Psacasta exanthematica exanthematica ( Scopoli, 1763 )

Carapezza, A. & Kerzhner, I. M., 2005, Species of the subgenus Psacasta s. str. (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae), Zoosystematica Rossica (China) 14 (1), pp. 55-60 : 55-56

Psacasta exanthematica exanthematica ( Scopoli, 1763)

Cimex exanthematicus Scopoli, 1763: 121 . Syntype(s): Italy (“circa Tergestum” [= near Trieste]); lost.

Cimex pedemontanus Fabricius, 1781: 342 (syn. Herrich-Schaeffer, 1853: 3). Syntypes: Italy (“agro pedemontano” [= Piemont]); Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen.

Cimex allioni Gmelin, 1790:2132 .Unnecessary new name for pedemontanus Fabricius, 1781 .

Psacasta exanthematica var. herculeana Horváth, 1891: 76 (upgraded to species by Stichel, 1960:470), syn. rest. Syntypes: ♂, ♀, Armenia, Syria and France (Fréjus); Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest.

Psacasta pallida Reuter, 1902: 141 , syn. n. Syntype(s): ♂, Turkey (Akbés [= Ekbaz]); probably in Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Psacasta simillima Horváth, 1917 b:368 , syn. n. Syntypes: ♂, ♀, Spain (Cuenca); Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest.

Psacasta herculeana f. versicolor Stichel, 1960: 469, 470.

Type specimens examined. None.

Other material examined. Spain: 1 ♀, Madrid, El Pardo ; 1 ♂, Montarco ; France: 1 ♂, Montpellier ; Italy: 1 ♂, Alto Adige, Val Venosta ; 1 ♀, Lombardia, Pavia ; 1 ♂, Livorno ; 1 ♀, Roma ; 1 ♀, Abruzzo, Popoli ; 2 ♂, Puglia, Gargano ; 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Puglia, Accadia ; 1 ♂, Basilicata, Venosa Loreto ; 2 ♀, Basilicata, Viggianello ; 1 ♀, Basilicata, Pietrapertosa ; 1 ♀, Sardinia, Oristano ; Yugoslavia: 1 ♂, 1 ♀, Deliblato ; 1 ♀, Topèider nr Belgrade ; Greece: 8 ♀, no other labels; 2 ♀, Euboea I. ; 1 ♀, Metsovon ; 1 ♂, Metamorfosi ; 2 ♀, Patras ; 2 ♂, 7 ♀, T Lefka Is. ; 2 ♀, Ioanina, Monodendri ; 1 ♂, Achaia, Klitoria ; Ukraine: 4 ♂, 16 ♀, southern coast of the Crimea; Turkey: 2 ♀, Artvin Prov.; 2 ♀, Erzurum, Ispir ; Syria: 1 ♀, Suweida ; Israel: 1 ♂, Nazareth ; Jordan: 1 ♀, Balqa gov., Salt ; Azerbaijan, Nakhichevan Rep.: 2 ♀, Tirkesh and Tyllyak ; Armenia: 4 ♂, 7 ♀, Kafan and Megri Distr .; Iraq: 2 ♂, 2 ♀, Mosul Distr .; Iran: 3 ♂, 2 ♀, Azarbaidjan and Kurdestan .

Diagnosis. Body length: ♂ 9.8-10.9 mm, ♀ 10.0-11.9 mm (the occurrence of small specimens of both sexes, 8.4-8.6 mm long, is not exceptional in Central Italy and Greece). General colour of dorsum usually uniformly dark brown or reddish brown, sometimes with slightly paler median stripe at apex of scutellum; yellowish callose speckles numerous, uniformly distributed and distinct. However, a few specimens examined are paler and with less distinct speckles. Antennal segments 1 and 2 usually black or dark brown, at least partially, but sometimes entirely red.

Distribution. The subspecies is distributed mainly in the Mediterranean, but reaching Germany, Czech Republic and Poland in the north (no material from these 3 countries was examined). In SW Mediterranean, it is substituted by P. e. cerinthe , which is the only form occurring in NW Africa.

Comments. Presence of large and small specimens in P. exanthematica was long noted. Horváth (1891) gave the name var. herculeana to large specimens (body length 10-11.5 mm) with black antennal segments 1 and 2. These characters fit the nominotypical subspecies. The identity of P. pallida described from (a single?) pale male with blackish brown antennal segments 1 and 2 and body length 9.75 mm is slightly problematic, but as Puton (1892) recorded P. e. var. herculeana from the same locality, P. pallida schould belong to P. e. exanthematica . Noteworthy, almost all Psacasta identified as P. pallida in museums and private collections proved to belong to P. e. conspersa . P. simillima was described on large specimens (10.5-10.75 mm) from Central Spain; according to the original description, it should have antennal segment 3 half as long as segment 2. An examination of the syntypes by D. Redei proved that this statement is incorrect and that the ratio segments 2: 3 is about 2.88 in females and 2.75 in the single male, which proves its conspecificity with P. exanthematica .