Genus Elasmostethus Fieber, 1860

Elasmostethus Fieber, 1860: 78, 1861: 328 . Type species by subsequent designation (Stål 1864: 54): Cimex dentatus De Geer, 1773 (= Cimex interstinctus Linnaeus, 1758).

Oxydalus Mulsant and Rey, 1866: 324 . Type species by monotypy: Cimex dentatus De Geer, 1773 (= Cimex interstinctus Linnaeus, 1758). Synonymized by Stål (1868: 39).

Elasmatostethus Marshall, 1868: 281 . Unjustified emendation of Elasmostethus .

Stictocarenus Stål, 1871: 638 . Type species by monotypy: Cuspicona ? taeniola Dallas, 1851 (= Rhynchocoris ligatus Erichson, 1841). Synonymized by Kumar (1974: 51).

Dichobothrium Breddin, 1903: 207 . Type species by subsequent designation (Kirkaldy 1909: XXXII): Dichobothrium sastragaloides Breddin, 1903 . Synonymized by Kumar (1974: 51).

Ditaenius Bergroth, 1912: 361 . Type species by original designation: Cimex emeritus Fabricius, 1775 . Synonymized by Kumar (1974: 51).

Elasmostethus: Kirkaldy (1909: XXXII, 177) (type species, catalogue), Lee (1971: 222) (fauna of Korea), Kumar (1974: 42, 49) (in key, redescription, distribution), Hsiao & Liu (1977: 161) (fauna of China), Kwon et al. (2001: 374) (catalogue, Korea), Yamamoto (2003: 49) (redescription, fauna of Japan), Göllner-Scheiding (2006: 171) (catalogue, Palaearctic), Aukema et al. (2013: 431) (catalogue, distribution), Tsai et al. (2015: 4) (phylogenetic position).

Dichobothrium: Kirkaldy (1909: 174) (catalogue), Lee (1971: 222) (fauna of Korea), Kwon et al. (2001: 373) (catalogue, Korea).

The genus Elasmostethus is recognized by the combination of the following characters: body ovoid; ground colour of dorsum green (frequently faded to yellow in preserved specimens), usually with red markings, with dense and dark punctation; mandibular plates not exceeding apex of clypeus; antennae 5-segmented, with distipedicellite 1– 1.5 times as long as basipedicellite; labium not exceeding hind coxae; lateral margin of pronotum narrowly explanate; humerus rounded or angulate, slightly surpassing costal margin of fore wing in rest, never produced into a long process; mesosternal carina surpassing fore coxae (sometimes even base of head) anteriorly and mid coxae (sometimes even hind coxae) posteriorly; metasternal scent gland peritreme occupying two-thirds to three-fourths the width of metapleuron; Pendergrast’s organs present on abdominal ventrites VI–VII of females; pygophore of male simple, without notable projections or processes laterally, but frequently with paired hair tufts; paramere simple, usually somewhat broadened distally.