Myrmecophyes heterocerus Horvath , 1927

Konstantinov, Fedor V. & Simov, Nikolay, 2018, Review of the subgenus Plumiger of Myrmecophyes, with description of a new species (Heteroptera, Miridae, Halticini), ZooKeys 796, pp. 215-239 : 226-229

Myrmecophyes heterocerus Horvath, 1927 Figs 6, 9, 15, 17-19, 20-21, 24, 28, 34-36, 39, 40, 53, 56, 60, 63, 64

Myrmecophyes heterocerus Horváth, 1927: 189

Myrmecophyes (Plumiger) heterocerus Drapolyuk, 1989: 135, figs 46-50, 54 (figs, habitus, male and female genitalia)

Material examined.

ARMENIA: Gegharkunik: 7 km S from Nshkhark, 39.95378°N, 45.23438°E, 2418 m, 13 Jun 2017, F. Konstantinov & N. Simov, ( Poaceae ), 56♀ (AMNH_PBI 00343163-AMNH_PBI 00343195, AMNH_PBI 00343338, AMNH_PBI 00343339, AMNH_PBI 00343156-AMNH_PBI 00343162, AMNH_PBI 00343149-AMNH_PBI 00343155, AMNH_PBI 00343142-AMNH_PBI 00343148), 70♂ (AMNH_PBI 00343378, AMNH_PBI 00343337, AMNH_PBI 00343329, AMNH_PBI 00343071-AMNH_PBI 00343074, AMNH_PBI 00343069, AMNH_PBI 00343067, AMNH_PBI 00343080-AMNH_PBI 00343136, AMNH_PBI 00343138-AMNH_PBI 00343141), 2 larvae (AMNH_PBI 00343075, AMNH_PBI 00343137) (ZISP); 45♂, 49♀ (SOFM). AZERBAIJAN: Kalbajar: Istisu nr Kalbacar [ Kel’badzhary], 39.96972°N, 45.95°E, 03 Jul 1968 - 04 Jul 1968, Gidayatov, 3♂ (AMNH_PBI 00271255, AMNH_PBI 00261439, AMNH_PBI 00261440), 4♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261638, AMNH_PBI 00261637) (ZISP). GEORGIA: Mtskheta-Mtianeti: Kobi, Voenno-Gruzinskaya doroga [=Georgean Military Rd], 42.5583°N, 44.5122°E, 2144 m, 14 Jul 1925, Kiritshenko, 3♂ (AMNH_PBI 00261433-AMNH_PBI 00261435), 14♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261608-AMNH_PBI 00261621) (ZISP); 15 Jul 1925, A. N. Kiritshenko, 14♀ (AMNH_PBI 00271256-AMNH_PBI 00271259, AMNH_PBI 00261622-AMNH_PBI 00261631), 1♂ (AMNH_PBI 00261436) (ZISP). RUSSIAN FEDERATION: North Ossetia Rep.: Pass between Verkhnyaya Kora and Ardon Rivers, 42.82306°N, 43.91583°E, 01 Aug 1925, A. N. Kiritshenko, 6♀ (AMNH_PBI 00271254, AMNH_PBI 00261633-AMNH_PBI 00261636, AMNH_PBI 00261438), 1♂ (AMNH_PBI 00261437) (ZISP). Verkhniy Tsey, 42.80667°N, 43.94028°E, 04 Aug 1925, A. N. Kiritshenko, 1♀ (AMNH_PBI 00261632) (ZISP).

Diagnosis.

Distinguished from M. armeniacus by the smaller size, shiny abdomen (Figs 6, 9), shape of left paramere (Figs 34, 35) and narrowly triangular sclerotized rings of dorsal labiate plate (Figs 53, 60). The diagnosis of M. armeniacus provides additional characters.

Redescription.

Male. Total length 2.8-3.2. Coloration: As in M. armeniacus . Surface and vestiture: Pronotum and scutellum matt, head and abdomen smooth, distinct ly shiny (Figure 6); vestiture as in subgeneric description. Structure: Body 3.9-4.5 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Head: Clypeus not bulging (Figure 28), slightly convex in apical half, with shallow depression at base and apical margin straight; vertex 1.6 -1.9 × as wide as eye; antennal segment I strongly swollen, short, 0.8-0.9 × as long as length of pronotum, segment II slightly curved and widened apically, short, 1.2-1.3 × as long as I, 0.7-0.8 × as long as width of pronotum at middle, and 0.5-0.6 × as long as width of head; segment III more than 2.5 × as long as II and distinctly longer than I and II combined; segment IV about 1.5 × as long as II. Thorax: Pronotum at middle 1.3-1.4 × as wide as long, 0.7 × as wide as head; hind tibia 3.0-3.5 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Genitalia: genital capsule comparatively small, about 0.3 of abdomen; left paramere sickle-shaped, thin, apical process straight, narrowed subapically, ending with characteristic oblique T-shaped blade; body of paramere without outgrowth at base of apical process (Figs 34, 35); right paramere typically flag-shaped, somewhat smaller than in M. armeniacus (Figure 36); endosoma of aedeagus voluminous, folded, entirely membranous, with several small, minutely dentate eversible lobes (Figs 39, 40).

Female. Similar to male but body larger on average, total length 2.9-3.8. Coloration: As in male, but with pale brown to dirty yellow antennal segment I (Figure 9). Surface and vestiture: As in subgeneric description; pronotum and scutellum matt, head and abdomen distinctly shiny; frons and vertex with few erect spinelike setae; antennal segment I with 6-8 similar setae on mesial surface. Structure: Body 3.6-4.3 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Head: Vertex 1.9-2.1 × as wide as eye; antennal segment I 0.8-0.9 × as long as length of pronotum, segment II 1.7-2.0 × as long as I, 1.0-1.1 × as long as width of pronotum at middle, and 0.8-0.9 × as long as width of head; segment III 1.3-1.4 × as long as segment II; segment IV equal to II in length. Thorax: Pronotum at middle 1.4-1.5 × as wide as long, 0.7-0.8 × as wide as head; hind tibia 2.8-3.0 × as long as width of pronotum at middle. Genitalia: Sclerotized rings of dorsal labiate plate narrow, subtriangular, with apices narrowly elongate (Figs 53, 60); interramal sclerites flat, finely dentate at base (Figure 56).

Distribution.

Myrmecophyes heterocerus appears to be the most wide-ranging species of the subgenus, occurring along the Greater Caucasus range from North Ossetia in the west across Georgia to southeastern Dagestan in the east, and along the Greater Caucasus range to central Armenia and western Azerbaijan in the south (Figure 64).