Empicoris vagabundus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Ghahari, Hassan, Moulet, Pierre, Cai, Wanzhi & Karimi, Javad, 2013, An annotated catalog of the Iranian Reduvioidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha), Zootaxa 3718 (3), pp. 201-238 : 205-207

Empicoris vagabundus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Cimex vagabundus Linnaeus, 1758: 450 ; Cimex squalidus Gmelin, 1790: 2192 ; Ploearia erratica R.F. Sahlberg, 1848: 164 (non Fallén, 1807); Ploearia pilosa Fieber, 1861: 150 ; Poiariodes hirtipes Banks, 1912: 97; Ploiariola canadensis Parshley, 1919: 25 .

Diostribution in Iran. Iran (without precise locality) (Putshkov & Moulet 2010; Aukema et al. 2013)). Distribution outside Iran. Holarctic (Europe, the whole Asia including, Far East, North America) (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013); introduced to Chile (Melo & Faúndez 2011).

Comments. Often E. vagabundus is collected on various trees (e.g., Abies , Carpinus , Picea , Quercus , Tilia , Ulmus , Malus pumila , Pyrus communis , etc.), especially on the dead leaves of those trees. It is known on lichens, faggots, webs of spiders, barklice, and booklice (Psocoptera) where it hunts and eats small Diptera and Homoptera (Putshkov & Moulet 2010).

Subfamily Harpactorinae Amyot & Serville, 1843

Tribe Harpactorini Amyot & Serville, 1843

Genus Amphibolus Klug, 1830

Amphibolus venator (Klug, 1830)

Reduvius (Amphibolus) venator Klug, 1830 : fol. e, pl. 9.

Distribution in Iran. Kerman (Dispons & Villiers 1967).

Distribution outside Iran. Arabian Peninsula, Asia, Near East, the Maghreb; India, tropical Africa, Canada, and tropical America (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. This species is a predator and a useful agent for biocontrol of stored-product insects and may disperse with the stored-products.

Genus Callistodema Reuter, 1890

Callistodema fasciata (Kolenati, 1857) Rhinocoris cruentus var. fasciatus Kolenati, 1857: 463 ; Callidema lygaeiformis Jakovlev, 1876: 266 ; Callidema fasciata Jakovlev, 1879: 160 ; Callistodema fasciatum f. quadrimaculata Stichel, 1959 in Dispons & Stichel (1959): 139.

Distribution in Iran. Alborz (new data—H. Günther’s collection), Isfahan, Mazandaran, Qazvin, Tehran (new data—MHNG), Iran (without precise locality) (Putshkov & Moulet 2010; Aukema et al. 2013).

Distribution outside Iran. Ponto-Mediterranean, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Russia, Turkey (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. A species strictly found on Tamarix (Tamaricaceae) , where the green larvae can hide and hunt. It feeds on small cicadas ( Hemiptera : Cicadidae ) and bugs ( Lygaeidae , Miridae ); adults hibernate and they can endure very low temperatures (-20°C) and -30°C in laboratory conditions (Putshkov 1987; Putshkov & Moulet 2010).

Genus Coranus Curtis, 1833

Coranus (Coranus) aegyptius (Fabricius, 1775)

Reduvius aegyptius Fabricius, 1775: 732 ; Coranus zibanicus Dispons, 1953: 108 ; Coranus linnavuorii Dispons, 1963 .

Distribution in Iran. East Azarbaijan (Hoberlandt 1959; Baroughi 1978; Modarres Awal 1997a, c), Fars (Hoberlandt 1959; Dispons & Villiers 1967; Ghahari et al. 2011b), Isfahan (Razmjoo et al. 2011), Khorasan (Modarres Awal 1997b, 2008; Rahimi et al. 2010a, c), Mazandaran (Dispons & Villiers 1967; Ghahari et al. 2008a), Semnan (Dispons & Villiers 1967), Sistan & Baluchestan (new data—ZMAS), Tehran (Hoberlandt 1954, 1959; Kiritshenko 1966; Dispons & Villiers 1967), Iran (without precise locality) (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996).

Distribution outside Iran. Eremian: from Madeira and The Canary Archipelago, North Africa, Near East, Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia; known in Tropical Africa ( Senegal, The Sudan, Tchad) (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Kment & Jindra 2005; Putshkov & Moulet 2010; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. In rice fields and on Sorghum halepense (Poaceae) (Ghahari et al. 2008a); C. aegyptius often inhabits dry biotopes (desert conditions) (Lindberg 1958; Linnavuori 1964); it has been mentioned under Salicornia sp. ( Amaranthaceae ) on a salted soil (Putshkov & Moulet 2010).

Coranus (Coranus) aethiops Jakovlev, 1893

Coranus aethiops Jakovlev, 1893: 303 .

Distribution in Iran. Mazandaran (Sakenin et al. 2008).

Distribution outside Iran. Euro-Siberian from Scandinavia to Siberia and Asian Russia, Asian Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, and Mongolia, with isolated scattered records in Central Europe; always at high latitudes or, if not, at high elevations (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. Although the presence of this species in Iran is possible, but it must be studied more carefully from the further samplings. One cannot exclude confusion with another Coranus of the subapterus -group, a group of very close species, particularly with one form of Coranus cf. subapterus known from Bulgaria to Middle Asia ( Iran), which identity requires further studies (see Putshkov & Moulet 2010).

Coranus (Coranus) angulatus Stål, 1874

Harpactor aegyptius Herrich Schaefer, 1842: 107 (non Fabricius, 1775); Coranus angulatus Stål, 1874: 20 (a replacement of H. aegyptius Herrich-Schaefer ); Coranus pirzadae Miller, 1950 in China & Miller (1950): 232; Coranus angulatus filsi Dispons, 1954: 112 .

Distribution in Iran. Hormozgan (Hoberlandt 1959; Hoberlandt 1961 as C. pirzadae ; Dispons & Villiers 1967); Tehran (Brown 1966), West Azarbaijan (Sakenin et al. 2010), Iran (without precise locality) (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996).

Distribution outside Iran. Eremian, known in Tropical Africa, Arabian peninsula, Indian subcontinent (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. Coranus angulatus is a species living in desert conditions (Dispons 1955).

Coranus (Coranus) contrarius (Reuter, 1881)

Coranus contrarius Reuter, 1881: 161 (as new species).

Distribution in Iran. Guilan (Ghahari et al. 2009a), Khorasan (Modarres Awal 1997b, c; Rahimi et al. 2010a, c). Distribution outside Iran. Central and Western Europe to Turkey, Asian Kazakhstan, and Russia (Yenissey River) (Putshkov & Putshkov 1996; Aukema et al. 2013).

Comments. This taxon is very close to the subapterus -group and the aegyptius -group from which it can only be separated by its second antennomere being longer than the third (Putshkov & Moulet 2010).