateral strap with several longitudinal ridges; portion of one strap abruptly terminating at middle of vesica; secondary gonopore large and distinctly sculptured, with large C-shaped sclerotized band at base; apex of vesica with two thin sclerotized blades and partly inflatable, finely serrate membranous lobe.

Lobicris is related to the genera Heterocapillus , Phaeochiton , Europiella , and Plagiognathus (see Discussion) but may be distinguished by the inflatable, finely serrate membranous lobe at the apex of vesica. This feature is highly unusual for Palaearctic phylines and to my knowledge is known only in otherwise unrelated Sthenarus spp. (Fig. 10V ).

Redescription.

Male. Macropterous, oval, total length 3.4-3.6. Coloration: Dorsum dark brown, with wide whitish stripe at base of cuneus (Fig. 4F ); head dark brown, usually with dirty whitish posterior margin of vertex, rarely uniformly dark brown; antennomere I dirty yellow, with darkened base and large dark brown spot on mesial surface, rarely almost uniformly brown, segment II dark brown, rarely pale brown with darkened basal part, segments III and IV somewhat paler than segment II; pronotum, scutellum, thoracic pleura, and coxae uniformly dark brown; femora dirty yellow, with a few dark brown round spots at bases of subapical spines, hind femur sometimes with more or less darkened apical third; tibiae with dark brown spot at base and round brown spots at bases of tibial spines; tarsi dirty yellow, sometimes apically darkened; hemelytron dark brown, claval suture usually narrowly whitish, base of cuneus with wide transverse whitish band and usually with narrowly whitish apex, membrane uniformly brown to pale brown, with apically whitish veins; abdomen uniformly dark brown. Surface and vestiture: Smooth, shining; dorsum clothed with a mixture of dense, moderately flattened, apically acuminate silver scalelike setae and long, scarce, adpressed, goldish simple setae; appendages with short, adpressed, whitish simple setae; thoracic pleura and pregenital abdomen segments with long, adpressed, simple setae, genital segment with short adpressed simple setae; each femur with a few dark spines apically, tibial spines dark brown. Structure: Head moderately produced anteriorly in dorsal view, strongly declivent; clypeus weakly produced, barely visible in dorsal view; eyes occupying 3/4 of height of head in lateral view, posterolateral margins of eyes contiguous with anterolateral margins of pronotum; antennal fossa located slightly above ventral margin of eye; segment I short, cylindrical, about 1.5 times as wide as segment II; segment II slender, linear, slightly wider than segments III and IV; labium reaching or surpassing mesocoxa. Thorax: Trapezoidal, about twice as broad as long, with indistinct calli; mesonotum moderately exposed; metathoracic scent-gland evaporatory area narrowly triangular. Tarsal segment I twice shorter than II, segments II and III subequal in length; claw with relatively wide base, strongly bent apicad midpoint, pulvillus large, surpassing midpoint of claw, apically free (Fig. 7I ). Genitalia: Genital capsule large and wide, more than half of abdomen, strongly sclerotized, without distinct ornamentation. Right paramere short, broadly oval, gradually tapering apically (Fig. 10O ). Left paramere with long and narrow sensory lobe and long, straight, basally upturned apical process (Fig. 10P ). Apex of phallotheca as in Fig. 10T , with subapical step-shaped projection ventrally. Vesica large and strongly sclerotized, strongly bent at middle, with portion of one strap abruptly terminating at middle of vesica, lateral strap of vesica equipped with several longitudinal sclerotized ridges (Fig. 10Q-S ); secondary gonopore subapical, large, oval, distinctly sculptured, with large C-shaped sclerotized band at base; apex of vesica with partly inflatable, finely serrate membranous lobe and with two thin apical blades, smaller one nearly straight, larger blade curved at middle, apically twin-coned. - Female. Coloration, surface and vestiture, structure: As in male, with almost no sexual dimorphism. Body somewhat bigger in average (see Table 1 ), antennomere II usually slightly thinner than in male, brown with darkened base, rarely uniformly dark to pale brown. Genitalia: Sclerotized rings of dorsal labiate plate very large, elongate, apically tapering; dorsal labiate plate with two symmetric slightly sclerotized oval areas at sides of midline; vestibulum S-shaped, thick, slightly sclerotized; posterior wall of bursa copulatrix with two distinct and symmetrical blade-shaped sclerites at sides.

Figures

Figure 4. Dorsal habitus of species included in the phylogenetic analysis. A Criocoris crassicornis ♂; B C. crassicornis ♀; C Excentricoris pictipes ♂; D Abietocapsus dissimilis ♂; E Psallus (Phylidea) validicornis ♂; F Lobicris basalis ♂; G L. basalis ♀; H Zophocnemis bicolor ♂; I Salicarus fulvicornis ♂; J S. fulvicornis ♀; K Campylomma atlanticum ♂, holotype; L Campylomma pusillum ♂.

Figure 5. Head and pronotum in dorsal view. A Campylomma pusillum ♂; B Campylomma atlanticum ♂; C Lobicris basalis ♀; D Salicarus roseri ♀; E S. roseri ♂; F Psallus (Phylidea) validicornis ♂; G P. (P.) validicornis ♀; H Heterocapillus tigripes ♂; I H. tigripes ♀; J Mesopsallus amygdali ♂; K M. amygdali ♀; L Mesopsallus pici ♀; M Salicarus nitidus ♂; N S. nitidus ♀; O Abietocapsus dissimilis ♂; P A. dissimilis ♀.

Figure. 7. SEM images of selected structures. A Mesopsallus ambiguus, head and pronotum in lateral view ♂; B Salicarus roseri, head and pronotum in lateral view ♂; C Mesopsallus ambiguus, head in lateral view ♂; D Mesopsallus ambiguus, abdomen in lateral view ♂; E Mesopsallus ambiguus, vestiture of hemelytron ♂; F Salicarus fulvicornis, vestiture of hemelytron ♂; G Mesopsallus ambiguus, metathoracic pretarsus in lateral view ♂; H Salicarus fulvicornis, metathoracic claw in lateral view ♂; I Mesopsallus mali, metathoracic pretarsus in lateral view ♀; J Lobicris basalis, metathoracic preatrsus in lateral view ♂; K Salicarus roseri, metathoracic pretarsus in lateral view ♀; L Heterocapillus tigripes, metathoracic pretarsus in ventral view ♂.

Figure 10. Male genitalia. A - F Europiella spp., right paramere: A, B E. gilva; C E. leucopus; D E. kiritshenkoi; E E. miyamotoi; F E. lividella. G - N Europiella spp., vesica: G E. leucopus; H - I E. gilva; J E. kiritshenkoi; K E. miyamotoi; L - N E. lividella. O - T Lobicris basalis: O right paramere; P left paramere; Q - S vesica in lateral and ventral views; T apex of phallotheca. U Zophocnemis bicolor, vesica in lateral view. V Sthenarus rothermundi, vesica in ventral view.