Anthophilolygus, Yasunaga & Schwartz & Chérot, 2018

Yasunaga, Tomohide, Schwartz, Michael D. & Chérot, Frédéric, 2018, Review of the plant bug genus Prolygus and related mirine taxa from eastern Asia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (Acta. Ent. Mus. Natl. Pragae) 58 (2), pp. 357-388 : 366-369

Anthophilolygus gen. nov.

Type species. Lygus bakeri Poppius, 1915 , present designation.

Diagnosis. Anthophilolygus gen. nov. can be distinguished from other related genera ( Dagbertus , Micromimetus or Prolygus in particular) by the following combination of characters: Largely pale greenish, ovoid body ( Figs 73–75 ); long, uniformly linear antenna that is subequal in length to body; shiny, finely punctate dorsum; sericeous, scale-like setae on mesoscutum, scutellum and anterior part of hemelytron; two reddish fasciae on hemelytron; darkened apices of clavus, embolium and cuneus; pretarsus with developed, elongate parempodia and thick, rather blunt-tipped apex of claws; reduced dark spots at bases of tibial spines; and form of male and female genitalia as described below, in addition to final instar immature having ovoid body and almost glabrous dorsum only with sparsely distributed, silky, fine setae ( Figs 75, 80, 82 ).

Description. Male. Body small (3.2–4.0 mm), slightly elongate, rather tumid. COLOURATION: Generally pale green (pale stramineous in dried specimens), partly with reddish or brownish tinge; scutellum and anterior part of hemelytron often with reddish or sanguineous fascia; apex of corium usually with dark fascia; apices of clavus, embolium and cuneus darkened.Apical half of metafemur usually dark or reddish; each tibia lacking or only with tiny, faint dark spots at bases of pale reddish brown spines. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsal surface shining, with rather densely distributed, silvery, silky, reclining or semierect setae. Pronotum shiny, finely and shallowly punctate, with uniformly distributed, pale, simple, semierect setae; mesoscutum and scutellum with reclining, sericeous, scale-like setae. Hemelytron shallowly punctate, with two types of vestiture (uniformly distributed, pale, simple setae and sparsely distributed, sericeous, scale-like, reclining setae predominant on anterior portion). STRUCTURE: Head vertical; eyes moderate to relatively large; vertex with flat, narrow basal transverse carina. Antenna long, subequal in length to body, uniformly slender. Labium reaching apex of metacoxae. Calli slightly prominent; mesoscutum and scutellum nearly flat. Each tarsomere III slightly longer than I or II; pretarsus with developed, elongate parempodia and thick, rather blunt-tipped apex of claws. GENITALIA ( Figs 118–130 ): Pygophore usually with distinct spine (PS) at base of left paramere. Left paramere with sensory lobe rather flattened; hypophysis usually with elongate shaft, weakly tapered toward apex; right paramere small, ovoid, less than half as long as left one, with pointed hypophysis. Endosoma ( Figs 122, 128 ) simple, largely membranous; primary lobe narrowly sclerotized above secondary gonopore, furnished with hair-like spinules; apical margin of phallotheca weakly keeled.

Female. Body ovoid; except larger than male. COLOURATION: Fascia on anterior part of hemelytron interrupted, narrowed, or missing. GENITALIA ( Figs 124–125, 129–130 ): Bursa copulatrix simple, weakly sclerotized ( Figs 124, 129 ), with weak dorsal labiate plate; sclerotized rings ovoid, thin-rimmed, separated from each other; posterior wall lacking lateral lobe, with a U- or Y-shaped dorsal structure; interramal lobe small, semi-circular, spinulate ( Figs 125, 130 ).

Etymology. From Greek, anthos (flower) + philos (prefer), combined with the mirine generic name Lygus Hahn , referring to the type species and a few unidentified relatives that preferably inhabit inflorescences of various dicot angiosperms; masculine.

Distribution. Oriental and Eastern Palearctic Regions (currently up to 33°N in Kyushu, Japan); some populations (considered to be introduced) occur on Bonin and Mariana Islands.

Discussion. The generic placement of Lygus bakeri has been problematic. This taxon was considered Lygus [sensu lato] (as incertae sedis) for eight decades. SCHWARTZ & KERZHNER (1997) evaluated the features of L. bakeri and provisionally provided a new combination in Prolygus . Nonetheless, P. bakeri lacks several diagnostic characters that we herein redefine (see above diagnosis and discussion for Prolygus ).

We have been seeking more suitable placement of P. bakeri in either Dagbertus or Micromimetus or others. Although this Asian taxon is at first sight very similar to some members of Dagbertus (e.g., D. olivaceus (Reuter, 1907) , Fig. 65 ), the latter is a group from the New World including Galapagos (cf. Fig. 64 ) and has the evidently different genitalic structures (see below discussion of Poppiolygus ). The other candidate genus Micromimetus was proposed to accommodate a single species, M. pictipes Eyles, 1999 , from Cook Islands ( EYLES 1999).

