Loristes paveli, Yasunaga & Jica-Sv, 2008

Yasunaga, Tomohide & Jica-Sv, 2008, A review of the Far East Asian mirine plant bug genus Loristes (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirinae), with description of a new species from Japan, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (2), pp. 395-402 : 400-402

Loristes paveli sp. nov.

( Figs. 4-8 , 13-16 , 20-25 )

Loristes decoratus (nec Reuter, 1908): YASUNAGA (1991): 4 (redesdesciption); YASUNAGA et al. (1993): 160 (diagnosis); YASUNAGA (2001): 235 (list).

Type locality. Japan, central Honshu, Yamanashi Pref., Mt. Mitsu-toge, 1,260 -1,380 m alt.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J, ‘ Japan: HONSHU: Mt. Mitsu-toge / 1,260-1,380 m / Yamanashi Pref. / 23. vii. 1988 / M. HAYASHI et al.’ (deposited in the collection of American Museum of Natural History, New York ) . PARATYPES: HONSHU: 4 JJ 5 ♀♀, same data as for holotype ; 4 JJ 1 ♀, ‘ Mt. Naeba / Yuzawa-machi / Niigata, Japan / Jun. 30, 2001 / light trap / T. Naito leg. ’; 2 ♀♀, ‘ Mt. Hohki-daisen / Tottori, Japan / 9-10. v. 1981 / M. T. Chujo leg.’ (paratypes deposited in author’s collection, Nagasaki, Japan) .

Description. Similar to L. decoratus but differs by the following characters: Body darker and smaller. Antennae generally shorter; segment I pale brown to fuscous, usually reddish, shorter than head width across eyes; segment II less than basal width of pronotum; segment III widely yellowish, with narrowly infuscate apex, as long as or shorter than mesal pronotal length; segment IV dark brown, with yellow extreme base. Labial segment I usually shiny chocolate brown. Pronotum long, shiny fuscous, with narrowly pale posterolateral angles that are usually separated and not continuous with one another; collar yellow, sometimes with dark mesial part or entirely darkened; apex of scutellum narrowly pale. Corium with smaller, pale spots that are usually not continuing to embolium; cuneus pale, with darkened apical half.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 13-16 ). Generally larger in size. Left paramere less curved. Vesical spiculi I and II noticeably broadened; spiculum III reduced, represented by a weakly sclerotized, spinulate lobe ( Fig. 16 ).

Female genitalia ( Figs. 20-24 ). Interramal lobe a little concaved medially. Dorsal structure and sclerotized ring somewhat widened.

Measurements (J/ ♀). Body length 7.6-8.0 / 8.2-8.4; head width across eyes 1.08-1.16 / 1.15-1.18; vertex width 0.50-0.58 / 0.56-0.62; lengths of antennal segments I – 0.96-1.08 / 0.97-1.07, II – 2.16-2.40 / 2.32-2.40, III – 1.44-1.52 / 1.48-1.53, IV – 0.84-0.87 / 0.79-0.92; total labial length 2.08-2.19 / 2.17-2.21; mesal pronotal length including collar 1.45-1.59 / 1.56-1.58; basal pronotal width 2.25-2.40 / 2.44-2.57; width across hemelytra 2.64-2.86 / 2.85-2.91; lengths of metafemur 2.54-2.88 / 2.85-3.05, tibia 4.00-4.08 / 3.84-4.08, and tarsus 0.64-0.67 / 0.60-0.64.

Differential diagnosis. Distinguished from L. decoratus by the darker and smaller body, shorter antennal segment I that is less than the head width across eyes, shorter antennal segment II that is equal to or less than basal width of the pronotum, longer mesal length of the pronotum that is equal to or greater than antennal segment III, and smaller pale spots on the hemelytron.

Etymology. Named in honor of Prof. Pavel Štys, celebrating his 75 th birthday; a noun in the genitive case.

Bionomics. Adults of this new species were collected from inflorescences of Hydrangea paniculata (Hydrangeaceae) but the strict host association remains unclear. Some individuals were taken by light trap. A univoltine life cycle is assumed for this mirid; no other biological information is known.

Distribution. Japan (Honshu, Shikoku) ( Fig. 25); restricted to temperate deciduous forests. Remarks. This new species is easily distinguished from L. decoratus by the external and genitalic characters mentioned above. The Japanese populations are considered to have speciated from the continental populations ( L. decoratus ), due to isolation by the strait, or Sea of Japan (East Sea), after the Würm Glaciation ( Fig. 25).

Figures

Figs. 1-8. Loristes species, habitus. 1-3 – L. decoratus (Reuter, 1908). 1 – male from Primorskiy Kray, Russia; 2 – female from Korea; 3 – male from Korea. 4-8 – L. paveli sp. nov. 4, 6 – male from Honshu, Japan; 5 – female from Honshu, Japan; 7-8 – male from Shikoku, Japan.

Figs. 9-16. Male genitalia of Loristes species. 9-12 – L. decoratus (Reuter, 1908). 13-16 – L. paveli sp. nov. 9, 13 – genital segment. 10, 14 – right paramere. 11, 15 – left paramere. 12, 16 – vesica.Abbreviations: ls – lobal sclerite, or lobe-sclerite; pt – phallotheca; sgp – secondary gonopore; spc – spiculum.

Figs. 17-24. Female genitalia of Loristes species. 17-19 – L. decoratus (Reuter, 1908). 20-24 – L. paveli sp. nov. 17, 20 – interramal lobe. 18, 21 – sclerotized ring. 19, 24 – sclerotized rings and adjacent structures. 22-23 – posterior wall of bursae. Abbreviations: dlp – dorsal labiate plate; ds – dorsal structure; irl – interramal lobe; sdp – seminal depository; sr – sclerotized ring; vlp – ventral labiate plate.