Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius 1913

Jung, Sunghoon & Lee, Seunghwan, 2011, Two new records of the tribe Cardiastethini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) from the Korean Peninsula, Zootaxa 2931, pp. 59-64 : 60-61

Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius 1913

( Figs. 1 , 3 A)

Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius 1913: 253 ; Carayon 1976: 467; Bu and Zheng 2001: 93; Yamada and Hirowatari 2007a: 114.

Cardiastethus pygmaeus Poppius 1914: 7 ; Easaki 1926: 170; Carayon 1957: 173; Hiura 1958: 40; Hiura 1959: 44; Zheng and Bu 1990: 27; Carayon 1976: 460–472(syn. Yamada and Hirowatari 2007a: 114). Triphleps cocciphagus Hesse 1947: 42 (syn. Bu and Zheng 2001: 93).

Diagnosis. Body ( Fig. 1 A) brown (partly blackish brown), small (1.8mm long), oval, anteocular portion shorter than eye length; legs pale yellow; pygophore asymmetrical, with well-developed parameroid process and, paramere strongly curved ( Fig. 3 A).

Description. Body ( Fig. 1 A) generally brown, oblong-oval; dorsal surface densely covered with long, silky pubescence. Head dark brown, slightly shorter than width across eyes; anteocular portion shorter than eye length; tylus tinged with dark brown; vertex about twice as wide as eye; eyes dark brown ( Fig. 1 B), not touching anterior margin of pronotum; ocelli reddish brown. Antennae yellowish brown; segment I nearly reaching apex of head, with sparse short setae; segment II dark brown on apical half, a little shorter than head width across eyes, clothe with suberect setae; segment III dark brown, about half as long as segment II; segment IV dark brown, weakly flattened; lengths of segments I–IV (3/Ƥ, lengths in mm) 0.09/0.09, 0.31/032, 0.15/0.15, 0.16/0.17, respectively. Rostrum ( Fig. 1 B) long, reaching to fore coxae, sparsely covered with short setae; segments I to IV pale yellow; segment III about 2.5 times as long as segment II, slightly longer than segment IV; lengths of segments II–IV (3/Ƥ, lengths in mm) 0.08/0.08, 0.21/0.22, 0.17/ 0.18, respectively.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 A,B) trapezoidal, strongly depressed posteromedially; anterior margin slightly shorter than mesal length; lateral margin nearly straight, weakly rounded; posterior margin curved inwardly, more than twice as wide as anterior margin; collar narrow; callus weakly swollen, with pair of suberect setae near anterior angles and deep depression in anterior part. Scutellum brown, with two deep, circular foveae in middle; anterior half swollen, posterior half flattened and rugose. Hemelytra brown; cuneus darkened except apex; embolial margin about 1.5 times as long as lateral cuneal margin; membrane dark grey, with three pale veins. Ostiolar peritreme and evaporative area ( Fig. 1 B) brown; ostiolar peritreme long, slightly curved backwards. Legs slender, covered with short, recumbent pubescence, pale yellow. Abdomen yellowish brown; scissures on abdominal tergite reaching end of posterior margin of segment III.

Male genitalia as shown in Fig. 3 A. Pygophore turbinate, bearing plate on anterior part of left edge, covered with long setae posteroventrally; paramere extending laterally, curved at middle, with suberect setae near apex. Female genitalia with greatly reduced ovipositor.

Measurements (3/Ƥ, lengths in mm). Body length 1.8/1.9; head length (excluding neck) 0.28/0.30, width (including eyes) 0.31/0.33; vertex width 0.15/0.15; width between ocelli 0.16/0.14; anterior pronotal width 0.34/0.33; mesal pronotal length 0.33/0.36; basal pronotal width 0.66/0.69; length of embolial margin 0.61/0.62; length of lateral cuneal margin 0.33/0.33; maximum width across hemelytra 0.61/0.68.

Distribution. China, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Tropical Africa.

Specimen examined. 13, Baekhak-myeon, Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, near DMZ (the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea) area inside the Civilian Control Line, on Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum (goosefoot, Chenopodiaceae ), 17.vii.2008, S. Jung leg.; 1Ƥ, Gyeongho-dong, Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do, South Korea, under the bark of Zelkova serrata (Ulmaceae) during winter hibernation, 14.i.2009, S. Kim leg.

Biology. This species is widely distributed in tropical regions such as Africa and Thailand ( Yamada and Hirowatari 2007a), thus the collection record from the DMZ area in the Korean Peninsula indicates the northern limit in the distribution of this species. This species hibernates under bark of Zelkova serrata [ Ulmaceae ] (elm-like tree/ sawleaf zelkova ) in the southern part of Korea ( Fig. 1 C) with other anthocorids belonging in genera such as Orius Wolff and Amphiareus Distant ( Jung et al. 2011a; Jung and Lee 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Cardiastethus exiguus Poppius 1913, Ƥ. A, dorsal view; B, head, lateral view; C, habitus of live adult hibernating under the bark of Zelkova serrata.

FIGURE 3. Pygophore and paramere of male genitalia. A, Cardiastethus exiguus; B, Physopleurella armata.