Plautia Stål, 1865

Ishikawa, Tadashi & Moriya, Seiichi, 2019, A review of the stink bug genus Plautia Stål from Japan (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae), Zootaxa 4564 (2), pp. 470-490 : 471

Plautia Stål, 1865

Plautia Stål, 1865: 191 (new genus). Type species by subsequent designation ( Distant, 1902:180): Cimex fimbriatus Fabricius, 1787 (= Pentatoma crossota Dallas, 1851 ).

Diagnostic characters of the genus Plautia are as follows: body medium-sized, approximately 10 mm in length, convex, generally green, sometimes tinged with brownish yellow or blue; dorsum finely punctate; head roundly triangular. Antennal segment II long, nearly as long as segment III; lateral margins of pronotum straight, not laminated; humeral angles more or less round; scent gland peritreme long, slender, tapering; mesosternum with high, narrow median longitudinal carina; genital capsule trapezoid in ventral view, with more or less concave ventral rim; parameres often blade-like or T-shaped; phallus elongated oval in shape, with highly sclerotized phallotheca; and apical receptacle of spermatheca with at least one horn-shaped process.

In the identification of Japanese species of Plautia , we confirm the usefulness of several external morphological characters as mentioned below, in particular in the “Key to species” section. In general, however, it is very difficult to distinguish between Plautia species using only external morphological characters due to their superficial resemblances to one another. For precise discrimination between species, the close observation of genital structures, which are often uniquely shaped in each species, is usually indispensable. Several authors have attempted to describe these genital structures including the genital capsule, paramere, and phallus in male and spermatheca in female ( Ahmad & Rana 1996; Hasan 1993; Hasan & Ahmad 1999; Linnavuori 1975, 1982; Liu & Zheng 1994, 1995). Their illustrations of the genitalia are effective and helpful in the accurate identification of each species in most cases. Nevertheless, due to a recent increase in the number of indeterminate species deriving mainly from East and Southeast Asia, it is necessary to provide more detailed descriptions and illustrations of the genitalia for use in future research. In the present study, we provide diagnostics, descriptions, and illustrations of both the male and female genitalia of previously described species, as well as whole body (including the genitalia) of the new species.