Brancucciana Ahmad & Zaidi, 1986

Zhao, Ping, Ou, Minmin, Cao, Liangming, Liu, Huaiyu & Wang, Jianyun, 2024, One new species and two new records of Pyrrhocoridae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) from China, ZooKeys 1210, pp. 273-286 : 273-286

Genus Brancucciana Ahmad & Zaidi, 1986

Brancucciana Ahmad & Zaidi, 1986: 423; Stehlík 2007: 109; Aukema et al. 2013: 402. Type species by original designation: Brancucciana bhutanensis Ahmad & Zaidi, 1986.

Ascopus Hsiao, 1964: 402 , 405 (junior homonym of Ascopus Marshall, 1951 , Coleoptera ). Type species by original designation: Ascopus rufa Hsiao, 1964: 403 , 405.

Ascopocoris Stehlík & Kerzhner, 1999: 123; Stehlík and Jindra 2006 a: 61. Unnecessary new name for Ascopus Hsiao, 1964.

Generic character.

Body generally sanguineous, broadly oval. Head as long as broad and nearly triangular, apical part anteriorly produced; eyes smaller and bulging, posterior margin of eyes adjacent to anterior margin of pronotum; antennae shorter and subequal in length to half of body; first antennal segment subequal to head length, apical half dilated; labium reaching to hind coxae, second segment longest, fourth shortest, first subequal in length to third. Length of pronotum distinctly shorter than its width, lateral pronotal margins reflexed; scutellum equilateral triangular; metathoracic scent gland ostiole large; membrane of hemelytron reaching just beyond the apex of abdomen, costal margin of corium reflexed. Sterna of thorax centrally with longitudinal ridge. Femora thickened, ventral side of subapcial part of fore femora with several dentate processes; third segment of tarsus of hind leg longer than first and second segments together. Pygophore somewhat rounded, ventroposterior margin medially with a knob; paramere F-shaped; aedeagus with both thecal and conjunctival appendages.

Distribution.

Oriental region.

Remark.

Hsiao (1964) established the genus Ascopus Hsiao, 1964 with Ascopus rufa Hsiao, 1964 as type species. Liu (1987) found a second species, Ascopus sinuaticollis Liu, 1987 . However, the genus name, Ascopus was already preoccupied by Ascopus Marshall, 1951 in the order Coleoptera . Stehlík and Kerzhner (1999) proposed a new name for the genus, Ascopocoris Stehlík & Kerzhner, 1999 , and placed Brancucciana bhutanensis Ahmad & Zaidi, 1986 , Euscopes gestroi Distant, 1903 , and Antilochus pygmaeus Distant, 1903 in it. Additionally, Stehlík and Jindra (2006 a) established a new subgenus, Rubriascopus , with Antilochus pygmaeus Distant, 1903 as type species and found a sixth species, Ascopocoris constanti Stehlík & Jindra, 2006 . Stehlík and Jindra (2006 a) thought that Liu’s (1987) description of Ascopus sinuaticollis Liu, 1987 was insufficient and suggested it might be Ascopocoris gestroi ( Distant, 1903) , but confirmation of this awaits further study. Stehlík (2007) found that Brancucciana is indeed the oldest valid name for this genus-level taxon and placed the above six species in it as new combinations. The seventh species, Brancucciana (Rubriascopus) orientalis Stehlík & Jindra, 2008 is distributed in Philippines and Indonesia ( Stehlík and Jindra 2008).

In China, two species of the genus Brancucciana have been previously reported. Hsiao (1964) reported B. (Brancucciana) rufa , and Liu (1987) reported B. (Brancucciana) sinuaticollis , both from Yunnan Province. We collected one female and two males at the Nonggang National Nature Reserve, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southwestern China, and one female from Hainan Island, South China. These specimens are morphologically consistent with Brancucciana (Rubriascopus) orientalis and represent the first report of the species in China. In addition, we reviewed the generic characters according to Hsiao (1964) and Ahmad and Zaidi (1986).