Germalus unicolor Montandon, 1907

Kóbor, Péter, 2020, An overview of the big-eyed bug fauna of French Polynesia (Heteroptera Lygaeoidea: Geocoridae), Zootaxa 4743 (3), pp. 359-370 : 369

Germalus unicolor Montandon, 1907

(Figures 3D)

LSID: http://lsid.speciesfile.org/urn:lsid:Lygaeoidea.speciesfile.org:TaxonName:488783

Diagnosis. The species can be distinguished from other Germalus species of the archipelago by the following combination of characters: Pale ochraceous species with thoracic punctation variably concolorous to blackish. Pronotum with one rounded dark brownish spot at each humeral angle. Scutellum with base blackish. Hemelytron emarginated with brown at costal and apical margins. Punctation of clavus consists of sparse punctures basally. Tarsal segment I twice as long as segments II and III together.

Distribution. Hiova Island: Kakahopuanui (751m), Feani Ridge (1189m) ( Van Duzee 1932)

Remarks. Author of the present study had the opportunity to study the Geocorinae material of BPBM, but the specimens examined by Van Duzee (1932, 1935) were not found. After studying longer series of specimens of museum collections it is to be concluded that the differences to Montandon’s (1907) original description (pattern of antennal segments) may merely represent more than phenotypical expression of intraspecific genetic variances, thus Van Duzee’s identification is to be recognized as correct and the record as valid. The fact that the three specimens were the only ones collected in the archipelago in the last 87 years suggests that the occurrence of the species should be considered as a case of human-mediated accidental introduction.