Dicyphus pallidus (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836)

Konstantinov, Fedor V. & Neimorovets, Vladimir V., 2021, Bryocorinae Baerensprung, 1860 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) of European Russia and the Caucasus: synopsis and key to species, Zootaxa 4920 (3), pp. 301-338 : 318

Dicyphus pallidus (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836)

Figures 5 , 7 , 11

Capsus pallidus Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836: 51

Material examined. AUSTRIA: Kalbling , Steiermark, 1♂, Dr. Singer . FRANCE: Vosges Mts , 1♂, Jakovlev coll. GERMANY: Aschaffenburg , 1♀ 27 VIII 1927, Dr. Singer . UKRAINE: Kirovograd Prov., Fedvar [Podlesnoe], 1♀ 24 VIII 1923, A. Kiritshenko. Chernivtsi, 5♀ 25 IX 1960, Kerzhner .

Diagnosis. Recognized by the following combination of characters: relatively large, total body length macropterous male 5.4–5.9, brachypterous male 4.3–5.1 ( Sanchez & Cassis 2018), macropterous female 5.9–6.0 ( Sanchez & Cassis 2018), brachypterous female 4.6–5.4; head dorsally always with well-developed X-shaped dark pattern; antennal segments I and II sandy brown, apex of segment II usually darker, segment II in male more than 1.5 X as long as basal width of pronotum; pronotum behind calli less than 1.2 X as long as pronotal collar and calli combined; hind tibia with contrastingly long, dark tibial spines ( Fig. 5 ); left lateral wall of abdominal segment VIII with finely serrate expansion ( Fig. 7 ); left paramere large and robust, with comparatively short dorsal crest ( Fig. 11 ).

This species is somewhat similar to D. constrictus and D. errans in the general appearance and coloration but can be readily distinguished from both species by the distinctive shape of the left paramere, the left serrate expansion of the last pregenital segment, and larger average size.

Distribution. Dicyphus pallidus is comparatively rare in collections but widely distributed in Europe ( Kerzhner & Josifov 1999). Within European Russia, this species was reported north to Novgorod Prov. east to Tatarstan, and south to Voronezh Prov. ( Kiritshenko 1951), but these records require confirmation. Reports of this species from Caucasus, viz. Krasnodar Terr. (Krasnaya Polyana) and Azerbaijan (Adzhikend, Saricali) ( Kiritshenko 1918, 1951; Kerzhner & Josifov 1999) are based on misidentifications and should be referred to D. errans .

Host and habitat. Dicyphus pallidus was reported from several Stachys spp., Geranium sp., and Salvia glutinosa L. ( Tamanini 1956; Wagner 1974; Sanchez & Cassis 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Dorsal habitus images of Dicyphus (Dicyphus) spp. Dicyphus (D.) constrictus (Boheman, 1852) and Dicyphus (D.) pallidus (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836).

FIGURE 7. Images of male abdominal apex of Dicyphus (D.) spp. in left lateral (above) and dorsal (below) views, respectively. Dicyphus (D.) cerastii Wagner, 1951, Dicyphus (D.) errans Wolff, 1804, Dicyphus (D.) constrictus (Boheman, 1852), Dicyphus (D.) hyalinipennis (Burmeister, 1835), and Dicyphus (D.) stachydis J. Sahlberg, 1878, Dicyphus (D.) pallidus (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836).

FIGURE 11. Images of parameres of Dicyphus (Dicyphus) spp. Dicyphus (D.) constrictus (Boheman, 1852), Dicyphus (D.) cerastii Wagner, 1951, Dicyphus (D.) errans Wolff, 1804, Dicyphus (D.) epilobii Reuter, 1883, Dicyphus (D.) hyalinipennis (Burmeister, 1835), Dicyphus (D.) pallidus (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1836), and Dicyphus (D.) stachydis J. Sahlberg, 1878.