Scolopostethus lethierryi Jakovlev, 1877

Neimorovets, Vladimir V., 2024, Review of the genus Scolopostethus Fieber, 1860 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae) from Central Asia with description of a new species, Zootaxa 5477 (4), pp. 401-435 : 414-415

Scolopostethus lethierryi Jakovlev, 1877

( Figs. 14, 15 , 35, 36 , 53, 54 , 73, 74 , 89, 90 , 103 , 109 , 117 , 124 , 130 )

Scolopostethus lethierryi Jakovlev, 1877: 275 , 285.

Material examined. KAZAKHSTAN: Aktau 60 km South of Zhana-Arka [Zhanaarka], Karaganda Region, Tobias leg., 8 VI 1958, 1♀, 1♂ ; Aktau 60 km South of Zhana-Arka [Zhanaarka], Karaganda Region, Kerzhner leg., 9 VIII 1960, 1♀ ; valley of the Bolshaya Almatinka River , Kazakhstan, 07 VII 1928, Shnitnikov leg., 1♂ ; KYRGYZSTAN: Railway Station Lugovaya, Kyrgyzstan, 29 IX 1943, K. Arnoldi leg, 1m.

Diagnosis. Body length 3.9–4.2 mm in female and 3.8–4.1 mm in male. Body dorsally covered with dense obliquely setae, length of these setae on scutellum and hemelytron more than 1.4–1.8 times as long as width of hind tibia ( Figs. 14, 15 , 103 ). Posterior lobe of pronotum without distinct dark or black spots at distal border of pronotum. Mesosternum without acute tubercle at middle ( Fig. 89, 90 ). All legs light, yellow-brownish. Hemelytron generally light, brownish in dark areas (not blackish-brown). Lobe on inner margin of dorsal opening of pygophore triangle with almost straight anterior and posterior margins at apex ( Fig. 117A ). Blade of paramere in middle thicker than its base in middle (lateral view), blade with clear incision at its apex in lateral view ( Fig. 124 ). Only macropterous specimens known ( Figs. 14, 15 ).

Measurements given in Appendix 2 ( Tables 1–4 ).

Scolopostethus lethierryi is similar to S. pilosus , S. ferganensis sp. n. and S. puberulus in the body proportions, coloration, and the long vestiture of dorsum ( Figs. 102–104 ), but differs from these species in several features. Both S. pilosus and S. ferganensis sp. n. differs from S. lethierryi in erect setae, which are 1.8–3.0 times as long as width of hind tibia ( Fig. 102, 104 ). In S. pilosus the fore femorae is dark (black or almost black), the blade of the paramere is not expanded in its middle; the apex of the blade is clearly bent in lateral view ( Fig. 125 ). In S. ferganensis sp. n. the anterior margin of the pronotum with wide dirty yellow edging ( Figs. 79–84 ), the blade of the paramere is narrowed towards apex in ventral view, the apex of blade somewhat bent inward in lateral view ( Fig. 126 ). S. lethierryi also similar to S. puberulus , but the latter could be distinguished from S. lethierryi in the shorter setae, which are not more than 1.3 times as long as width of the hind tibia ( Fig. 105 ), antennal segment II uniformly yellow ( Figs. 27, 28 , 39, 40 , 105 ), and in the widely rounded apex of the paramere in dorsal view ( Fig. 123A ).

Distribution. Europe ( Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Russia), Caucasus ( Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), West Siberia ( Asanova, 1986), West and Central Kazakhstan ( Péricart, 1998, 2001). The collection localities from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are shown in Fig. 135 .

Natural History and Bionomics. S. lethierryi inhabits wet biotopes near water. The imago overwinters. The oviposition begins in the second half of May; eggs are laid in damp places among moss and litter entwined with fungal hyphae. Larvae appear in early June, the adults occur in mid-July and until early October ( Putshkov, 1969). In Austria, Hölzel collected S. lethierryi on Carex sp. ( Péricart, 1998).

Notes. Putshkov (1969) mentioned S. lethierryi from Central Asia without localities. All indications of S. lethierryi from Kazakhstan, south of the Karaganda region, need verification. Putshkov (1969) noted all references of S. lethierryi from Tadzhikistan given by Kiritshenko (1964) belong to S. pilosus . After studying the collection of the ZISP, I have concluded that these indications belong to the new species, S. ferganensis sp. n. The note of S. lethierryi from Kyrgyzstan, Kara-Alma, Fergana Range ( Popov, 1965) is possibly erroneous and belongs to S. ferganensis sp. n. becaus of there are no any specimens of S. lethierryi in the collection of the ZISP, but this collection contains only specimens of S. ferganensis sp. n. from this locality.

Péricart (1998) noted the geographical point «Tian-Shan» with reference to Popov (1965). At the same time, Péricart doubted the presence of S. lethierryi from Tajikistan and admited that this record may belongs to S. pilosus . In this case, Péricart (1998) inaccurately cited the work of Popov (1965). In this article literally says: «This species has been recorded in the Mid-Asian part of the USSR from Karatau ridge—Dmitrovka (Southern Kazakhstan) and Gissar ridge—Kondara, Kvak ( Kiritshenko, 1951)». There are absent the specimens of S. lethierryi from these localities ( Tajikistan) in the ZISP collection, but there are the specimens of S. ferganensis sp. n. from there.

