Cronion malayanus ( Vollenhoven, 1864 )

Rédei, Dávid, 2017, Taxonomic corrections on Cronion (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plataspidae), Zootaxa 4362 (4), pp. 584-588 : 585-587

Cronion malayanus ( Vollenhoven, 1864)

Poseidon malayanus Vollenhoven, 1864: 31 . Syntypes: ³, ♀, Malacca [= Malay Peninsula]; RMNH.

Triodocoris cinctus Miller, 1955: 579 . Holotype: Ô, Malaya [now Malaysia], Selangor, Bukit Kutu; BMNH. New subjective synonym.

Poseidon malayanus : Vollenhoven (1865: 63) (redescription, distribution, figures), Stål (1876: 6) (catalogue, distribution), Atkinson (1887: 26) (English translation of original description), Lethierry & Severin (1893: 3) (catalogue, distribution), Schouteden (1907: 37) (remark on original description).

Cronion malayanus : Kirkaldy (1909: 323) (catalogue, distribution), Krikken et al. (1981: 252) (type material).

Type material examined. Poseidon malayanus Vollenhoven, 1864 . Lectotype (present designation): ³, “ H. Deyr. \ Malacc \ –” [hw circle], “Holotypus” [light blue], “Museum Leiden [pr] \ Cronion [hw] \ malayanus Voll. [hw] \ Det [pr]” [with pr black frame]; pinned, distiflagelli of both antennae and left fore leg lacking ( RMNH) ( Figs. 1–4). Paralectotype: “ H. Deyr. \ Malacca \ –” [hw circle], “Allotypus” [light blue], identification label as in holotype (1 ♀ RMNH) ( Figs. 8–10).

Triodocoris cinctus Miller, 1955 . Holotype: ³, “Type” [circle with red margin], “ MALAY PENIN: [pr] \ Selangor. [pr] \ Bukit Kutu [pr] \ 3.300 [hw] ft. [pr] \ 11-3- [hw] 19 [pr] 31 [hw] \ H.M. Pendlebury. [pr] \\ EX:COLL: [pr] \ F. M. S. [pr] \ MUSEUMS. [pr]”, “ Triodocoris [hw] \ cinctus [hw] \ gen. nov. sp. n. [hw] \ N.C.E. Miller det. 195 [pr] 4 [hw]” ; pinned, distiflagellum of right antenna, tarsomere II of right fore tarsus, both mid tarsi and right hind tarsus lacking, right anteocular and submedian processes of head somewhat distorted, left fore and hind wings glued to cards, genital capsule glued to triangle, phallus and anal tube preserved between two round cover slips in embedding medium (BMNH) ( Figs. 5–7). Paratype: “Para- \ type ” [circle with yellow margin], “ MALAY PENIN: [pr] \ Selangor. [pr] \ Bukit Kutu [pr] \ 3300–3500 [hw] ft. [pr] \ 18-3- [hw] 19 [pr] 31 [hw] \ H.M. Pendlebury. [pr] \\ EX:COLL: [pr] \ F. M. S. [pr] \ MUSEUMS. [pr]” , identification label as in holotype; pinned, body broken between prothorax and mesothorax, both antennae except left scape, and left hind leg lacking (1 ♀ BMNH) ( Figs. 11–13).

Diagnosis. As the single known species of Cronion it can be recognized by the diagnostic characters provided for the genus.

Remarks. The type material of Poseidon (now Cronion) malayanus consisted of an unspecified number of specimens (syntypes) representing both sexes ( Vollenhoven 1864, 1865). A male and a female syntype deposited in RMNH ( Krikken et al. 1981), erroneously labelled as “Holotypus” and “Allotypus”, were examined during the present study. The male is apparently the specimen on which the habitus illustration of Vollenhoven (1865: plate 1, fig. 3) was based, and it is hereby designated as the lectotype of this species.

Triodocoris cinctus was described based on a male holotype and a female paratype deposited in BMNH ( Miller 1955); they were reexamined during the present study. When comparing his new genus to morphologically similar relatives, Miller (1955) made no remark on Cronion ; it is obvious that in spite of the good description and accurate figures presented by Vollenhoven (1865) he overlooked the latter genus. Reexamination of the type materials of both species concluded that they are conspecific; the minor differences in the shape of the anteocular and median processes of the males are considered either as minor individual variation or perhaps a result of distorsion in the holotype of T. cinctus . Accordingly, the subjective synonymy of the two species is proposed.

Distribution. Only known from Peninsular Malaysia. The species is rare in collections, no additional specimens were found in several major depositories of Heteroptera in Europe, Asia and North America visited by me during the past ten years.