Anisops crinitus Brooks, 1951

Cianferoni, Fabio, 2019, Review of the aquatic Hemiptera from Cephalonia, with a checklist for the Ionian Islands, Greece (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha, Leptopodomorpha), Zootaxa 4576 (1) : -

Anisops crinitus Brooks, 1951

Anisops marazanofi Poisson, 1966 (syn. Nieser 1996: 107)

Material examined. Tzanata, unnamed east lake, 60 m a.s.l., 38.13299° N 20.75431° E (WGS84; uncertainty = 80 m), 23.VII.2018, F. Cianferoni, F. Graziani, F. Ceccolini leg., 8 ♀♀, 5 V instar nymphs, CFCF; idem, 1 ♀, CFCC; idem, 1 ♀ ( Fig. 2 ), CFGR (all adults newly moulted).

Type material examined. ALLOTYPUS: ♀, “ J. Sahlb. || Corfu || Kirkaldy | collection || The G.W. Kirkaldy | Collection now | Univ. of Kans. Coll || ALLOTYPE | Anisops | crinita | G. T. Brooks ”, KUBI .

General distribution. Distribution records of this species are very scattered. In Europe, it was known only from Corfu Island ( Greece) and Spain (until recently under the name A. marazanofi Poisson, 1966 ). Eastwards it occurs in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, India, and Pakistan; a single male was recorded from New Caledonia ( Brooks 1951, Nieser 1996, Aukema et al. 2013). The latter record needs to be verified.

Remarks. This is the first record of this species for Cephalonia. Although the specimens are newly moulted adult females, they match well with the measurements and ratios given by Nieser (1996) and with the female paratype (allotype), and they can be easily distinguished from the European congeners, A. s. sardeus Herrich- Schäffer, 1849 and A. debilis perplexus Poisson, 1929 .

The few records of A. crinitus in the literature might be due to confusion with other species of Anisops (e.g., Lindberg 1922, see Lansbury 1964 and discussion below for further information). Whereas males of A. crinitus can be easily distinguished from those of the other two species occurring in Europe, the separation of females is a more subtle. The following features (based on Brooks 1951, Nieser 1996, and pers. obs.) can be used to distinguish this taxon from the other two European species of Anisops .

Males of A. crinitus can be distinguished from those of A. s. sardeus because of their size (less than 6.5 mm in A. crinitus , larger than 7 mm in A. s. sardeus ) and by the characteristic projection in front of the eyes of A. sardeus , which is absent in A. crinitus ); and from A. debilis perplexus mainly through the tibial comb (6-9 teeth in A. crinitus and over 20 teeth in A. debilis perplexus ), the arrangement of the setae on the inner surface of the front tarsus ( Brooks 1951: under A. crinita and A. canariensis perplexa ), the shape of rostrum ( Brooks 1951: idem), the ratios of the head (head about 1.5 times as wide as long in A. crinitus , about twice as wide as long in A. debilis perplexus ; Nieser 1996), and the synthlipsis (about 0.05 mm in A. crinitus , about 0.1 mm in A. debilis perplexus ; Nieser 1996).

Females of A. crinitus can be separated easily from those of A. s. sardeus by their smaller size (same size ranges as in males) and by the ovipositor valves (new character). The valves are smaller in A. crinitus (length about 0.64 mm in A. crinitus and 0.75 in A. s. sardeus ; mean n = 5), with more robust and large lateral teeth (first apical tooth length—measured from the tip to the midpoint of base—48 µm in A. crinitus and 60 µm in A. s. sardeus ; mean n = 5). Moreover, in A. crinitus the first apical tooth of the mesal series ( Fig. 3 a–b) is smaller (less than one third of the first apical tooth of the lateral series) and usually is not visible with the valve seen from inside ( Fig. 3 c– e), while in A. s. sardeus the first apical tooth of the mesal series ( Fig. 3 f–i) is larger (more than one third of the first apical tooth of the lateral series) and always visible with the valve seen from inside ( Fig. 3 h–i). Females of A. crinitus can be distinguished from those of A. debilis perplexus by means of the characters given by Nieser (1996): because of the ratios of head (as in males, see above), and the synthlipsis (about 0.07 mm in A. crinitus , about 0.1 mm in A. debilis perplexus ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Anisops crinitus Brooks. Female from Tzanata, dorsal view (left), frontal view (center), lateral view (right). Scale bar = 1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Ovipositor valves of Anisops crinitus Brooks. (a–b: lateral view; c–e: mesal view) and of A. s. sardeus Herrich- Schäffer (f–g: lateral view; h–i: mesal view). The asterisk indicates magnification of the apical part of the relative valve; arrows point at the first apical tooth of the lateral series of teeth of the valve (not visible in most of the cases for A. crinitus). Scale bars = 100 µm.