Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Ghahari, Hassan & Moulet, Pierre, 2013, An annotated catalog of the Iranian Pyrrhocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha: Pyrrhocoroidea), Zootaxa 3609 (3), pp. 335-342 : 337-338

Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Cimex apterus Linnaeus, 1758: 447 (as new species); Cimex gregarius Goeze, 1778: 213 ; Pyrrhocoris calmariensis Fallén, 1829: 73 ; Pyrrhocoris sordidus Jakovlev, 1880: 160 ; Pyrrhocoris pseudoapterus Ahmad & Perveen, 1986: 77 .

Distribution in Iran. Alborz (Lindberg 1938; Farahbakhsh 1961), Ardabil (Modarres Awal 1987, 1997b), Bushehr (Linnavuori 2012), Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari (Safavi 1987), East Azarbaijan (Hoberlandt 1955; Wagner 1961; Farahbakhsh 1961; Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Khalilzadeh et al. 2007; Sadeghi et al. 2009; Gharaat et al. 2009; Hassazadeh et al. 2009a, b; Khaghaninia et al. 2010a, b, 2011), Fars (Wagner 1968; Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Linnavuori 2012), Golestan (Jakovlev 1880; Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Karimian & Khormali 2006; Ghahari et al. 2011), Guilan (Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Linnavuori 2007), Hamadan (Mirab-balou et al. 2007), Kerman (Zeinaddini et al. 2012), Khorasan (Wagner 1968; Modarres Awal 1996a, 1997b, 2008), Khuzestan, Kordestan (Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Linnavuori 2012), Mazandaran (Wagner 1968), Semnan (Ghahari et al. 2011), Tehran (Kerzhner & Rieger 1985; Safavi 1987; Modarres Awal 1997b; Linnavuori 2007), West Azarbaijan (Gharaat et al. 2009), Zanjan (Askari et al. 2009), Iran (no locality cited) (Sidenstücker 1957; Hoberlandt 1961; Kiritshenko 1966; Ahmad & Perveen 1987 sub P. psedoapterus ; Moulet 1995; Kerzhner 2001; Yarmand et al. 2002).

General distribution. Holarctic.

Comments. On teil (Farahbakhsh 1961; Modarres Awal 1997b), Malva sp. ( Malvaceae ) (Modarres Awal 1996a), common mallow, pine (Modarres Awal 1997b), barley and grasses (Modarres Awal 2008), Rumex scutatus (Polygonaceae) (Ghahari et al. 2011), in cotton field (Karimian & Khormali 2006; Ghahari et al. 2011), in alfalfa field (Mirab-balou et al. 2007), in pistachio orchards (Zeinaddini et al. 2012). Pyrrhocoris apterus attacks flowers and fruits on their pedoncule (Farahbakhsh 1961). This insect feeds on seeds plants fallen on the ground, and other insects; but they are not injurious in alfalfa field (Mirab-balou et al. 2007).

Kristenová & al. (2011) showed that in experimental conditions, adults of P. apterus prefers to feed on seeds of Robinia pseudoacacia firstly and of Althea officinalis in secondly; but for 3rd instars, it is the contrary.

Very numerous varieties of no systematic value have been described but show the great plasticity of the species. Some refer to the variation of color (e.g., carbonarius Horváth 1895, citrina Schumacher 1918, ochracea Wagner 1948) and others to alate specimens, or specimens without an hemelytral spot or with an aberrant spot, e.g., membrancea Westhoff, 1884, pennata Westhoff 1844, cor Schulze 1917, radiata Schulze 1917, hilaris Horváth 1917, lagenifer Horváth 1917, inaequalis Stichel 1925, punctella Stichel 1925, trifida Stichel 1925, sexpunctata Priesner 1927, gigas Kormilev 1939, vacata Stichel 1959. Also, P. apterus is a laboratory model for genetic studies (Moulet 1995) and for biology of Heteroptera (Socha 1993).