Ornithocoris Pinto, 1927

Iorio, Osvaldo Di, Turienzo, Paola, Masello, Juan & Carpintero, Diego L., 2010, Insects found in birds’ nests from Argentina. Cyanoliseus patagonus (Vieillot, 1818) [Aves: Psittacidae], with the description of Cyanolicimex patagonicus, gen. n., sp. n., and a key to the genera of Haematosiphoninae (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), Zootaxa 2728, pp. 1-22 : 10

Ornithocoris Pinto, 1927

Type-species: Ornithocoris toledoi Pinto, 1927 [by monotipy]

Ornithocoris toledoi Pinto, 1927 : Ringuelet 1948: 35 [map], 39 [distr.; host]; Jurberg & Milward de Azevedo 1982: 25 – 262 [re-descr.; morphol.; distr.]

The genus and the species were described from Brazil: São Paulo (Limeira: Sorocaba) by Pinto (1927). Moraes (1939) made a re-description and illustrates the specimens found in Minas Gerais: Ponte Nóva by Carvalho (1939). Usinger (1966) states that the type of toledoi is in the IOC. Twenty-five specimens of O. toledoi , all of them with data according to the original description (probable syntypes), are apparently located in the IOC (see below Acanthocrios).

According to Wygodzinsky (1951), the genus Ornithocoris can be recognized by the “very long” macroquetae in the posterolateral angles of the pronotum, the presence of two distinct bristles in the middle and hind tibiae, and the dorsal position of the spermalege (= organ of Ribaga). O. toledoi have long bristles on the posterolateral angles not longer than 1/3 of the pronotal length [Lb <PL /3] ( Fig. 10 ) ( Wygodzinsky 1951). In Usinger’s key (1966), Ornithocoris can be recognized by the bristles at the sides of the pronotum being short and dense ( Fig. 10 ), its larger size, and the pronotum being 1 mm or more wide. In the generic description, nothing is said about the bristles at the sides of the pronotum, and Ornithocoris is differentiated by the pronotum being 2.5 to 3 times as wide as long [PW = 2.5 PL to PW = 3.0 PL ⊣ PL = PW / 2.5 to PL = PW / 3.0].

The genus Ornithocoris can be recognized by the smaller and uniformly-spaced pilosity on the dorsum of the head and the pronotum ( Figs. 9, 11 ); the pronotum trapezoid shape, with its greater width at the base ( Fig. 9 ), wider and longer than in Acanthocrios [but PW / PL is similar to the smaller specimens of A. furnarii (Table 1)]; the two long bristles located at the posterolateral angles of the pronotum: Lb2, with its base near the margin ( Fig. 10 ); and a second long bristle (Lb3), represented by the first posterior lateral bristle respect to Lb2 (Lb1 absent, and Lb2 longer than Lb3) ( Fig. 10 ). In males in Ornithocoris , the front and middle tibiae have a well-developed apical tuft of hair ( Fig. 26 ); the females have a tuft only in the front tibiae.

Ornithocoris pallidus Usinger, 1959 was described by Usinger (1959), and redescribed in 1966. The pronotum is nearly twice as wide as the head (PW / HW ≥ 1.8) in O. toledoi (female: HW 0 0.80 mm, PW = 1.45 mm), and about 1 2/3 as wide as the head (PW / HW = 1.6–1.7) in Ornithocoris pallidus (female: HW = 0.71, PW = 1.25) ( Usinger 1966). With the respective measurements given by Moraes (1939) and the specimens examined of O. toledoi (Table 1), PW/HW ranges between 2.10 and 2.45. The other characteristics to separate both species of Ornithocoris seem to be the color, paler in O. pallidus and darker in O. toledoi ; and the size, smaller in O. pallidus ( Usinger 1966) . O. pallidus was described from Viçoza, Minas Gerais, distant only 37.8 km from Ponte Nóva, where dark brown specimens of O. toledoi were found ( Moraes 1939). Specimens of O. toledoi were also collected from Ponte Nóva in 1957 by Usinger ( Sakamoto et al. 2006).

The insects given by Otto et al. (2008) [= “ Ornithocoris sp.”] in figure 1 do not belong to Cimicidae . They are nymphs with pterothecae in the meso- and metathorax, and the rostrum reaches the posterior margin of the middle coxae. The identification was done by the shape of fecal spots in furniture using [only] the work of Schofield et al. (1986)!

Figures

FIGURES 9 – 12. Ornitocoris toledoi: 9, antennae, head, and pronotum (female); 10, pronotal margin; 11 head (detail); 12, male genitalia.

FIGURES 21 – 27. Apical tuft of hairs of tibiae: 21 – 24: Acanthocrios furnarii: 21 – 22, male: 21, tibia I; 22, tibia II; 23 – 24, female: 23, tibia I; 24, tibia II; 26 – 27, Ornithocoris toledoi (male), tibia II and III; 27, Cyanolicimex patagonicus (male), tibia I.