Salicarus Kerzhner, 1962

Konstantinov, Fedor V. & Hosseini, Reza, 2024, Review of the genus Salicarus (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae), ZooKeys 1211, pp. 57-100 : 57-100

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.3897/zookeys.1211.129660
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0D172F1C-B539-497C-BC62-17FE910EC512
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13630967
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/8B061A96-637F-58E8-B490-33BB54FE2DD2
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Salicarus Kerzhner, 1962
status

Treatment

Salicarus Kerzhner, 1962 View in CoL View at ENA

Salicarus Kerzhner, 1962: 381. Type species by original designation: Capsus roseri Herrich-Schaeffer, 1838. View in CoL

Salicarus View in CoL : Putshkov (1977): 365 (revision); Kerzhner (1964): 996 (key, figures).

Salicarius [sic!]: Wagner (1975 a): 99 (key, descriptions, figures).

Diagnosis.

Body broadly oval, with short appendages (Figs 1 View Figure 1 – 3 View Figure 3 ); head vertical, clypeus barely visible in dorsal view, posterior margin of vertex attenuate, covering anterior margin of pronotum (Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 E View Figure 6 ); dorsum and / or thoracic pleura clothed with scale-like setae and simple setae (Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 C View Figure 6 ); parempodium apically spatulate; pulvillum small, not reaching midpoint of claw (Fig. 6 A, D View Figure 6 ); vesica large, strongly coiled at middle, apically with two long and thin, gradually tapering blades tightly fused along almost entire length (Figs 7 A – D View Figure 7 , 8 View Figure 8 ), or slightly dilate apically (Fig. 7 G – J View Figure 7 ); secondary gonopore large, located close to middle of vesica, equipped with gonopore sclerite; vestibulum of bursa copulatrix S-shaped, contrastingly long and thin (Fig. 10 View Figure 10 ). Refer to Konstantinov (2023) for additional discussion.

Redescription.

Male. Coloration. Dorsum and venter uniformly chestnut to dark brown with whitish antennal segments III and IV in S. nitidus species group (Fig. 3 E – L View Figure 3 ), in other species ranging from uniformly dark brown to pale yellow, often exhibiting significant polymorphism within a species (Figs 1 View Figure 1 , 2 View Figure 2 ).

Surface and vestiture. Dorsum shiny to moderately shiny, head and pronotum usually smooth, scutellum and hemelytron weakly rugose. Vestiture composed of dense simple setae intermixed with one of two types of scale-like setae: wide, apically serrate, densely covering dorsum, thoracic pleura, abdomen, and sometimes appendages ( S. nitidus species group, Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ) or narrow, apically acuminate, always located on thoracic pleura and usually also on dorsum or hemelytron only (other species, Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 6 C View Figure 6 ). Thoracic pleurites devoid of simple setae and densely clothed exclusively with scale-like setae located above metathoracic scent gland evaporatory area, with no vestiture in ventral half (Fig. 6 E View Figure 6 ). Simple setae usually adpressed, sometimes semierect, ranging from as long as to almost twice as long as scale-like setae; in addition, in S. nitidus species group, pronotum laterally and hemelytron proximally with robust, dark, contrastingly long, erect to semierect bristle-like simple setae. Appendages with simple, adpressed to semierect, usually pale setae; antennal segments I and II in S. nitidus species group with contrastingly dense, dark and robust simple setae (Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ); head and fore coxa ventrally with contrastingly long simple silver setae; pronotum with a pair of black erect bristle-like setae at anterior corners; femora with several similar black setae dorso-apically; tibial spines dark brown to black.

Structure. Body elongate-oval to oval, total length 2.0–4.0. Head: Flattened and strongly sloping, barely protruding beyond anterior margin of eyes (Figs 4 View Figure 4 , 5 View Figure 5 , 6 E View Figure 6 ); eyes occupying almost entire height of head in lateral view, posterolateral margins of eyes contiguous with anterolateral margins of pronotum; vertex flat, with attenuate posterior margin covering anterior margin of pronotum, frons vertical, clypeus not visible or barely visible in dorsal view; antenna inserted near ventral margin of eye; segment I either short, swollen, widest at apex, about twice as long as width at apex ( S. nitidus species group, Fig. 5 View Figure 5 ), or cylindrical, thin (other species, Fig. 4 View Figure 4 ); segment II shorter than head width, in S. nitidus species group swollen along entire length, usually distinctly fusiform, in other species rod-shaped, slightly dilated distally; segments III and IV filiform; labium reaching meso- or metacoxa. Thorax: Pronotum trapezoidal, about twice as broad as long, calli indistinct; mesonotum only slightly exposed; metathoracic scent gland evaporatory area broadly triangular, peritreme oval, broadly rounded apically. Metathoracic spiracle with well-developed sculpture dorsally (Fig. 6 E, F View Figure 6 ). Cuneal fracture deeply incised at base. Legs: Comparatively short, femora swollen, broader medially, tibia cylindrical, second and third tarsal segments of nearly equal length, claw (Fig. 6 A, B View Figure 6 ) with relatively narrow base, strongly bent at midpoint, pulvillus small, not reaching or barely reaching midpoint of claw, attached to the claw along entire length; parempodia apically spatulate.

