Nasocoris lautereri, Kment, Petr & Bryja, Josef, 2007

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 : 40-44

Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–4 )

Type locality. Greece, Attica province, Poros Island, northern and northwestern margin of city of Poros (37°30'N 23°28'E), 2–50 m a.s.l. (P. Lauterer, in litt.).

Type material. HOLOTYPE: male, ‘ GREECE, Attiki (58/95) / POROS Isl., SW parts / pasture, macchia, Pinus wood / undergrowth, 2–50 m a.s.l. / 10.vi.1995, lgt. P. LAUTERER [white label, printed]’ // ‘ɗ’ [white label, printed] // ‘ HOLOTYPUS / NASOCORIS / LAUTERERI / sp. nov. / det. P.Kment & J.Bryja 2007’ ( MMBC). The specimen is glued on a piece of cardboard, apex of abdomen with genitalia is placed in a PVC microvial filled with glycerol and attached to the same pin. PARATYPES: 4 males, 8 females, the same locality and identification labels as holotype (only with ‘paratypus’ instead of ‘holotypus’) (3 females in MMBC; 3 males, 2 females in NMPC; 2 females in JBSC; 1 male, 1 female in ZMAS).

Additional material examined. CROATIA: Braĕ Island, Bol env., 43°16'N 16°39'E, Vidova Gora Mt., 780 m a.s.l., rocks on the mountain top, on Ephedra distachya , 4. ix.2004, 4 males, 4 females, P. Kment lgt., P. Kment & J. Bryja det. ( NMPC, JBSC).

Description. Male (holotype, Fig. 1 ). Body small, slender, parallel-sided.

MEASUREMENTS. Body length 3.704 mm, length of pronotum 0.590 mm, width of pronotum 0.911 mm, ratio width / length of pronotum 1.544, width of vertex 0.323 mm, width of eye 0.209 mm, width of head 0.741 mm, ocular index 1.545, antennomere 1 0.607 mm, antennomere 2 1.485 mm, ratio antennomere 1 / width of head 0.819.

COLORATION. Mostly pale ochreous ( Fig. 1 ). Head. Dorsally yellow to ochraceous, vertex with a large triangular reddish spot, divided by a thin pale median line (more distinct anteriorly); ventrally with irregular yellowish and reddish pattern. Eyes tinged with reddish-brown. Antennomere 1 pale reddish, antennomeres 2–4 ochraceous to pale brown, two apical segments generally darker. Thorax. Smaller anterior portion of pronotum dark brown, larger posterior portion pale ochraceous. Mesoscutum and scutellum brown. Propleuron pale ochraceous with a fuzzy reddish longitudinal stripe medially. Mesepisternum pale reddish, mesepimeron and metapleuron pale ochraceous, metathoracic scent gland peritreme ochraceous with slight reddish tinge. Legs. Coxae reddish, profemora and mesofemora reddish with ochraceous apices, metafemora pale ochraceous with indistinct small red spots and a basal reddish spot on anterior margin; tibiae ochraceous with more or less distinct dark brown punctures; tarsi ochraceous, slightly more infumated than tibiae, claws brown. Hemelytra pale ochraceous, basal portion of clavi (up to scutellar apex) and inner margin of corium between claval apex and membrane brownish. Membrane brownish fumous, veins concolorous. Abdomen pale ochraceous, pygophore apically slightly darker.

SURFACE AND VESTITURE. Body surface matt, mostly covered with long white to ochraceous semierect hairs (usually badly damaged in dead specimens). The most apparent (and usually best preserved) ones are the long, ochraceous to brownish hairs on antennomere 1 and on clypeus, and the whitish hairs on the ventral surface of head, lateral margins of pronotum, and bases of scutellum and hemelytra. Hairs on femora and hemelytra shorter than those on head and antennomere 1, mostly ochraceous and semierect. Tibiae with stout, white, semierect setae arising from dark punctures. Antennomeres 2–4 with very short semierect hairs (much shorter than the antennomere diameter). Membrane smooth.

Structure. Head length and width approximately equal; vertex relatively wide, slightly convex; frons slightly sloping; clypeus large, prominent, laterally flattened, in lateral view widely rounded. Eyes large, protruding laterally. Antennomere 1 distinctly swollen, slightly narrowing apicad, slightly more than twice as thick as antennomeres 2–4, these slender, filiform. Labium reaching procoxae. Thorax. Pronotum trapeziform, lateral margins only indistinctly concave, humeral angles rounded, posterior margin slightly convex; calli indistinct; posterior pronotal margin smooth, without humps or tubercles. Lateral margins of pronotum ventrally rounded. Scutellum triangular. Legs slender; hind legs markedly long, metafemora slightly swollen. Hemelytra parallel-sided, surpassing apex of abdomen (abdomen reaching middle of cuneus). Genitalia. Vesica very long and thin, S-shaped ( Fig. 4 ).

