Anonychiella brevicornis ( Reuter, 1879 )

Konstantinov, Fedor V., 2016, New synonymies in the plant bug family Miridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from Northern China, Zootaxa 4205 (5), pp. 496-500 : 496

Anonychiella brevicornis ( Reuter, 1879) ( Figure 1 )

Atomoscelis brevicornis Reuter, 1879: 39 .

Tuponia albescens Zheng & Li, 1992: 11 ; Li & Liu, 2016: 106. New synonymy.

Zheng & Li (1992) reviewed the genus Tuponia from China and described four new species, of which two, T. elegantulus and T. hsiaoi were subsequently synonymized with Central Asian T. arcufera Reuter, 1879 and T. mongolica Drapolyuk, 1980 respectively ( Kerzhner 1997). Tuponia chinensis Zheng & Li is a distinctive species currently known from several provinces of Northeastern China ( Li & Liu 2016). The fourth species, Tuponia albescens Zheng & Li is clearly conspecific with Anonychiella brevicornis Reuter. The latter species had a mixed history of generic placement but the characteristic twin–bladed apex of vesica ( Fig. 1 ), presence of minute pulvilli on claws, and association with annual Chenopodiaceae strongly support its position within Anonychiella ( Carapezza 1997) . Anonychiella brevicornis can be sampled in large numbers in semi deserts and saline lands, ranging from Ukraine and Caucasus in the West to Mongolia and Northwestern China in the East ( Konstantinov & Namyatova 2008, Konstantinov & Vinokurov 2011). All morphological structures of examined paratypes of T. albescens are the same as in A. brevicornis , including the peculiar shape and dentation of vesica, two large and apically blunt lobes of phallotheca, and the shape of both parameres ( Fig. 1 , see also Figs. 16–21 in Zheng & Li 1992 and Figs. 7 –13 in Drapolyuk 1982). Therefore I consider T. albescens a junior synonym of A. brevicornis .

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 11. Vesica: 1 — Anonychiella brevicornis (Reuter, 1879) (AMNH _ PBI 00337486); 2 — Glaucopterum putshkovi Kerzhner, 1984 (AMNH _ PBI 00159143); 3 – 4 — Psallus amoenus Josifov, 1983 (AMNH _ PBI 00240707); 5 – 6 — Solenoxyphus salsolae Konstantinov, 2008 (AMNH _ PBI 00141377); 7 – 8 — Tuponia kiritshenkoi Drapolyuk, 1982 (AMNH _ PBI 00249728); 9 — Tuponia prasina (Fieber, 1864) (AMNH _ PBI 00337899); 10 – 11 — Tuponia jaxartensis Drapolyuk, 1980 (AMNH _ PBI 00340905).