Scirtetellus, REUTER, 1890

Tatarnic, Nikolai J. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2012, The Halticini of the world (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): generic reclassification, phylogeny, and host plant associations, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (3), pp. 558-658 : 636-639

SCIRTETELLUS REUTER ( FIGS 4 , 54–56 )

Scirtetellus Reuter, 1890: 253 (gen. nov.; type species: Labops brevipennis Reuter, 1879 by monotypy); Reuter, 1891: 67, 159 (descr., key); Hueber, 1906: 4 (key); Kirkaldy, 1906: 131 (cat.); Oshanin, 1910: 789 (cat.); Reuter, 1910: 148 (cat.); Kiritshenko, 1951: 126 (key); Carvalho, 1952: 74 (cat.); Carvalho, 1955: 66 (key); Carvalho, 1958: 31 (cat.); Kerzhner, 1964a: 964 (diag.); Medvedeva, 1975: 73 (descr., disc., key); Schuh, 1995: 70 (world cat.); Drapolyuk & Kerzhner, 1999: 87 (descr.); Simov, 2005: 213 (descr.).

Diagnosis: Recognized by the following combination of characters: both sexes short and oval, with staphylinoid hemelytra; mostly black, often with yellow or orange-yellow markings; metafemora incrassate; ductus seminis with flexible ribbing throughout; secondary gonopore heavily sclerotized, dorsoventrally compressed, opening narrow with semiclosed operculum, apically with scale-like texturing; endosoma with one to three spine- or plate-like spicules; posterior wall of bursa copulatrix sclerotized, often with prominent inter-ramal tumescences.

Redescription: Both sexes staphylinoid. Coloration ( Fig. 4 ): mostly black, almost always with yellow or orange-yellow coloration on head, sometimes with yellow on pronotum and scutellum, hemelytron usually with yellow margins, abdomen sometimes with two rows of yellow spots, occasionally merged into two lines, legs brown or black. Surface and vestiture ( Figs 4 , 54A–H ): glossy and impunctate; vertex with faint wrinkles radiating from centreline; posterior of pronotum rugulose. Body with thin simple setae; antenna with spine-like setae, AI with a few longer spines on inner surface; legs with semi-erect spines, most dense on tibiae. Structure: head ( Figs 4 , 54A–D ): transverse, broader than pronotum, as tall as broad; posterior of vertex medially level with pronotum; eyes globular, substylate, encroaching on pronotum; genae height equal to eye height; frons broadly rounded, steeply sloping; buccula very thin; labium ( Fig. 54C, D ): reaches to metacoxae; LI short, moderately swollen. Antennae ( Figs 4 , 54A–D ): insertion in line with or just below lower margin of eye; longer than body; AI swollen, slightly longer than eye height. Thorax ( Figs 4 , 54A, C, D ): pronotum short flat, rectangular, collar indistinct, lateral margins rounded, callosite region indistinct to weakly defined, posterior margin straight to weakly medially cleft; mesoscutum not visible; scutellum transverse; metathoracic spiracle large and round, surrounded by evaporative bodies; MTG external efferent system evaporative area large and swollen, ostiole opens ventrolaterally, peritreme broadly tongue-shaped, orientated vertically above ostiole. Hemelyra ( Figs 4 , 54A ): staphylinoid; short and pad-like, undivided, only covering base of abdomen. Legs: metafemora incrassate and laterally compressed; metatibiae long; pretarsi without fleshy pulvilli. Abdomen ( Fig. 4 ): broad, parallel-sided to elongate oval, broader in females. Male genitalia ( Figs 54F–H , 55A–C ): pygophore conical, genital opening large, posterior margin weakly concave below left paramere; left paramere L-shaped, shorter than right, sensory lobe small but distinct, apical apophysis thin, curved, apically hooked or bifid; right paramere longer than left, apically concave and spoon-shaped, with minute apical apophysis; phallotheca sometimes with dense field of minute spines on outer surface near apex; ductus seminis elongate and narrow with flexible ribbing; secondary gonopore heavily sclerotized, dorsoventrally compressed, opening narrow with semi-closed operculum, apically with scale-like texturing; endosoma with one to three spine- or plate-like spicules; in some cases one spicule is enclosed in a separate pocket of the endosoma. Female genitalia ( Figs 55D, E , 56A–E ): sclerotized rings variable, widely separated, lateral margins sometimes weakly upturned (e.g. Scirtetellus gudali ) to strongly upturned (e.g. Scirtetellus seminitens ), often with medial margin also upturned; lateral portion of DLP adjacent to sclerotized rings weakly to strongly upturned; VLP sclerotized, anteromedially divided or whole; lateralmost region of VLP joins with rami below sclerotized rings to form paired medially directed sclerotized projections, sometimes covered with fields of spines, converging with posterior margin of the posterior wall; posterior wall variable, bilaterally sclerotized in all species examined, sometimes with small, paired tumescences or small projections, in others with elaborate inter-ramal tumescences that may be dentate and covered in dense fields of spines; opening of vestibulum symmetrical, margins weakly sclerotized and sinuous.