Figures

FIGURES 14–19. Scolopostethus lethierryi and S. pilosus, dorsal (A) and lateral (B) view: 14—S. lethierryi, female; 15—S. lethierryi, male; 16—S. pilosus, female, brachypter; 17—S. pilosus, female, macropter; 18—S. pilosus, male, brachypter; 19— S. pilosus, male, macropter.

FIGURES 29–38. Antenna of Scolopostethus species: 29—S. affinis, female, macropter; 30—S. affinis, male, brachypter; 31—S. decotatus, female; 32—S. decoratus, male; 33—S. thomsoni, female, macropter; 34—S. thomsoni, male, macropter; 35—S lethierryi, female; 36—S lethierryi, male; 37—S. pilosus, female, brachypter; 38—S. pilosus, male, brachypter.

FIGURES 47–62. Anterior leg of Scolopostethus species: 47—S affinis, male, brachypter; 48—S affinis, female, brachypter; 49—S. decoratus, male; 50—S. decoratus, female; 51—S. thomsoni, male, brachypter; 52—S. thomsoni, female, macropter; 53—S. lethierryi, male; 54—S. lethierryi, female; 55—S. pilosus, male, brachypter; 56—S. pilosus, female, macropter; 57—S. puberulus, male, submacropter; 58—S. puberulus, female, macropter; 59—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, macropter; 60—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, brachypter; 61—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, macropter; 62—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, brachypter.

FIGURES 63–84. Pronotum of Scolopostethus species: 63—S. affinis, female, macropter; 64—S. affinis, female, brachypter; 65—S. affinis, male, macropter; 66—S. affinis, male, brachypter; 67—S. thomsoni, female, macropter; 68—S. thomsoni, female, brachypter; 69—S. thomsoni, male, macropter; 70—S. thomsoni, male, brachypter; 71—S. decoratus, female; 72—S. decoratus, male; 73—S. lethierryi, female; 74—S. lethierryi, male; 75—S. pilosus, female, macropter; 76—S. pilosus, female, brachypter; 77—S. pilosus, male, macropter; 78—S. pilosus, male, brachypter; 79—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, brachypter; 80—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, submacropter; 81—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, macropter; 82—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, brachypter; 83—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, submacropter; 84—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, macropter.

FIGURES 85–98. Mesosternum of Scolopostethus species, lateral view: 85—S. affinis, female, macropter; 86—S. affinis, male, brachypter; 87—S. decoratus, female; 88—S. decoratus, male; 89—S. lethierryi, female; 90—S. lethierryi, male; 91—S. pilosus, female, macropter; 92—S. pilosus, male, brachypter.; 93—S. puberulus, female, macropter; 94—S. puberulus, male, brachypter; 95—S. thomsoni, female, macropter; 96—S. thomsoni, male, macropter; 97—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, macropter; 98—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, macropter.

FIGURES 99–105. Pubescence on the dorsal surface of the body of Scolopostethus species, lateral view: 99—S. affinis, male, brachypter; 100—S. thomsoni, male, brachypter; 101—S. decoratus, female; 102—S. pilosus, male, brachypter; 103—S. lethierryi, female; 104—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, submacropter; 105—S. puberulus, male, submacropter.

FIGURES 106–112. Posterior leg of Scolopostethus species: 106—S. affinis, male, brachypter; 107—S. decoratus, female; 108—S. thomsoni, male, brachypter; 109—S. lethierryi, female; 110—S. pilosus, female, brachypter; 111—S. puberulus, female; 112—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, brachypter.

FIGURES 117–119. Pygophore of Scolopostethus species: 117—S. lethierryi; 118—S. puberulus, submacropter; 119—S. ferganensis sp. n., macropter.

FIGURES 120–126. Left paramere of Scolopostethus species, lateral (A) and ventral (B) view: 120—S. affinis, brachypter; 121—S. decoratus; 122—S. thomsoni, macropter; 123—S. puberulus, submacropter; 124—S. lethierryi; 125—S. pilosus, brachypter; 126—S. ferganensis sp. n., macropter.

FIGURES 127–130. Aedeagus of Scolopostethus species, dorsal (A) and lateral (B) view: 127—S. affinis, brachypter; 128—S. decoratus; 129—S. thomsoni, macropter; 130—S. lethierryi.

FIGURES 25–28. Scolopostethus ferganensis sp. n. and S. puberulus, dorsal (A) and lateral (B) view: 25—female, brachypter; 26—male, brachypter; 27—S. puberulus, female, macropter; 28—S. puberulus, male, submacropter.

FIGURES 39–46. Antenna of Scolopostethus species: 39—S. puberulus, female, macropter; 40—S. puberulus, male, submacropter; 41—S. ferganensis sp. n., female, brachypter; 42—S.ferganensis sp. n., female,submacropter;43—S.ferganensis sp. n., female, macropter; 44—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, brachypter; 45—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, submacropter; 46—S. ferganensis sp. n., male, macropter.

FIGURES 134–137. Localities of Scolopostethus species on the territory of former Soviet Central Asia based on materials from the ZISP collection: 134—S. decoratus; 135—S. lethierryi (red circle) and S. pillosus (blue circle); 136—S. ferganensis sp. n.; 137—S. thomsoni. Used map: https://www.shadedrelief.com/world/Data/map1_type.jpg by Tom Patterson, February 2018.