Prodromus Distant, 1904

Bolshakova, Darya S. & Konstantinov, Fedor V., 2024, Revision of the genus Kunungua (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae) with descriptions of three new species and new generic synonymy, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 71 (1), pp. 219-239 : 219-239

Prodromus Distant, 1904

Figs 3 , 4 , 5

Prodromus Distant, 1904: 436. Type species by original designation: Prodromus subflavus Distant, 1904.

Prodromopsis Poppius, 1911: 4. Type species by original designation: Prodromus cuneatus Distant, 1909. Synonymised with Sinervus Stål, 1860 by Carvalho (1948: 191), with Prodromus by Odhiambo (1962: 248) and Stonedahl (1988: 70).

Duducoris Odhiambo, 1962: 264. Type species by original designation: Duducoris incisus Odhiambo, 1962. New synonym.

Prodromus : Odhiambo (1962: 248) (redescription, comparative discussion, key to spp.), Carvalho (1981: 80) (description, discussion, key to spp.), Stonedahl (1988: 53) (synonymy, redescription, discussion, phylogeny, key to spp.).

Prodromopsis : Carvalho (1948: 191) (synonymy), Odhiambo (1962: 248) (synonymy), Carvalho (1981: 80) (as valid genus), Stonedahl (1988: 70) (synonymy).

Revised diagnosis.

Body elongate; head about twice as wide as long (Fig. 3 ); antennal segment I 1.1–2.0 times as long as head, with basal one-half to one-fourth distinctly narrowed (Fig. 5 ); eyes kidney-shaped, occasionally elongate; vertex with medial sulcus; calli usually distinctive, posterior lobe of pronotum from flattened to convex (Fig. 4 ); pronotum densely punctate; posterior margin of pronotal disk from straight to deeply emarginate (Fig. 3 ); scutellum equilateral.

Hosts.

Host plant associations are poorly known. Prodromus clypeatus Distant, 1904 and P. oculatus (Poppius, 1912) have been reported to feed on banana ( Musaceae ) and young Musa leaves ( Odhiambo 1962). Prodromus melanonotus Carvalho, 1951 and P. thaliae China, 1944 have been documented as inhabitants of Marantochloa and Thalia ( Marantaceae ) ( Stonedahl 1988).

Distribution.

Paleotropical.

Discussion.

Prodromus was established by Distant (1904), with P. subflavus designated as the type species. Three species, P. subflavus , P. clypeatus , and P. subviridis Distant, 1904 were originally described within Prodromus ( Distant, 1904) with 23 additional species subsequently added to the genus. The original diagnosis of Prodromus was based on the following combination of characters: a broad head with pedunculate eyes and a longitudinal sulcus on the vertex, antennal segment I longer than the head, segment II approximately 1.5 times longer than segment I, pronotum having a narrow collar, constriction behind calli, and swollen, coarsely punctate disk with a concave posterior margin, and cuneus longer than broad.

Poppius (1911) erected a monotypic genus Prodromopsis to accommodate Prodromus cunealis Distant, 1907 based on the more vertical head with projecting clypeus, longer antennal segments III and IV, long and narrow cuneus, and short vestiture. Carvalho (1957) synonymised Prodromopsis , within which nine species were recognised at the time, with Sinervus . However, subsequently he reinstated the genus as valid, differentiating it from Sinervus based on the less pedunculate eyes, the somewhat convex anterior margin of the collar, the hind margin of disc being slightly convex, and the less narrowed cuneus ( Carvalho 1981).

Carvalho (1981) considered the much longer cuneus and the more pedunculate eyes as characters suitable for unambiguously distinguishing Prodromopsis from Prodromus . Stonedahl (1988), however, treated Prodromopsis as a junior synonym of Prodromus . Thus, he characterised Prodromus as having substylate to strongly pedunculate eyes and an elongate, curved cuneus, three times or more as long as broad.

Odhiambo (1962) described Duducoris to accommodate three newly described species from Uganda. He considered this genus to be closely allied to Prodromus , suggesting that Duducoris can be differentiated by a more flattened body, a non-sulcate vertex, eyes only weakly projecting above the vertex, a relatively short narrowed basal part of the antennal segment I, weakly raised calli, a pronotum deeply emarginated posteriorly, and shorter legs.