Female ( Fig. 2 ). Similar to male in body shape but generally larger, with smaller eyes (see Table 1 for measurements). Coloration as in males, brownish spot on inner margin of corium and reddish anterobasal spot on metafemora generally larger.

Variability. Both males and females from Greece ( Figs. 1–2 ) are significantly larger than those from Croatia in many aspects ( Table 1 ). However, if the ratios of measurements (e.g., ocular index, width / length of pronotum) are taken into account, there are no differences between the localities. The only significant morphometric difference is the higher antennomere 1 / width of head ratio in males from Croatia, but this analysis is based on a very small sample size. Within the Greek population, the coloration is quite constant, the only apparent differences being in the size of the brownish spot on inner margin of corium and the size of the reddish anterobasal spot on metafemora. The Greek and Croatian populations share the general colour pattern (see Figs. 1–3 ), but the Croatian specimens are distinctly darker, the reddish and brownish coloration being more prominent (see Fig. 3 ). However, we found no difference in the genitalia structure between the both populations, so this variability is most probably caused by different life conditions and/or the fact that the samples belong to different generations (spring / autumn).

Differential diagnosis. In the key to the Mediterranean species by Linnavuori (1968) N. lautereri sp. nov. groups with species with antennomere 1 incrassate, at least 0.75 x as long as diatone (0.79–0.88 in N. lautereri sp. nov.) and covered with yellowish, rather adpressed hairs, which are not longer than the greatest breadth of the joint, i.e., N. platycranoides Montandon, 1890 , and N. artemis Linnavuori, 1968 . However, these species differ from Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov. in coloration: N. artemis : pronotum pale yellowish with slighly darkened lateral and hind margins, hind margin of corium and inner margin of cuneus narrowly yellowish red; N. platycranoides : pronotum pale ochraceous with two longitudinal reddish stripes near lateral margins; entire hemelytra concolorous, pale ochraceous ( Fig. 8 ). According to the key of Wagner (1974), N. ephedrae Reuter, 1902 must also be taken into account; however, this species of similar size and coloration differs in having the antennomere 1 shorter (0.52–0.63 as long as diatone – see Linnavuori 1968), as well as ocular index (1.8–1.9 in males, 2.2–2.3 in females of N. ephedrae – see Wagner 1974). Using Linnavuori’s (1999) key to the species of the Middle East and Central Asia, N. lautereri sp. nov. groups with six species having the lateral pronotal margins ventrally rounded. However, five of these species are characterised by the presence of humps or tubercles on the posterior pronotal margin, which are completely missing in N. lautereri sp. nov. The only remaining species lacking such humps or tubercles, N. convexicollis Linnavuori, 1999 , differs by the basal margin of pronotum being strongly convex in apicodorsal view, and its coloration (pronotum whitish ochraceous with a faint orange pattern, scutellum reddish with pale midline, hemelytra uniformly pale – see Linnavuori 1999). Among the species with lateral margins of pronotum ventrally acute, N. lautereri sp. nov. ressembles in coloration N. tesquorum Kerzhner, 1970 . Both these species share the pronotal pattern with anterior portion dark brown and posterior part pale, and the basal parts of clavi around scutellum brownish ( Figs. 1-3 , 9 ); but N. tesquorum differs by the reddish scutellum, the antennomere 1 slightly longer than diatone (ratio ca 1.1), the larger body size (4.4–4.8 mm in males, 3.4–4.0 mm in females), and the shape of vesica (apex not bent, thus vesica not S-shaped) (see Kerzhner 1970, Linnavuori 1999).

Based on the shape of pronotum and vesica, Linnavuori (1999) discussed the existence of two species groups within Nasocoris . Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov. seems to belong to the same group as N. artemis , N. platycranoides , N. serratus , and N. tesquorum ; however, the phylogeny of the genus needs further study.

Bionomics. According to the locality database of MMBC (locality number G58/95), the collecting site of the type series from Greece was described as follows: northern and northwestern margin of city of Poros, 2– 50 m a.s.l., habitat: ‘ Tamarix at sea shore (with Chenopodium ); maquis on southern slope and undergrowth of pine forest, halophilous plants on sea shore’, vegetation: Poaceae , Cistus salvifolius , Cistus sp., Genista acanthocnemis , Carduus ,?introduced Poaceae from Africa, Chenopodium ; Ephedra paras.[itic] on? Juniperus , Pistacia lentiscus , Quercus coccifera , Phyllirea media , Pyrus amygdaliformis ; Pinus , coastal Tamarix ’ (P. Lauterer, in litt.). It follows from this account, that N. lautereri sp. nov. was collected on a vine-like Ephedra species climbing on a shrub of (very probably) Juniperus sp. There is only one species of Ephedra fitting this description and growing in Greece, Ephedra campylopoda (C. A. Meyer) (see Markgraf 1964, as Ephedra fragilis subsp. campylopoda (C. A. Meyer) Ascherson et Graebner ). The Croatian specimens were swept from Ephedra distachya Linnaeus growing on the rocky top of a coastal mountain at an altitude of ca 780 m a.s.l., exposed to sunlight and sea winds ( Fig. 5–6 ). The Greek specimens were collected on July 10, whereas the Croatian ones on September 9. Compared to the known life cycle of N. desertorum ( Kaplin 1993) , it can be concluded that N. lautereri sp. nov. overwinters in the egg stage and has at least two generations per year.

