Psacasta exanthematica cerinthe ( Fabricius, 1787 )

Carapezza, A. & Kerzhner, I. M., 2005, Species of the subgenus Psacasta s. str. (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae), Zoosystematica Rossica (China) 14 (1), pp. 55-60 : 58

Psacasta exanthematica cerinthe ( Fabricius, 1787)

Cimex cerinthe Fabricius, 1787: 280 (downgraded by Stichel, 1960: 467). Syntypes: “Africa”; Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen.

Tetyra pagana Fabricius, 1803: 140 (junior secondary homonym of Cimex paganus Fabricius, 1775 ; syn. Schiødte, 1842: 301). Syntypes: Morocco (Tanger); Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen.

Tetyra gentilis Fabricius, 1803 : Index, p. 20. New name for pagana Fabricius, 1803 .

Psacasta anthriboides Germar, 1839: 70 (syn. Mulsant & Rey, 1865: 36). For Tetyra cerinthe sensu Wolff, 1811: 170 . Syntype(s): “Africa”; lost.

Psacasta nigra Germar, 1839: 141 (syn. Schiødte, 1842: 301). Syntype(s): Morocco (Tanger); Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen.

Tetyra hispana Rambur, 1839: 99 (syn. Baerensprung, 1860: 1). Syntypes (see Dolling, 1978: 123): ♂, ♀, Spain (Malaga); Natural History Museum, London.

Psacasta horvathi Royer, 1923: 38 , syn. n. Syntypes: ♂, ♀, Spain (Murcia); Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Psacasta exanthematica var. antoinei Vidal, 1949: 75 (upgraded to subspecies by Stichel, 1960: 467), syn. n. Syntypes: ♂, ♀, Algeria (Maison-Carrée; Oran) and Morocco (Zénate and without exact locality); lost?

Type specimens examined. Syntypes of P. horvathi .

Other material examined. Portugal: 1 ♀, Faro reg., Vilamoura ; 2 ♀, Algarve prov., Monchique ; Spain: 1 ♀, San Roque ; 1 ♀, Malaga, Torremolinos ; Italy: 1 ♂, Sardinia, Cagliari, Monte Urpinu ; 1 ♂, Sardinia, Alghero, Mamuntanas ; 1 ♂, Sardinia, Cagliari, Assemini ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Sardinia, Castelsardo ; 1 ♂, Basilicata, Calvello ; 1 ♀, Calabria, Orsomarso ; 1 ♀, Calabria, Maratea ; 1 ♀, Sicily, Petralia Sottana ; 1 ♂, Sicily, Pettineo ; 1 ♂, Sicily, Patti ; 1 ♂, Sicily, Cassaro ; Morocco: 1 ♂, 2 ♀, Wadi de Kenitra ; 3 ♂, Marrakech ; 2 ♂, 1♀, Port Lyautey ; 1 ♂, Meknes ; 2 ♂, 4 ♀, no exact locality; Algeria: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Milianah ; 1 ♂, 2 ♀, no exact locality .

Diagnosis. Body length varies, according to published data, from 8 to 11 mm (in our specimens, ♂ 8.5-10.5, ♀ 9.6-11.2 mm). Both dorsal and ventral sides of body black; callose tubercles in hind corners of sternites yellow. In North African and Sicilian specimens, dorsum without callose pale speckles or with a few, but in specimens from Portugal and southern Spain, and to a lesser extent from Sardinia and southern Italy, callose speckles are numerous and sternites with a pale callosity also in fore corners, like in the nominotypical subspecies. Antennal segments 1 and 2 black. Male genitalia as in the nominotypical subspecies.

Distribution. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Portugal, Spain, Sicily; transitional zone to P. e. exanthematica in N. Spain, S. France (including Corsica), Sardinia and Calabria.

Comments. We agree with Stichel (1960) that this is merely a subspecies of P. exanthematica . This is the only form represented in NW Africa and Sicily, but both black and non-black specimens are collected in Spain, Sardinia and Calabria, and black specimens are occasionally recorded even in France. In the development of pale speckles on dorsum, the specimens from Spain, Sardinia and southern Italy form transition to P. e. exanthematica . The name P. anthriboides was proposed under the wrong assumption that cerinthe Fabricius is a species of Trigonosoma (= Ventocoris ). Wolff’s figure and description are not perfect, but they fit P. e. cerinthe better than any other African scutellerid. P. horvathi , according to the original description, is black, 10-11 mm long, with antennal segment 3 one-third as long as 2, and pale callosities on dorsum numerous; these characters and the type locality (S. Spain) agree with P. e. cerinthe . For var. antoinei, Vidal (1949) was in doubt whether it should be placed in P. exanthematica or in P. cerinthe . The specimens were smaller (8-8.8 mm) than typical specimens of P. cerinthe examined by Vidal (9.5-11 mm, according to Vidal, but 9-10.5 mm according to Stichel) and some of them blackish brown rather than black, but pale callosities on dorsum were a few or absent, as typical of North African specimens of P. e. cerinthe .