Diversity and distribution: Scirtetellus includes 16 species in central and north Asia.

Included species: Scirtetellus alashanensis Nonnaizab & Bao, 2006 Mongolia

Scirtetellus bianchii Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus brachycerus Kerzhner, 1962 Kazakhstan; Asiatic Russia; Mongolia

Scirtetellus brevipennis ( Reuter, 1879) * Turkestan

Scirtetellus gudali Kiritshenko, 1951 * Georgia, Russia, Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus kerzhneri Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus maculiventris Kiritshenko, 1952 Asiatic Russia; Tajikistan

Scirtetellus micans Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus mongolicus Drapolyuk & Kerzhner, 1999 Mongolia

Scirtetellus obscurus Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus pallidus Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus petrovi Simov, 2005 * Pakistan

Scirtetellus schamili Kiritshenko, 1951 Azerbaijan; Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus seminitens Horváth, 1904 * Turkestan; Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus variabilis Medvedeva, 1975 Asiatic Russia

Scirtetellus vittatus Kiritshenko, 1951 Russia; Asiatic Russia

Biology and host plant associations: Scirtetellus is a polyphagous genus, with most species known from high mountainous regions of central Asia, in alpine and subalpine meadows from 1600 to 4800 m ( Medvedeva, 1975). Species are found on various plants of the families Asteraceae , Ranunculaceae , and Poaceae ( Medvedeva, 1975) . Kirishenko (1952) stated that Scirtetellus are zoogeographically and ecologically most similar to Myrmecophyes ( Table 1).

Remarks: The most comprehensive treatment of Scirtetellus is that of Medevedva (1975, English translation 1977), which includes illustrations of male genitalia and a key to all but the most recently described species, Sc. alashanensis Nonnaizab & Bao (2006) and Sc. petrovi Simov (2005) . Until now however, the female genitalia have never been documented. The presence of inter-ramal lobes on the posterior wall (88-0) of some species is shared with Anapus and Labops , suggesting a possible close affinity, as reflected in our phylogeny. Additionally, the presence of paired sclerotized lobes formed by fusion of the VLP and the rami (84-1) is also shared by several species of Scirtetellus and Labops , indicating that these structures may be functionally linked.

Figures

Figure 4. Photographs of Halticini genera: Labops–Strongylocoris. Abbreviations: F, female; M, male.

Figure 54. Scanning electron micrograph images of Scirtetellus brevipennis. A, head and thorax, dorsal view; B, head, anterior view; C, head and prothorax, ventral view; D, head and thorax, lateral view; E, tarsus; F, pygophore, ventral view; G, pygophore, dorsal view; H, pygophore, lateral view (note: most setae missing from specimen).

Figure 55. Male and female genitalia of Scirtetellus brevipennis. A, aedeagus, phallotheca removed; B, left paramere; C, right paramere; D, posterior wall; E, bursa copulatrix, dorsal view.

Figure 56. Female genitalia of Scirtetellus seminitens, Scirtetellus gudali, and Scirtetellus brachycerus. Scirtetellus seminitens: A, bursa copulatrix, dorsal view; B, vestibulum; C, posterior wall; D, bursa copulatrix, ventral view. Scirtetellus gudali: E, posterior wall. Scirtetellus brachycerus: F, posterior wall. Abbreviations: MP, median process formed by ventral labiate plate and ramus; VLP, ventral labiate plate.