Loricula (Loricula) pselaphiformis Curtis, 1833

Fig. 8

Material examined

TURKEY – Karaman Province • 1 ♂; Sarıveliler, Karahasan Pass; 1750 m; 25 Jun. 2023; B. Çerçi leg.; on Berberis vulgaris; BCIT . – Mersin Province • 1 ♀; Tarsus, Ballıca; 8 May 1985; EUAPP exp.; on Quercus sp.; LEMT .

Comments

This small microphysid species lives on lichens growing on deciduous trees of many species and feeds on small insects, mostly psyllids. It is widely distributed in the European continent, but it prefers cold climate and becomes exceedingly rare towards the southern regions (Péricart 1972). In the Mediterranean basin, it was recorded from Greece and Israel (Aukema 2023). The record from Israel was from the western Judaean Mountains and the exact locality of the record from Greece was not mentioned (Péricart 1972). Both examined specimens were collected from Southern Turkey. The specimen from Karaman (Fig. 8A) was collected at 1750 m and the specimen from Mersin (Fig. 8B) was collected at sea level, in a region with very warm climate. Until now, only one species of Microphysidae, Loricula (Loricula) bipunctata (Perris, 1857), was known from Turkey. It is easily distinguished from L. (L.) pselaphiformis by shiny dorsum and pale-colored hemelytra (Péricart 1972).