Akingbohungbe (1975) described a new Nigerian species of Duducoris , D. wardi Akingbohungbe, 1975 , characterised by a pubescent pronotal disk, a broadly emarginate posterior margin of pronotum, and a labium reaching apex of mesosternum. A key allowing for distinguishing the four Duducoris species was also provided.

Stonedahl (1988), in his comprehensive revision of six eccritotarsine genera including Prodromus , performed cladistic analysis of Prodromus species based on a matrix of 16 bistate characters. Duducoris sp. was chosen as the outgroup taxon, with all the characters coded as 0. Importantly, the character matrix used for analysis did not include a specific Duducoris species, and no apomorphies of Prodromus were presented during this study. Stonedahl concluded that Prodromus can be distinguished from Duducoris based on the combination of the following characters: a longer, less hypognathous head, a frons weakly convex or nearly straight, the basal 1 / 4–1 / 2 of the antennal segment I distinctly narrowed, the length of antennal segment III greater than or equal to the length of segment II, a pronotal disk moderately convex, femora relatively longer and narrower, usually slightly swollen distally, and the apex of the left paramere usually unmodified.

However, after we conducted a thorough examination of the specimens of various species within Prodromus and Duducoris , a set of characters allowing for unambiguous discrimination of these genera was not revealed.

The body of Prodromus spp. , in particular the pronotal disk, can be weakly convex, like in P. kawandanus Odhiambo, 1962 (Fig. 4 B ), P. ibbaicus Linnavuori, 1975 (Fig. 4 C ) and P. tafoensis Stonedahl, 1988 , while the pronotum of Duducoris can be raised posteriorly as in some Prodromus species. The latter condition may be observed in D. incisus (Fig. 4 G ). The clypeus is not always flattened in Prodromus . For instance, in P. ibbaicus (Fig. 5 C ) and P. kawandanus (Fig. 5 D ) the clypeus is as swollen as in Duducoris species. The thin basal part of antennal segment I may occupy from one-quarter to one-half of the segment, so that the slender basal part of the segment in Prodromus and Duducoris may be subequal as compared to the length of antennal segment I. Eyes may be both rounded and kidney-shaped, which is typical for the majority of species, and rarely elongated, as in P. kawandanus , resembling the condition observed in Duducoris .

According to Odhiambo (1962), the posterior margin of the pronotum in Duducoris is deeply emarginate. Based on our observations, this medial depression is always present, but may be poorly expressed. For instance, in D. pilosus Odhiambo, 1962 (Fig. 3 G ) the posterior margin of the pronotum resembles that of such Prodromus species as P. ibbaicus (Fig. 3 B ), P. kawandanus (Fig. 3 C ), and P. tafoensis . The pronotum in Prodromus spp. may be straight posteriorly, as in P. melanonotus (Fig. 3 A ), or slightly depressed, as in P. subviridis , P. abuyog Stonedahl, 1988 , P. apoensis Stonedahl, 1988 , and others.

According to Stonedahl (1988), P. ibbaicus was the sister taxon to all remaining Prodromus spp. with P. kawandanus branching off next. These species exhibit characters traditionally considered typical for Duducoris : eyes weakly elevated above the vertex, frons moderately convex, anteclypeus distinctly swollen and pronotal disk flattened. In P. kawandanus , eyes are also elongate in dorsal and lateral views, resembling those of Duducoris species. However, we believe P. ibbaicus and P. kawandanus should not be placed in Duducoris , as such a taxonomic act will further blur the line between Prodromus and Duducoris .

Our investigation revealed no significant differences, which allowed us to distinguish between Prodromus and Duducoris . Therefore, we suggest that Duducoris represents a specific form of the highly polymorphic genus Prodromus , and thus synonymise Duducoris Odhiambo, 1962 with Prodromus Distant, 1904 . Consequently, Prodromus is here redefined, containing the following 31 species:

Prodromus abuyog Stonedahl, 1988 – Philippine Islands and North Borneo.

