Canthophorus mixtus subsp. hissaricus Asanova 1964, n. stat.
Creators: name: Gapon, Dmitry A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Cydnidae
Canthophorus
Canthophorus mixtus
Canthophorus mixtus hissaricus asanova, 1964

description: Canthophorus mixtus hissaricus Asanova, 1964, n. stat. (Figures 3 K, 7 R, 7 S, 8 T, 8 U, 11 C)
Canthophorns hissaricus Kiritshenko 1951: 189; 1964: 61 [nomen nudum].
Canthophorus hissaricus Asanova 1964: 141.
Material examined
Holotype: Tajikistan: Varzob Distr., urochishche Ruydasht [40 km N Dushanbe, 38°59 ʹ 04.6 ʺ N 68°47 ʹ 29.7 ʺ E], S slopes of Gissar Range, 2600 m amsl, 10.IX.1947 (Kiritshenko), J (ZISP).
Paratypes: The same date as for the holotype, 8J, 2♀ (ZISP).
Additional material. Tajikistan: Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, Khozretishi Range, middle reaches of Iokundzh Riv., 75 km NE “Mushtabad” [Muminabad], 2000–3000 m amsl, 1.IX.1964 (V.F. Zaitzev), 1J (ZISP).
Change in the taxonomic status
C. hissaricus was described on the basis of the two characters distinguishing this species from the nearest C. mixtus, namely the smaller body size and the more strongly curved spicule at the dorsolateral lobes of conjunctiva (Figure 7 R). Body dimensions were given as follows. Males: body 4.30–4.40 in length, pronotum 2.30–2.50 in width, abdomen 2.50–2.80 in width. Females: body 5.80– 6.00 in length, pronotum 3.00– 3.20 in width, abdomen 3.50–3.70 in width. In the re-examination of the type series, the following measurements were obtained. Males: body 4.40–5.25 in length, body 2.75–3.20 in width, pronotum 2.50–2.75 in width. Females: body 5.88–6.00 in length, body 3.65–4.00 in width, pronotum 3.25–3.40 in width. Minimal values of these dimensions do not overlap with corresponding minimal values for males of C. mixtus but differ very slightly (by 0.1 mm for body length and width and 0.05 mm for pronotum width), so they can be considered as ultimate values in the variability of the latter species (Figure 17), especially since only 10 males of C. hissaricus are known. Ranges of the body size in females of C. hissaricus fall into ranges of C. mixtus (Figure 17), although specimens of the latter species with extreme small sizes are very infrequent.
There are no significant structural differences between C. hissaricus and C. mixtus. The sharply curved spicule at dorsolateral lobes of conjunctiva occurs, although rarely, in specimens of C. mixtus from different parts of the natural range, and there is a gradual transitional row from the smoothly and slightly bent spicules to the sharply and strongly curved ones (Figure 7 K –7 S). In the three specimens examined from the Khozretishi Range, the spicule is curved distinctly but to different degrees: in the male, corresponding to the dimensions of C. hissaricus (body 4.60 in length and 3.10 in width, pronotum 2.70 in width), the spicule is strongly and sharply curved (Figure 7 S); among the other and larger males of C. mixtus, one (body 5.35 in length and 3.40 in width, pronotum 2.95 in width) has the spicule curved less strongly, but rather sharply (Figure 7 P); in the third male (body 5.50 in length and 3.30 in width, pronotum 2.90 in width), the spicule is curved even more weakly and more smoothly (Figure 7 O). In the male of C. mixtus from the Trans-Ili Alatau (body 5.50 in length and 3.35 in width, pronotum 2.80 in width), the spicule is curved strongly and quite sharply (Figure 7 Q). The female from the same locality has the following dimensions: body 6.8 in length and 4.25 in width, pronotum 3.55 in width.
Based on the absence of a hiatus in reliable structural characters and on the partial overlapping of the dimensional characters, but with regard to the rare occurrence of C. mixtus specimens corresponding to the diagnosis of C. hissaricus, I consider C. hissaricus as a subspecies of C. mixtus.
Diagnosis
Males smaller: body not more than 5.25 in length and not more than 3.20 in width, pronotum not more than 2.75 in width. Spicule at dorsolateral lobes of conjunctiva always sharply curved beyond middle (Figure 7 R, 7 S). Anterior part of gynatrial sac relatively rather small (Figure 11 C).
Additional measurements
Head 1.23–1.50 in width; ocular index 3.47–4.38; length of antennal segments I–V: 0.28–0.33: 0.42–0.55: 0.46– 0.53: 0.69–0.71: 0.79–0.87.
Distribution
Figure 15. Tajikistan (Gissar and Khozretishi Ranges).
description: Published as part of Gapon, Dmitry A., 2018, Morphology of male and female terminalia and taxonomic revision of the burrower bugs genus Canthophorus (Heteroptera: Cydnidae), pp. 183-228 in Annales de la Société entomologique de France (N. S.) (N. S.) 54 (3) on pages 37-39, DOI: 10.1080/00379271.2018.1467788, http://zenodo.org/record/14927017