Etymology. This species is dedicated to its collector, Pavel Lauterer (Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic), a well-known specialist in Psylloidea and Auchenorrhyncha, and (first of all) an astonishing man.

Distribution. Known only from Greece (the Poros Island near the Peloponnesos peninsula) and Croatia (the Braĕ Island in central Dalmatia).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov., aedeagus (paratype from Greece, Poros Isl.). Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov., habitus. 1 – Male, holotype (Greece, Poros Isl.) (3.7 mm); 2 – Female, paratype (Greece, Poros Isl.) (3.6 mm); 3 – Female (Croatia, Braċ Isl.) (3.1 mm).

FIGURES 7 – 9. 7 – Nasocoris argyrotrichus Reuter, 1879, habitus. Female (Kazakhstan, Dzhambul region, Karasay env.) (3.3 mm); 8 – N. platycranoides Montandon, 1890, habitus. Female (Spian, Pizarra) (4.9 mm); 9 – N. tesquorum Kerzhner, 1970, habitus. Male, paratype (Kazakhstan, Dzhungarsky Alatau, Topolevka) (4.6 mm).

FIGURES 5 – 6. 5 (above) – Vidova Gora Mt. (top with the broadcaster; Croatia, Braċ Is., 780 m a. s. l.) (Photo: Jitka Schlägelová, September 2005), 6 (below) – Ephedra distachya L. growth under the top of Vidova Gora Mt., the second known locality of Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov. (Photo: P. Kment, September 2004).

Tables

TABLE 1. Measurements of the available material of Nasocoris lautereri sp. nov. from the Balkan peninsula. M – males; F – females. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of measured specimens. ANOVA was used to test the differences of means between the individuals from two localities. Significant differences (p <0.05) are marked by M (differences between males) or F (between females).

Measurement Body length	Mean ± SD Min - Max	Greece M (4) F (8) 3.56 ± 0.102 3.58 ± 0.207 3.47 - 3.70 3.27 - 3.80	Croatia M (4) F (4) 3.14 ± 0.067 3.10 ± 0.095 3.10 - 3.21 3.02 - 3.21	ANOVA (p <0.05) M, F
Length of pronotum	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.55 ± 0.049 0.63 ± 0.014 0.48 - 0.59 0.61 - 0.65	0.51 ± 0.026 0.54 ± 0.010 0.48 - 0.53 0.53 - 0.55	F
Width of pronotum	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.89 ± 0.026 0.97 ± 0.008 0.85 - 0.91 0.96 - 0.98	0.76 ± 0.043 0.83 ± 0.031 0.71 - 0.79 0.81 - 0.88	M, F
Width/Length of pronotum	Mean ± SD Min - Max	1.61 ± 0.115 1.54 ± 0.032 1.51 - 1.77 1.50 - 1.59	1.48 ± 0.016 1.55 ± 0.081 1.47 - 1.50 1.50 - 1.67	-
Width of vertex	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.33 ± 0.006 0.34 ± 0.013 0.32 - 0.33 0.32 - 0.36	0.29 ± 0.008 0.31 ± 0.012 0.28 - 0.30 0.30 - 0.33	M, F
Width of eye	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.20 ± 0.007 0.19 ± 0.005 0.20 - 0.21 0.19 - 0.20	0.18 ± 0.003 0.18 ± 0.010 0.18 - 0.18 0.17 - 0.19	M, F
Width of head	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.73 ± 0.008 0.73 ± 0.013 0.72 - 0.74 0.71 - 0.75	0.65 ± 0.014 0.67 ± 0.015 0.63 - 0.66 0.66 - 0.69	M, F
Ocular index (vertex/eye)	Mean ± SD Min - Max	1.61 ± 0.080 1.78 ± 0.090 1.55 - 1.70 1.63 - 1.89	1.62 ± 0.035 1.76 ± 0.152 1.60 - 1.67 1.64 - 1.98	-
Antennomere 1	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.59 ± 0.013 0.63 ± 0.015 0.58 - 0.61 0.59 - 0.64	0.57 ± 0.022 0.57 ± 0.014 0.55 - 0.59 0.55 - 0.58	F
Antennomere 1/ Width of head	Mean ± SD Min - Max	0.80 ± 0.011 0.86 ± 0.015 0.79 - 0.82 0.84 - 0.88	0.87 ± 0.023 0.85 ± 0.020 0.84 - 0.89 0.83 - 0.87	M
Antennomere 2	Mean ± SD Min - Max	1.45 ± 0.022 1.34 ± 0.029 1.44 - 1.49 1.30 - 1.38	1.21 ± 0.062 1.06 ± 0.012 1.16 - 1.30 1.05 - 1.07	M, F