Orius (Dimorphella) maxidentex Ghauri, 1972

Moulet, Pierre, 2017, Updated catalogue of Iranian Anthocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha), Zootaxa 4311 (4), pp. 451-479 : 462

Orius (Dimorphella) maxidentex Ghauri, 1972

Distribution in Iran. Hormozgan ( Erfanfar et al. 2010; Erfanfar 2014).

General distribution. Iran, UAE, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan.

Plant associates. Althaea sp. ( Malvaceae ), Gaillardia grandiflora (Asteraceae) , Ocimum basilicum (Lamiaceae) , Zinnia violacea (= Z. elegans ) ( Asteraceae ) ( Erfanfar et al. 2010). Eriobotrya japonica (Rosaceae) , Gossypum sp. ( Malvaceae ), Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) , Sorghum sp. ( Poaceae ) ( Carapezza et al. 2014).

Prey records. Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889) (Stenorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae ), Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, 1919 , Thrips palmi Karny, 1925 , Halothrips tolerabilis Priesner, 1936 , Florithrips traegardhi Trybom, 1911 (all Thysanoptera : Thripidae ), Contarinia sorghicola (Coquillet, 1898) ( Diptera : Cecidomyiidae ) ( Carapezza et al. 2014).

Biology. There are only 4 nymphal instars in this species ( Saulich & Musolin 2009). It was collected by light traps and water pan traps ( Carapezza et al. 2014).

Comments. In India and Thailand, O. maxidentex is tought to be of a great agricultural importance in biological control programs ( Carapezza et al. 2014).