Loristes Josifov & Kerzhner, 1972

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 : 396-398

Loristes Josifov & Kerzhner, 1972

Loristes Josifov & Kerzhner, 1972: 162 (gen. nov.). Type species: Adelphocoris decoratus Reuter, 1908 , original designation.

Loristes: YASUNAGA (1991) : 2 (diagnosis); SCHUH (1995): 790 (catalog); KERZHNER & JOSIFOV (1999): 109 (catalog); YASUNAGA (2001): 234 (diagnosis); ZHENG et al. (2004): 304 (diagnosis).

Diagnosis. Recognized by the large, parallel-sided body (7.5-9 mm in length), unique color pattern (dark, shiny body with the three pairs of characteristic, pale, semitransparent spots on the hemelytra, Figs. 1-2, 4-5 ), shiny dorsum, small eyes, weak transverse basal carina on the vertex, short antenna, incrassate antennal segment II that is subequal in length to the basal pronotal width, short labium that does not exceed the apex of the mesocoxa, impunctate pronotum with dense, pale, semierect setae, thick collar that is about as broad as the diameter of antennal segment II, tumid scutellum, scutellum and hemelytron with uniformly distributed, wooly, reclining setae, and the male and female genitalic structures described below.

Male genitalia ( Figs. 9-16 ). Male genital segment simple, lacking notable additional structures dorsal to paramere insertions. Parameres with basic shape typical of tribe Mirini ; left paramere long, semi-circularly curved; right paramere short and straight. Vesica with several spiculi and/or lobe-sclerites that are fundamentally homologous within congeners ( Figs. 12, 16 ); seminal duct slightly expanded apically; phallotheca smooth.

Female genitalia ( Figs. 17-24 ). Sclerotized ring narrow-rimmed, ovoid; dorsal structure membranous, more or less spinulate; interramal lobe wide, covered with minute spines, not heavily sclerotized.

Distribution. Loristes now comprises two species which inhabit the deciduous forests in the temperate and cold temperate zones of eastern Asia – northeastern China, continental Russian Far East, Japan and Korean Peninsula ( KERZHNER & JOSIFOV 1999, YASUNAGA 2001, ZHENG et al. 2004).

Discussion. Currently, no sister group hypotheses are proposed for Loristes . At first glance this genus appears to be allied to the large Holarctic genus Adelphocoris Reuter, 1896 . However, based on the structures of the antenna, scutellum and male genitalia, this similarity is considered superficial. Loristes is probably most similar in overall appearance to the east Asian Philostephanus Distant, 1904 , but the former genus has no synapomorphy shared by all members of the latter. Philostephanus species have distinctive structures particularly in the female genitalia as documented by YASUNAGA & SCHWARTZ (2007), not known from Loristes . Based on the general shape of the male and female genitalic structures, Loristes is assumed to have some relationship with Polymerias Yasunaga, 1997 (see YASUNAGA 1997).

In a wider geographical scale, Loristes is more or less similar to some genera of Calocoris Fieber, 1858 complex mostly known from the western Palaearctic Region. Higher classification of such superficially similar mirine plant bug genera is still in great need of investigation. Further world level supra-generic revision is required to correctly ascertain these complex groups in the tribe Mirini .

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.