Macrolophus costalis Fieber, 1858

Konstantinov, Fedor V. & Neimorovets, Vladimir V., 2021, Bryocorinae Baerensprung, 1860 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) of European Russia and the Caucasus: synopsis and key to species, Zootaxa 4920 (3), pp. 301-338 : 322

Macrolophus costalis Fieber, 1858

Figures 6 , 9

Macrolophus costalis Fieber, 1858: 342 .

Material examined. ABKHAZIA: Sukhum, 1♀ 17 X 1927, G. Zimin. Pitsunda, 5♀ 1♂ 3 IX 1932, Belizin. ARMENIA: Byurakan, 2♀ 4♂ 24 IV 1948, Richter. Yerevan, 4♀ 1♂ 6 V 1932, Korinek , 1♂ 22 IV 1938, ffi 201- 938, unknown collector. Tavush Prov., Dilijan , 1♀ 16 VIII 1927, Diakonov. AZERBAIJAN: Adzhikend , Ganja, 1♀, V. Jakovlev coll. CRIMEA: Alushta, 1♀ 26 VII 1911, A.M. Diakonov.

Diagnosis. Body relatively small, 3.0–3.4; vertex of male 1.4–1.8 X as wide as eye, female 2.1–2.4 X; antennal segment I dark brown to brown; dark brown longitudinal stripe behind eye broad, about one third of eye height, with almost parallel margins; apex of scutellum narrowly darkened.

Distribution. Northern Mediterranean species, also known from Crimea and Southern Caucasus, including Abkhazia (Pitsunda, Sukhumi, Tsebelda) and Armenia (Yerevan, Byurakan) ( Kiritshenko 1918, 1939; Putshkov 1978).

Host. Putshkov (1978) reported M. costalis from a variety of host plants including Mentha , Salvia , Stachys spp. ( Lamiaceae ), Echinops , Pulicaria spp. ( Asteraceae ), Cistus sp. ( Cistaceae ), and Nicotiana sp. ( Solanaceae ). Macrolophus costalis is shown to be an effective predator of the aphid Myzus persicae (Sulzer) on tobacco in Greece ( Margaritopoulos et al. 2003; Athanassiou et al. 2005).

Discussion. Josifov (1992) treated Macrolophus rubi as a junior synonym of Macrolophus costalis . Although this action was not followed by many subsequent authors (e.g., Kment et al. 2003; Gossner & Schuster 2005; Hradil et al. 2008; Aukema & Hermes 2009), an accurate morphological identification of these species remains challenging due to significant variation in body size and proportions.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Dorsal habitus images and head in lateral view of Macrolophus and Nesidiocoris spp. Macrolophus costalis Fieber, 1858, Macrolophus epilobii Putshkov, l978, Macrolophus glaucescens Fieber, 1858, Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur, 1839, Macrolophus rubi Woodroffe, 1957, and Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter, 1895).

FIGURE 9. Images of parameres. Bryocoris pteridis (Fallén, 1807), Monalocoris filicis (Linnaeus, 1758) Macrolophus costalis Fieber, 1858, Macrolophus epilobii Putshkov, l978, Macrolophus pygmaeus Rambur, 1839, Macrolophus rubi Woodroffe, 1957, and Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter, 1895).