Philicoris, Menard, Katrina L. & Siler, Cameron D., 2018

Menard, Katrina L. & Siler, Cameron D., 2018, New genus and two new species of Hyaliodini from the Philippines (Miridae, Deraeocorinae), ZooKeys 796, pp. 131-146 : 134-135

Philicoris gen. n. Figs 2, 3, 4, 5

Type species.

Philicoris mayon by original designation.

Included species.

Philicoris mayon sp. n., Philicoris palali sp. n.

Diagnosis.

Recognized by trapezoidal and convexly rounded pronotum, shiny dorsum with punctation on pronotum and distinct rows of punctures along clavus and corium of hemelytron, wide emboliar margins, and shape of male genitalia.

Description.

Male. Coloration.Head: tan to light yellowish brown, clypeus and labrum dark brown; labium basally yellow and dark brown apically; first antennal segment dark brown, basally dark brown, transitioning to tan or orange to light brown distally with dark brown apices, second antennal segment contiguously tan or yellow transitioning to reddish brown then dark brown at distal apex, third antennal segment tan or white basally transitioning to dark brown distally, fourth antennal segment tan or dark brown. Thorax: collar tan or yellowish brown, pronotum tan or light yellowish brown, calli tan with posterior margin with lighter yellow macula or orange tinge along margin, mesoscutum brown with lateral yellow macula or light yellowish brown, scutellum dark brown medially and light whitish green along majority of lateral margins or light yellowish brown, lateral sclerites of thorax same coloration as pronotum or darker, scent gland and evaporative area same color as lateral sclerites or contrastingly whitish, procoxae light yellow or orange-brown, remaining coxae light brown apically and yellowish or orange-brown distally, femora tan or light yellowish brown with two orange-red stripes on preapical distal margins, and tibiae tan or orange and light yellowish brown basally, tarsomeres tan or light yellow. Hemelytra: embolium tan or light yellowish brown with orange tinge, cuneus tan or light yellowish brown with orange tinge, lateral margins of corium tan or light yellowish brown transitioning to light brown, clavus dark brown with light tan area along anterior one-third margin or with corium completely dark brown, membrane light brown to beige with orange-brown or beige veins. Abdomen: tan with dark brown anterior and posterior surfaces or completely-orange brown, gonopore tan or orange-brown. Surface and vestiture: Head: smooth and shiny, clothed with simple setae, antennal segments covered with dense simple setae of uniform length. Thorax: collar and calli smooth, remaining surface of pronotum punctate, covered with simple setae, scutellum and lateral sclerites of thorax with simple setae. Hemelytra: simple setae covering hemelytral surface, hemelytra surface shiny with dense punctuation in regular rows on clavus and corium, dorsal surface of emboliar margins and cuneus smooth. Abdomen: clothed with simple setae. Structure: Head: wider than high, clypeus not visible in dorsal view, frons convex, vertex flat, declining posteriorly towards anterior pronotal margin, eyes relatively large, taking up most of head in lateral view, dorsal surface confluent with vertex, posterior margin removed from anterior margin of pronotum, interocular width either greater than or less than width of single eye, first antennal segment length wider than interocular distance, less than half length of second segment, second antennal segment longest, apically narrower than first segment, distally widening to width equivalent to first, antennal segments three and four half width of antennal segment one, individually nearly equidistant in length to segment one; apex of labium extending to metacoxae. Thorax: pronotal collar narrow and rounded, dorsal surface of pronotum convexly rounded, anterior and posterior portions of pronotum not demarcated, pronotum trapezoidal with nearly straight lateral margins, calli fused into single weakly protruding plate surrounded by weakly defined rows of punctures, posterior margin of pronotum straight, mesoscutum mostly hidden or not visible, scutellum tumid, metathoracic scent gland relatively large, taking up greater than half area of metathoracic sclerite (Fig. 3A), femoral length equivalent and approximately four-fifth length of tibiae, metafemora greatest in width, medial width widest medially, tibial length nearly equivalent to emboliar length, third segment of pretarsus longest, pretarsal claws with basal tooth (Fig. 3B), parallel hair-like parempodia, lacking pulvilli. Hemelytra: weakly transversely rounded, lateral margins straight or weakly concave with wide embolium, cuneus longer than wide, bent ventrally at fracture, membrane with two visible veins forming two cells, larger cell length greater than one half total length of membrane. Abdomen: shorter than half total body length, relatively narrow, width tapering to gonopore. Genitalia: Endosoma primarily membranous with two spicules apically, preapical secondary gonopore and several membranous apical lobes (Figs 4A, 5A), phallotheca thin and simple, left paramere tall and crow-bar shaped, sometimes with basal spine projecting perpendicularly to base (Figs 4C, 5C), right paramere small, leaf-shaped, sometimes with apical bifurcation (Figs 4B, 5B).

Female. Similar to males in coloration, surface and vestiture. Interocular distance greater in females, width of pronotum sometimes wider. Genitalia: not dissected.

Etymology.

The generic name is derived from the country of their discovery (Philippines) and “coris,” meaning bug in Latin. The gender is masculine.

Hosts.

Asteraceae .

Distribution.

Luzon Island, Philippines.

Discussion.

The combination of the basally toothed claw, the relatively wide embolium along the lateral margins of the hemelytron, the shiny and punctate pronotum and hemelytron, and the membranous endosoma clearly place this genus in the Hyaliodini as it is currently defined. Both species also have two apical endosomal spicules and multiple membranous lobes that correspond to other members of Deraeocorinae and Hyaliodini ( Akingbohungbe 1979).

Philicoris is similar to the Neotropical genus Antias Distant in size and lacks a demarcation between the anterior and posterior portions of the pronotum but instead is tumid, and the hemelytron is not completely hyaline lines ( Carvalho 1982). The calli are also not well developed. Unlike Antias , however, Philicoris has a smooth membrane without any setae, the eyes do not cover the entire area of the head in lateral view, and Philicoris has rows of punctation on the surface of the corium, embolium and claval suture lines. Philicoris also differs from the African genera Obudua Linnavuori and Linnavuorista Akingbohungbe by the lack of a narrowed anterior margin, the former by the lack of distinctly swollen calli, and from the latter by lacking a distinct apical spur on the metafemur. The Palearctic and African genus Stethoconus Flor also differs from Philicoris ; the latter lacks an anterior constriction to the pronotum, has a narrow collar, and has a relatively concolorous pronotum and hemelytron versus the highly patterned Stethoconus . For these reasons, we argue that this taxon represents a new genus.