Loricula pilosella Miyamoto

Yasunaga, Tomohide & Yamada, Kazutaka, 2017, Review of the microphysid genus Loricula Curtis in Japan (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Microphysidae), with descriptions of three new species, Journal of Natural History (J. Nat. Hist.) 51 (21 - 22), pp. 1209-1227 : 1223-1224

Loricula pilosella Miyamoto

( Figures 1 (c), 2(e), 3(b), 6(a,b,f), and 7)

Loricula pilosella Miyamoto, 1965: 271 (sp. nov.)

Vinokurov, 1979: 82 (key)

Kerzhner, 1988: 777 (key)

Péricart, 1996: 81 (cat.)

Yasunaga, 2001: 111 (diag.)

Kanyukova and Marusik, 2006: 168 (distr.)

Jung and Lee, 2012: 183 (desc.)

Diagnosis

Male recognised by its largest size among the eastern Palearctic congeners and highly asymmetrical parameres (left paramere remarkably shorter than right one). Female recognised by antennal segment III shorter than mesal pronotal length, and rather broadened, blunt-tipped posterior projection of pronotum. A detailed description for the male adult was provided by Miyamoto (1965).

Description

Female. Body generally reddish brown, weakly shining, coleopteroid, tortoise shaped, with moderately porrect head and less sculptured thorax as in L. miyamotoi ; dorsal surface matte, with uniformly distributed, silky, semierect setae. Head largely sanguineous, weakly shining, longer than width across compound eyes, without sulcus or depression. Antenna yellowish brown; segments III and IV brown. Labium sanguineous; segments III and IV yellow. Pronotum with a median, transverse sulcus and rather broad, blunt-tipped posterolateral process; mesoscutum and scutellum almost smooth; pleura brown; propleuron tinged with red; scent efferent system somewhat yellowish. Hemelytron weakly shining, shallowly and roughly punctate, with uniformly distributed, silky, semierect (partly upright) setae. Coxae and femora largely sanguineous, mottled with pale brown, small spots; metacoxa pale brown, with a few reddish spots; all tibiae and tarsi creamy yellow. Abdomen shiny fuscous, except for anterior part (sterna II–IV) reddish. Female genitalia not examined.

Male. Not examined; a single known male (holotype) in Kyushu University , Fukuoka, Japan, is currently missing ( R. K. Duwal, personal communication) .

Measurements

Male/female (n = 1): Total body length 2.90/2.10; width of head across compound eyes (ca. 0.40)/0.40; length of head (ca. 0.50)/0.49; lengths of antennal segments I–IV 0.17, 0.50, 0.39, 0.41/0.15, 0.39, 0.32, 0.37; total length of labium?/0.53; mesal length of pronotum (ca. 0.25)/0.33; basal width of pronotum 0.67/0.58; maximum width across hemelytron 0.91/1.15; and lengths of metafemur, tibia and tarsus?,?,?/0.70, 0.86, 0.15. Measurements of male (holotype) after Miyamoto (1965).

Distribution

Japan (Hokkaido, Shikotan Island), Russia (S. Primorsky, S. Sakhalin and Yakutia); Korea? [need for verification; a record from Korea (and possibly from Russian Primorsky) presumed to represent Loricula miyamotoi or an undescribed species, judging from the descriptions by Jung and Lee (2012)].

Biology

Unknown; a female was collected by sweep-netting an Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro ( Athyriaceae ), at a dark, humid deciduous forest floor.

Material examined

JAPAN: Hokkaido, Chitose City, Neshikoshi , 42.85277°N, 141.66000°E, on fern under deciduous forest, 12 July 1999, T . Yasunaga, 1 female ( AMNH _ PBI 00380526 ) ( TYCN) .

Figures

Figure 1. Habitus images of live individuals for Japanese Loricula species, and two other cimicomorphan bugs for comparison. (a) Loricula miyamotoi sp. nov., male (from Ehime, Shikoku). (b) Same (Tochigi, Honshu). (c) L. pilosella Miyamoto, coleopteroid female (Hokkaido). (d) Xylocoris ampoli Yamada and Yasunaga (Anthocoridae), macropterous female, with abdomen expanded due to matured eggs (from Suphan Buri, Thailand). (e) Same, brachypterous female. (f) Hallodapus kyushuensis Miyamoto (Miridae: Phylinae), male (Nagasaki, Japan). (g) Same, brachypterous female (Okinawa, Japan, courtesy of Mr M. Takai).