Genitalia. Genital capsule cone-shaped, without distinctive ornamentation, as long as or slightly longer than wide at base. Sclerotized apical part of phallotheca narrow, beak-shaped, somewhat constricted at base (Fig. 9 C, F, I, L, O, R, U View Figure 9 ). Right paramere oval to elongate-oval, usually basally broadly rounded, and well expanded proximally beyond basal process, with contrastingly long, straight, apical process (Fig. 9 A, D, G, J, M, P, S View Figure 9 ). Left paramere of typical phyline shape, with straight apical process and triangular, sensory lobe (Fig. 9 B, E, H, K, N, Q, T View Figure 9 ). Vesica large, strongly coiled at middle, with two long and thin, gradually tapering apical blades tightly fused along most length; secondary gonopore large, located close to middle of vesica, with small gonopore sclerite (Figs 7 View Figure 7 , 8 View Figure 8 ).

Female. Coloration, surface, and vestiture. As in male. Structure. Similar to male, usually smaller on average (Table 1 View Table 1 ). Antennal segment II in S. nitidus species group somewhat shorter and more strongly swollen, distinctly fusiform.

Genitalia. Dorsal labiate plate with large and wide, broadly oval or apically tapering sclerotized rings (Fig. 10 A – C, G View Figure 10 ). Posterior wall membranous, with indistinctly bordered longitudinal sclerotized bands at sides (Fig. 10 D, F View Figure 10 ). Sclerites encircling vulva triangular, symmetrical (Fig. 10 E, H View Figure 10 ). Vestibulum characteristically long and thin, S-shaped (Fig. 10 B, E, H View Figure 10 ).

Species groups.

Three distinct groups of species can be recognized within Salicarus , and the species treatments below are arranged alphabetically within each group:

Salicarus nitidus species group. This group includes S. cavinotum , S. genistae , S. nitidus , and S. perpusillus . Species in this group are characterized by their uniformly dark color, dorsum densely covered with wide, apically serrate scale-like setae (scales type 2 sensu Stonedahl 1990), small size with a stumpy body, and total length ranging from 2.0 to 2.8. They have strongly swollen antennal segments I and II, with segment II distinctly fusiform. Species of this group have a Euro-Mediterranean distribution and utilize legumes ( Fabaceae ) of the tribe Genisteae ( Genista , Calicotome , Echinospartum ) as hosts.

Salicarus roseri species group. This group includes S. concinnus , S. roseri , and S. urnammu . Species in this group are characterized by their highly variable color pattern, relatively large, oval body with a total length of 3.0–4.0. The dorsum vestiture consists of short, adpressed simple setae, while narrow, apically acuminate scale-like setae (scales type 1 sensu Stonedahl 1990) are scarce and limited to the hemelytron (if present). The vesica in these species is relatively large, with short and robust, knife-shaped apical blades. Species in this group feed on Salix spp. and tend to have a wide distribution: Palearctic in the case of S. roseri , Central Asia for S. concinnus , and western Asia for S. urnammu .

Salicarus fulvicornis species group. This group includes S. halimodendri and S. fulvicornis . Species in this group are variable in coloration, with elongate males (3.6–4.0) and more ovoid females (3.5–3.9). The entire dorsum, except the head, is clothed with a mixture of silvery narrow, apically acuminate scale-like setae, and dense, comparatively long simple setae that are approximately 1.5 × as long as the scales. The apical blades of the vesica are very long, thin, gradually curved, and abruptly furcate. Species of this group feed exclusively on Caragana spp. ( Fabaceae : Hedysareae) and are mainly distributed in Central Asia and Mongolia.