Byrsinus varians (Fabricius, 1803)

Lis, Jerzy A. & Zack, Richard S., 2010, A review of burrower bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cydnidae sensu lato) of Guam, Zootaxa 2523, pp. 57-64 : 58-60

Byrsinus varians (Fabricius, 1803) , first territory record

( Figs. 1–2 , 9 )

Microporus shiromai Froeschner, 1976: 232 , new synonym.

Diagnostic characters: Body from pale brown to blackish brown, 3.4–4.5 mm in length. Head sparsely punctured; clypeus subapically with two peglike setae ( Figs. 1–2 ); each paraclypeus with a submarginal row of 10–12 setigerous punctures (7–8 peglike setae, and 3–5 hairlike setae); 2nd antennal segment shorter than 3rd segment. Pronotum moderately punctured, each lateral margin with numerous (19–40) submarginal setigerous punctures. Each costal margin with 11–24 setigerous punctures. Evaporative areas on meso- and metapleuron small, almost indistinct ( Fig. 9 ). Paramere described in Lis (1994).

Material examined: Guam: Mangilao Village, University of Guam campus, Marine Biol. Lab. Area, at lights, N13o25.714’ E144o47.913’, 1 female 17 May 2004, 1 female 18 May 2004, 2 females 19 May 2004, R.S. Zack collr.; Guam: Mangilao Village, Fadian Point, University of Guam aquaculture center, N13o26.586’ E144o49.176’, 5 males 11 females 8 Aug 2005, R.S. Zack, MV light.

Distribution: Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Chagos Archipelago, Cambodia, China (Hainan, Tianjin, Neimenggu, Ningxia), India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldive Islands, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.

Remarks: When describing Microporus shiromai as a new species from Hawaii, Froeschner (1976) was aware that this species was introduced into Hawaii from elsewhere; however, he decided to describe it as a new because, as he wrote, “this recently collected species needs a name, under which accumulating data can be stored.” Moreover, he stated that “its occurrence on the island represents a recent introduction,” and all the morphological characters “suggest an Old World origin of the species, but give no clue to a particular part thereof.” At present, it is clear that M. shiromai has all of the characters of the Oriental B. varians , and should be regarded as its junior synonym. Unfortunately, the type specimens were not found in Froeschner’s collection (personal information from Dr. A. Wolski), and therefore the present synonymization is based only upon the original species description.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Head in two dorsal views. 1, 3, 5, 7 — showing head shape and puncturation, 2, 4, 6, 8 — showing head vestiture.

FIGURES 9 – 12. Evaporative areas on meso- and metapleuron. 9 — Byrsinus varians, 10 — Fromundus biimpressus, 11 — F. pygmaeus, 12 — Rhytidoporus indentatus.