Lygus bakeri is similar in body shape and size to some Micromimetus members, which however share the following diagnostic characters: Body small (less than 4.0 mm), ovoid to slightly elongate rather tumid; basic colouration usually brown to fuscous, sometimes pale brown with reddish or dark brown maculae, without greenish tinge; dorsal surface with rather densely distributed, silvery or silky, recumbent setae, partly intermixed with dark or brown, simple setae; male genitalia with distinct spine on pygophore; sensory lobe of left paramere weakly produced basally; hypophysis usually with an elongate shaft and two slightly pointed subapical processes; right paramere straight, not much shortened, with pointed hypophysis; endosoma composed of two membranous lobes, with a conspicuous spicule dorsad to secondary gonopore and usually with primary lobalsclerite; female genitalia with bursa copulatrix simple, weakly sclerotized; sclerotized rings ovoid, thin-rimmed, separated from each other; posterior wall lacking lateral lobe, with a U- or Y-shaped dorsal structure; interramal sclerite narrow; and interramal lobes small, semi-circular, spinulate.

Lygus bakeri does not have most of above diagnostic characters of Micromimetus , and any other known genera also cannot accommodate it. Therefore, we conclude that establishment of a new genus Anthophilolygus is the best solution. Incidentally, our new genus will include a couple of unidentified mirines collected in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand (cf. Fig. 81 ). Because identities of numerous described species still left in Lygus [sensu lato] (cf. POPPIUS 1914,1915) need further verification, however, we currently document just one additional congener, Anthophilolygus alaneylesi sp. nov., with a distinctive identity, to avoid unnecessary synonymy or misidentification.

Most of the mirids belonging to Anthophilolygus (including A. bakeri ) were found on inflorescences of various broadleaf angiosperms. The dorsal color pattern is assumed to represent a camouflage in inflorescences (cf. Fig. 79 ). Also, many specimens of the congeners were collected by UV-lighting. The final instar nymph of A. bakeri is similar in general appearance to the adult ( Fig. 80 ), whereas the final instar of an unidentified (more colorful) congener from Thailand ( Fig. 81 ) has the totally whitish green body, antennae and legs, and almost glabrous dorsum ( Fig. 82 ).

Figures

Figs 73–82.Habitus images of live individuals.73–76 – Anthophilolygus alaneylesi sp.nov. (73 –♁ on breeding host Homonoia riparia in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand; 74 – ♀, same locality; 75 – ♀ adult (right) and final instar nymph, same locality; 76 – a variant ♀ with reddish legs in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand). 77 – Nepiolygus arare Yasunaga, Schwartz & Chérot, 2002,♁ from Iriomote Island, Japan. 78–80 – Anthophilolygus bakeri (Poppius, 1915): 78 – ♁, on Fraxinus griffitii in Iriomote Island, Japan; 79 – ♀, on Mallotus japonicus in Nagasaki, Japan; 80 – final instar nymph, Okinawa, Japan) 81–82 – unidentified Anthophilolygus species found in Thailand: 81 – ♁, Nakhon Ratchasima; 82 – final instar nymph, Chon Buri.

Figs 118–135. Male (118–123, 126–128, 131–135) and female (125–126, 129–130) genitalia of Anthophilolygus spp. (118–130) and Apolygopsis nigra (Poppius, 1915) (131–135: 131 – right paramere; 132 – left paramere; 133 – phallotheca; 134–135 – endosoma). 118–125 – A. alaneylesi sp. nov.: 118–119 – apex of pygophore with right paramere, dorsal (118) and left lateral (119) view; 120 – left paramere; 121 – aedeagus; 122 – phallotheca; 123 – endosoma; 124 – bursa copulatrix, dorsal view; 125 – posterior wall; 126–130 – A. bakeri (Poppius, 1915): 126 – apex of pygophore with left paramere, 127 – right paramere; 128 – aedeagus; 129 – bursa copulatrix, dorsal view; 130 – posterior wall. Scale bars 0.2 mm (0.1 mm for 118–125).

Figs 54–65. Habitus images of species of the Lygus complex. 54–55 – Anthophilolygus alaneylesi sp. nov. (Nakhon Nayok, Thailand): 54 – ♀, ventral view, 54 –♁; 56–57 – A. bakeri (Poppius, 1915): 56 –♁ (Nagasaki, Japan), 57 –♀ (Okinawa, Japan); 58 – Lygus dybasi Carvalho, 1956,♁ (KUEC) with incorrect paratype label and determination (as Lygus yapensis n. sp.); 59 – Micromimetus rubrotinctus (Carvalho, 1956), allotype♀; 60–61 – M. sunweni sp. nov.: 60 – holotype,♁, 61 – same, left lateral view; 62–63 – Miyamotolygus rufilorum (Lu & Zheng, 1998) (Kathmandu, Nepal): 62 –♁, ventral view, 63 – ♀; 64 – Dagbertus darwini (Butler, 1904), holotype (Galapagos, BMNH); 65 – D. olivaceus (Reuter, 1907), ♁ (Florida, USA). Scale bars 2 mm.