Piezocranum, HORVATH, 1877

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2012, The Halticini of the world (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): generic reclassification, phylogeny, and host plant associations, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (3), pp. 558-658 : 629-630

PIEZOCRANUM HORVÁTH ( FIGS 4 , 49 )

Piezocranum Horváth, 1877: 92 (gen. nov.; type species: Piezocranum simulans Horváth, 1877 by monotypy); Atkinson, 1890: 120 (cat.); Reuter, 1891: 33, 157 (descr., key); Hueber, 1906: 3 (key); Kirkaldy, 1906: 130 (cat.); Reuter, 1910: 148 (cat.); Oshanin, 1910: 798 (cat.); Stichel, 1933: 235 (key); Kiritshenko, 1951: 127 (key); Wagner, 1952: 96, 101 (key, descr.); Carvalho, 1952: 74; Carvalho, 1955: 67 (key); Carvalho, 1958: 29 (cat.); Kerzhner, 1964a: 967 (diag., key); Wagner & Weber, 1964: 264 (syn., diag., key); Wagner, 1973: 28 (descr., key); Schuh, 1995: 68 (world cat.).

Lamprella Reuter, 1890: 253 (gen. nov.) – (syn. by Horváth, 1889: 327); Lamprella Carvalho, 1958: 29 (cat.).

Diagnosis: Recognized by the following combination of characters: macropterous individuals elongate, with transverse depression spanning vertex and frons; endosoma without spicules; DLP divided into weakly sclerotized lateral and medial plates, with paired sclerotized strips adjacent to medial margin of sclerotized rings.

Redescription: Sexually dimorphic, with males macropterous and females macropterous or brachypterous. Coloration ( Fig. 4 ): Male reddish-brown, paler on hemelytron; female glossy black. Surface and vestiture ( Fig. 4 ): head smooth and shining, pronotum rugulose, especially along posterior margin, hemelytra of female sometimes glossy with deep punctures. Body of male clothed in golden simple setae; females less setaceous. Structure: head ( Fig. 4 ): transverse; usually wider than tall; macropterous morphs with deep transverse depression spanning across vertex and frons, brachypterous females with at most a shallow depression; posterior margin of vertex raised and carinate; frons broadly rounded in brachypterous females; gena height two to three times eye height; labium: LI swollen, short. Antennae ( Fig. 4 ): insertion below or in line with lower margin of eye; shorter than body, slender; length of AI approximately equal to eye height. Thorax ( Fig. 4 ): pronotum trapezoidal in macropterous morphs, subrectangular in brachypterous females, callosite region obsolete to weakly defined in both sexes, lateral margins rounded, humeral angles rounded, posterior margin concave, more deeply in female; mesoscutum visible from above in macropterous individuals; metathoracic spiracle tear-shaped and exposed, without evaporative bodies; MTG external efferent system swollen, angled posterodorsally, ostiole ventrolateral, peritreme tongue-shaped. Hemelytra ( Fig. 4 ): macropterous – parallel-sided, elongate, extending beyond apex of abdomen; cuneus elongate; membrane with two cells. Brachypterous females – undivided, posteriorly almost straight to subtriangular, sometimes extending partly over abdominal tergite VI. Legs ( Fig. 4 ): short, somewhat longer in brachypterous morphs; pretarsi without fleshy pulvilli. Abdomen ( Fig. 4 ): narrow in macropterous individuals, broader in females, in brachypterous females pear-shaped. Male genitalia ( Fig. 49A–C ): pygophore conical; parameres roughly equal in length; left paramere L-shaped, sensory lobe broad, apophysis slender and apically hooked; right paramere slender basally, apical club elongate, weakly deflected laterally, inner margin sinuate; phallotheca unmodified; ductus seminis constricted, with flexible ribbing; secondary gonopore elongate, incompletely sclerotized, dorsoventrally compressed, apically with scale-like texturing; endosoma simple and broad, without spicules. Female genitalia ( Fig. 49D–F ): sclerotized rings widely separated, ovate, weakly sclerotized; lateral margins of DLP upturned and sclerotized, closely appressed to rings, remainder of DLP and VLP membranous; posterior wall mostly membranous, with faintly sclerotized band along posterior margin; opening to vestibulum symmetrical, membranous, and unmodified.

Diversity and distribution: Piezocranum is composed of three species, all of which are found almost exclusively in the Mediterranean region, with the range of Piezocranum simulans also extending into the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Included species: Piezocranum corvinum Puton, 1895 Syria; Turkey

Piezocranum seminulum Horváth, 1898 Spain

Piezocranum simulans Horváth, 1877 * southern Europe, Macedonia

Biology and host plant associations: No biological or host plant information has been recorded for this genus.

Remarks: This redescription is based on a review of the literature, particularly Wagner (1973), and examination of Pi. simulans . Our phylogeny places Piezocranum as sister to Dasyscytus , although this relationship is not well supported.

Figures

Figure 4. Photographs of Halticini genera: Labops–Strongylocoris. Abbreviations: F, female; M, male.

Figure 49. Male and female genitalia of Piezocranum simulans. A, aedeagus, phallotheca removed; B, left paramere; C, right paramere; D, bursa copulatrix, dorsal view; E, detail of bursa copulatrix, ventral view; F, posterior wall; G, first gonapophyses, ventral view.