Poecilocoris druraei ( Linnaeus, 1771 )

Tsai, Jing-Fu & Rédei, Dávid, 2010, Taxonomical notes on Oriental and Pacific jewel bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Scutelleridae), Zootaxa 2572, pp. 25-47 : 32-33

Poecilocoris druraei ( Linnaeus, 1771)

Cimex druraei Linnaeus, 1771: 534 . For unnamed species in Drury 1770: 94. Syntype (s): China; lost?

Poecilocoris heissi Ahmad & Kamaluddin 1982: 271 . Holotype (Ψ): Nepal, Burahbise; NHMUK. New synonymy. For a complete list of synonyms and a bibliography of C. druraei , see Tsai & Rédei (2009: 48).

Discussion. Linnaeus (1771) proposed the name Cimex druraei for an unnamed scutellerid from China described and illustrated by Drury (1770). The syntype (s) are, by indication (Article 12.2.7 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th edition, 1999), the specimen(s) examined and figured by Drury (1770), but apparently they are lost. A male from “Assam: Sylhet,” deposited in the BMNH, was listed and redescribed by Ahmad & Kamaluddin (1982: 271) as the holotype of P. druraei . However, this specimen, as well as the additional specimens listed by these authors, is definitely not a type, since they are not from the patria typica. Poecilocoris druraei was redescribed by several authors (see the bibliography presented by Tsai & Rédei 2009), and there is an overall agreement about its identity in the literature. Consequently there is no doubt that the specimens figured by Ahmad & Kamaluddin (1982: 270 and 272, figs. 33–42) are not P. druraei .

As a consequence of the misidentification of P. druraei, Ahmad & Kamaluddin (1982) treated the single female of P. druraei which was available to them as representing an undescribed species, and described it under the name P. heissi . According to the original description, the holotype of P. h e i s s i is deposited in NHMUK, but we were informed by a colleague from the respective institution that currently it cannot be found there (R. Hussain, pers. comm.). However, based on the original description and illustration, the identity of P. heissi is clear, and this species is hereby placed in the synonymy of P. duraei . The following characters, readily recognizable in Ahmad & Kamaluddin’s figures of P. h e i s s i, are diagnostic for P. druraei : anterior and anterolateral margins of pronotum concolorous with disk, never black; metathoracic scent gland ostiole associated with long, narrow, almost straight peritreme which is strongly curved anteriad apically; posterior margin of sternite VII of female biconcave, broadly projecting posteriad medially; portion of distal duct of spermatheca proximad of proximal flange short, strongly thickened, partly sclerotized.