Plagiognathus (Zophocnemis) Kerzhner, 1962

SCHUH, RANDALL T., 2001, Revision Of New World Plagiognathus Fieber, With Comments On The Palearctic Fauna And The Description Of A New Genus (Heteroptera: Miridae: Phylinae), Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2001 (266), pp. 1-267 : 253

Plagiognathus (Zophocnemis) Kerzhner, 1962 :

385 (n. subgen.).

TYPE SPECIES: Psallus bicolor Jakovlev, 1880 .

Kerzhner (1962) recognized the distinctive nature of Psallus bicolor Jakovlev among other species which at that time were placed in Plagiognathus ; he created for it the subgenus Zophocnemis . Schuh et al. (1995) stat­ ed that bicolor had typical Plagiognathus male genitalia, and that they were therefore placing the species in that genus. A closer comparative examination indicates that bicolor is not what might be called ‘‘typical’’ of Plagiognathus ; indeed, the small size, delicate secondary gonopore, and weakly developed apical spines suggest a possible relationship closer to the Atractotomus group of genera (see Schuh, 2000). Furthermore, the short, rather broad head, the flattened body, and the flattened abdomen and small genital capsule are not typical of Plagiognathus species. For these reasons I am elevating Zophocnemis to generic status.