Nasocoris desertorum Kerzhner, 1970

Kment, Petr & Bryja, Josef, 2007, Description of Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov. from the Balkan peninsula, with a review of the genus Nasocoris (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Zootaxa 1633, pp. 39-61 : 50

Nasocoris desertorum Kerzhner, 1970

Holotype. Male, Turkmenistan: ‘Turkmenskaya SSR, Ispas, 70 km sev.-zap. Chardzhou, 31 V, 1965, na Ephedra strobilacea Bge. (Kerzhner) ’ ( ZMAS).

Nasocoris argyrotrichus: Sahlberg (1904): 36 . Faunistics ( Turkmenistan).

Nasocoris argyrotrichus: Oshanin (1909): 77 (partim, specimens from Repetek – see Kerzhner 1970). Catalogue, distribution.

Nasocoris argyrotrichus: Kiritshenko (1964): 228 (partim, specimens from Ayvadzh – see Kerzhner 1970: 643). Bionomics, faunistics ( Tadjikistan).

Nasocoris argyrotrichus: Linnavuori (1968): 201 , 203–204. Redescription, key, host plant, distribution (‘Turkestan’).

Nasocoris desertorum sp. nov.: Kerzhner (1970): 640 –643. Description, taxonomy, key, figure, bionomics, host plant, ecology, faunistics ( Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan).

Nasocoris desertorum: Kaplin (1993): 133 , 166, 168. Bionomics, host plant, ecology, faunistics ( Turkmenistan).

Nasocoris desertorum: Schuh (1995): 360 . Catalogue.

Nasocoris desertorum: Kerzhner et al. (1997): 127 . List of types.

Nasocoris desertorum: Kerzhner and Josifov (1999): 375 . Catalogue, type depository, distribution.

Nasocoris desertorum: Linnavuori (1999): 52 –55, 61–62. Redescription, key, figures, bionomics, host plant, ecology, distribution, faunistics ( Iran, Turkmenistan).

Nasocoris desertorum: Linnavuori (2004a) : 12–13. Key, figures.

Distribution. Iran (Linnavuori 1999), Tadjikistan ( Kiritshenko 1964, Kerzhner 1970), Turkmenistan ( Kerzhner 1970, Kaplin 1993, Linnavuori 1999), Uzbekistan ( Kerzhner 1970).

Host plant. Ephedra strobilacea (Central Asia, Turkmenistan) ( Kerzhner 1970; Kaplin 1993 – larval development; Linnavuori 1999), Ephedra sp. (Turkestan) ( Linnavuori 1968).

Bionomics. Kaplin (1993) gave the following account of the bionomics of N. desertorum : ‘The Southern- Turanian plant bug Nasocoris desertorum develops on Ephedra strobilacea in three to four overlapping generations per year with winter embryonal diapause. Larvae and adults suck on young sprouts of Ephedra . Larvae of the first generation hatch in April / beginning of May, which relates to flowerage and beginning of fruitage of E. strobilacea , the last generation appears in August. Life-span of one generation lasts up to 40 days. Larvae of the last generation complete their development at the end of September / first half of October. Adults occur from the second decade of May to October. In the eastern Garagum desert, N. desertorum is a less abundant and sporadically found species. Its mean density only rarely exceeds 0.2 spec./model branch (0.6–0.7 thousands spec./ha).’ Other authors reported adults in May ( Kerzhner 1970, Linnavuori 1999), June ( Kerzhner 1970, Linnavuori 1999), and July ( Kiritshenko 1964, Kerzhner 1970).

Ecology. Sandy steppes of Central Asia ( Kerzhner 1970, Kaplin 1993). In dry habitats (Linnavuori 1999).