Physopleurella armata Poppius 1909

Jung, Sunghoon & Lee, Seunghwan, 2011, Two new records of the tribe Cardiastethini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) from the Korean Peninsula, Zootaxa 2931, pp. 59-64 : 62

Physopleurella armata Poppius 1909

( Figs. 2 , 3 B)

Physopleurella armata Poppius 1909: 12 –13.

Physopleurella obscura Poppius 1909: 13 (syn. Esaki 1926: 170). Scoloposcelis japonicus Esaki 1931: 263 –264 (syn. Hiura 1959: 7).

Diagnosis. Antenna ( Fig. 2 A) yellowish brown, with apex of segment I dark brown; segment II longer than head width across eyes; rostrum ( Fig. 2 B) dark brown; pronotum ( Fig. 2 A) yellowish brown; scutellum reddish brown; hemelytra yellowish brown with innermost portion of corium narrowly darkened; cuneus broadly darkened. Pygophore ( Fig. 3 B) with a nearly straight paramere, slightly bent anteriorly at apex.

Description. Body ( Fig. 2 A) generally brown. Head dark brown, slightly shorter than its width across eyes; dorsal surface sparsely covered with long, silky, erect setae; tylus dark brown; vertex about 1.5 as wide as eye; eyes black, not touching anterior margin of pronotum; ocelli reddish brown. Antennae yellowish brown; segment I nearly reaching apex of head, with sparse short setae; segment I dark brown at apex, segment II dark brown on one third apically, a little longer than head width across eyes, clothed with suberect setae; segment III about one third as long as segment II, and slightly shorter than segment IV; segment IV weakly flattened; lengths of segments I–IV (3/Ƥ, ranges in mm) 0.14–0.15/0.15– 0.17, 0.53–0.58/0.55–0.57, 0.33–0.35/0.31–0.36, and 0.30–0.31/0.28–0.33, respectively. Rostrum stout, short ( Fig. 2 B), reaching to collar, sparsely covered with short setae; segments I to IV fuscous, except IV at apex; segments III slightly longer than segment IV,; lengths of segments II–IV (3/Ƥ, ranges in mm) 0.08–0.09/0.08–0.09, 0.23–0.25/0.21–0.26, and 0.19–0.21/0.19–0.23, respectively.

Pronotum brown, tinged with dark brown posteromedially, covered with long, silky, reclining setae; collar narrow, with short setae; lateral margin sinuate, carinated on anterior 2/3; posterior margin about three times as wide as anterior margin. Scutellum darker than pronotum, weakly shiny, with two distinct foveae at middle. Hemelytra light brown, covered with yellow, reclining setae; cuneus widely darkened; apical part of corium almost three times as wide as embolium; membrane grey, with several veins. Osiolar peritreme and evaporative area brown; ostiolar peritreme short, slightly curved backwards. Legs pale yellow, densely covered with yellow, short setae; fore femur with two series of spines ventrally, composed of long and short spines.

Male genitalia as shown in Fig. 3 B. Pygophore with a nearly straight paramere, slightly bent anteriorly at apex. Female genitalia with greatly reduced ovipositor.

Measurements (3/Ƥ, ranges in mm). Body length 3.25–3.40/3.45–3.88; head length (excluding neck) 0.45–0.48/ 0.41–0.52; width (including eyes) 0.44–0.47/0.47–0.51; vertex width 0.14–0.16/0.16–0.23; width between ocelli 0.08– 0.09/0.11–0.12; anterior pronotal width 0.32–0.36/0.31–0.36; mesal pronotal length 0.44–0.45/0.46–0.47; basal pronotal width 0.98–0.99/1.11–1.16; length of embolial margin 0.90–0.93/0.91–0.94; length of later cuneal margin 0.63–0.64/ 0.66–0.69; maximum width across hemelytra 0.78–0.81/0.81–0.87.

Specimens examined. 13, Irun-myeon, Geoje-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, on dead leaf clusters of Pinus densiflora (Japanese red pine, Pinaceae ), 11.viii.2008, S. Jung leg.; 1Ƥ, Yeongheung-myeon, Ongjin-gun, Incheon-si, South Korea, on dead leaf clusters of Paulownia coreana (Royal foxglove tree, Scrophulariaceae ), 24.viii.2009, S. Jung leg.; 1Ƥ, Nanjido-ri, Seongmun-myeon, Dangjin-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, on dead leaf clusters, 12.vii.2009, S. Jung leg.; 33, 2Ƥ, Daebang-dong, Sacheon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, on dead leaf clusters, 10.vi.2010, S. Park leg.

Distribution. Australia, China, Japan, Hawaii, Korea, New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam.

Biology. To date, this species has been found only on islands or along the coastal area in South Korea. Contrasting with the other Korean flower bugs ( Amphiareus , Orius , Anthocoris , etc.), this species has never been collected from winter hibernating habitats. This species was collected by beating dead-leaf clusters of various kinds of trees, together with small arthropods which appeared to be their prey ( Fig. 3 B). The new record of this species from the Korean Peninsula is the northern limit of its distribution, as this species is distributed mainly in tropical regions ( Yamada and Hirowatari 2007b).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Physopleurella armata Poppius 1909, Ƥ. A, dorsal view; B, head, lateral view; C, habitus of live adult hunting a dipteran species using raptorial forelegs.

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