Prodromus aethiopicus (Poppius, 1910) , comb. nov. – Kilimanjaro, Kenya, South Sudan, Natal in South Africa.

Prodromus alboviridescens (Motschulsky, 1863) nomen dubium.

Prodromus angulatus ( Odhiambo, 1962) , comb. nov. – Uganda.

Prodromus apoensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Mindanao, Philippine Islands.

Prodromus bakeri Stonedahl, 1988 – Luzon, Philippine Islands.

Prodromus borneoensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia.

Prodromus cambodiensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Cambodia; Sarawak, Malaysia.

Prodromus chiangmaiensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Northwestern Thailand.

Prodromus clypeatus Distant, 1904 – Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India (Kerala), Thailand, southern China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Java, Ambon.

Prodromus gressitti Stonedahl, 1988 – Northwestern Thailand.

Prodromus ibbaicus Linnavuori, 1975 – Equatoria Province, South Sudan.

Prodromus incisus ( Odhiambo, 1962) , comb. nov. – Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Prodromus joveri Delattre, 1950 – Ivory Coast.

Prodromus kawandanus Odhiambo, 1962 – Uganda and South Sudan.

Prodromus melanonotus Carvalho, 1951 – Ghana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Haut Uele, Mauda).

Prodromus mindanao Stonedahl, 1988 – Mindanao and Samar, Philippine Islands.

Prodromus nigrus ( Carvalho, 1981) – New Guinea.

Prodromus nimbus Delattre, 1950 – Guinea.

Prodromus novoguinensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Western New Guinea.

Prodromus oculatus (Poppius, 1912) – New Guinea, Bismark Archipelago, Solomon Islands.

Prodromus pelagus Stonedahl, 1988 – Sarawak, Malaysia.

Prodromus philippinensis (Poppius, 1915) – Luzon, Philippine Islands.

Prodromus pilosus ( Odhiambo, 1962) comb. nov. – Uganda.

Prodromus ranau Stonedahl, 1988 – North Borneo.

Prodromus sabah Stonedahl, 1988 – North Borneo.

Prodromus subflavus Distant, 1904 – Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Prodromus subviridis Distant, 1904 – Tanintharyi Region of Myanmar.

Prodromus tafoensis Stonedahl, 1988 – Ghana.

Prodromus thaliae China, 1944 – Ghana.

Prodromus wardi ( Akingbohungbe, 1975) , comb. nov. – Nigeria.

Figures

Figure 3. Prodromus species, dorsal view. A. P. melanonotus, AMNH _ PBI 00340373; B. P. ibbaicus, ZISP _ ENT 00008385; C. P. kawandanus, AMNH PBI 00340355; D. P. angulatus, AMNH _ PBI 00340389; E. P. clypeatus, ZISP _ ENT 00008400; F. P. incisus, ZISP _ ENT 00008403; G. P. pilosus, AMNH _ PBI 00340363; H. P. wardi, AMNH _ PBI 00340365.

Figure 4. Pronotum of Prodromus spp. in lateral view. A. P. melanonotus, ZISP _ ENT 00008406; B. P. kawandanus, ZISP _ ENT 00008364; C. P. ibbaicus, ZISP _ ENT 00008372; D. P. thaliae, ZISP _ ENT 00008390; E. P. subflavus, AMNH _ PBI 00340343; F. P. pilosus, ZISP _ ENT 00008409; G. P. incisus, ZISP _ ENT 00008402; H. P. angulatus, ZISP _ ENT 00008378; I. P. aethiopicus, ZISP _ ENT 00008418.

Figure 5. Head of Prodromus spp. in lateral view. A. P. melanonotus, ZISP _ ENT 00008406; B. P. thaliae, ZISP _ ENT 00008390; C. P. ibbaicus, ZISP _ ENT 00008383; D. P. kawandanus, ZISP _ ENT 00008364; E. P. pilosus, ZISP _ ENT 00008409; F. P. aethiopicus, ZISP _ ENT 00008418; G. P. incisus, ZISP _ ENT 00009324.