Pachytomella phoenicea
Creators: name: Namyatova, Anna A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Miridae
Pachytomella
Pachytomella phoenicea

description: Pachytomella phoenicea (Horváth, 1884)
(Figs. 1, 2, 4, 6)
Labops (Orthocephalus) phoeniceus Horváth, 1884: 14.
Pachytomella phoenicea: REUTER (1890): 253 (revised generic placement).
Pachytomella phoenicea var. antennalis Reuter, 1891: 164, syn. nov.
Pachytomella phoenicea var. pedalis Reuter, 1904: 15, syn. nov.
Pachytomella phoenicea var. nigricornis Reuter, 1904: 15, syn. nov.
Type locality. Pachytomella phoenicea: Haifa, Israel.
Type material examined. Labops (Orthocephalus) phoenicea: HOLOTYPE: ♀, ISRAEL: HAIFA: Haifa, 32.812 ° N 34.997 ° E, Reitter (AMNH_PBI 00311296) (HNHM).
Pachytomella phoenicea var. antennalis: LECTOTYPE: ♀, ISRAEL: JERUSALEM: Jerusalem, 31.8 ° N 35.23 ° E, 1700, Reitter (AMNH_PBI 00313485) (FMNH) (designated by KERZHNER (1997)).
Pachytomella phoenicea var. nigricornis: LECTOTYPE: ♀, ISRAEL: TEL AVIV: Tal Aviv, Sarona [HaKirya], 32.06 ° N 34.76 ° E, 1700, Sahlberg (AMNH_PBI 00352243) (FMNH) (designated by KERZHNER (1997)).
Pachytomella phoenicea var. pedalis: LECTOTYPE: ♀, LEBANON: Beirut, 33.88333 ° N 35.48333 ° E, 1700, Sahlberg (AMNH_PBI 00145192) (FMNH) (designated by KERZHNER (1997)).
Additional material examined. ISRAEL: HAIFA: Haifa, 32.812 ° N 34.997 ° E, Reitter, 2♀♀ (AMNH_PBI 00311918, AMNH_PBI 00313606) (FMNH), 1 ♀ (AMNH_PBI 00307363) (ZIN); Galilea, 32.68333 ° N 35.3 ° E, Sahlberg, 1 ♀ (AMNH_PBI 00314554) (RLRF), 2 ♁♁ (AMNH_PBI 00314285, AMNH_PBI 00330394) (FMNH). JORDAN: Al Hammah [El Hamme], 32.68333 ° N 35.66666 ° E, 21 Mar 1945, Bytinski-Salz, 1 ♀ (AMNH_PBI 00145229) (RLRF). LEBANON: Beirut, 33.88333 ° N 35.48333 ° E, 1700, Sahlberg, 1♁ (AMNH_PBI 00307364) (ZIN). SYRIA: Homs, 34.73333 ° N 36.71667 ° E, 08 May 1952 – 14 May 1952, Seidenstücker, 1 ♁ (AMNH_PBI 00334221), 5 ♀♀ (AMNH_PBI 00310891, AMNH_PBI 00330846) (FMNH). TURKEY: MERSIN: Tarsus, 36.9178 ° N 34.8917 ° E, 17 m, 1700, Sahlberg, 1 ♀ (AMNH_PBI 00334225) (FMNH); 19 Apr 1955 – 23 Apr 1955, Seidenstücker, 2 ♁♁ (AMNH_PBI 00314457, AMNH_PBI 00315337), 4 ♀♀ (AMNH_PBI 00313008) (FMNH).
Redescription. Male: Macropterous, elongate, total length 2.7–3.1 mm. COLOURATION (Fig. 1): Head: Dark brown to black with pale brown or brownish spot near each eye distinct, rarely invisible; eye dark brown with yellowish posterior margin; labium pale brown; antennal segment I yellowish with darkened base or uniformly dark brown, segment II yellowish with darker apex or uniformly dark brown, segments III and IV dark brown to black. Thorax: Dark brown to black; pleurites and evaporatorium dark brown to black; coxae yellowish or pale brown with dark brown bases, paler than pleurite; femora uniformly yellowish, rarely fore and middle femora with a dark spot on apical part and hind femur with dark brown apex and spot medially; tibiae yellowish, often darkened at apices, rarely with a dark spot near bases; hind tibia sometimes uniformly brownish, somewhat darker at apex; tarsi pale brown or brown, darker than tibiae; hemelytron uniformly dark brown to black, sometimes corium yellowish with dark brown outer margin, rarely clavus also yellowish with dark brown inner margin. Abdomen: Dark brown to black. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: See generic description. STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Body 3.2–3.4× longer than width of pronotum. Head: Shape, position of antennal fossa and length of labium as in generic description; eye not protruding, in contact with anterior angles of pronotum; head 1.4–1.5× as wide as high; vertex 1.7–2.0× width of eye; antennal segment II 1.0–1.2× as long as basal width of pronotum, 0.9–1.1× as long as width of head. Thorax: Pronotum 1.8–2.1× wider than long and 0.9–1.0× as wide as head; posterior margin of pronotum concave, mesoscutum partly exposed; hind femur not swollen. GENITALIA: See description of P. passerinii.
Female: Brachypterous, oval, total length 2.4–2.8 mm. COLOURATION (Fig. 1): Head dark brown to black; spot near eye brownish; eye dark brown, with yellowish posterior margin, uniformly yellowish or yellowish with brown spots; labium brownish, paler than head; antennal segment I yellowish, often with darker base, segment II yellowish with dark brown apical part, segments III and IV dark brown to black. Thorax: Dark brown to black; pleurite and evaporatorium dark brown to black; fore coxa yellowish, middle and hind coxae yellowish with darker bases; fore femur yellowish, middle femur yellowish, rarely with darker spots near apex, hind femur yellowish, rarely with dark brown spot medially, sometimes basal part also brownish; tibiae often yellowish sometimes with darker bases and apices; sometimes middle and hind tibiae somewhat darker than fore tibia or dark brown to black, rarely fore tibia also dark brown to black; tarsi dark brown to black; hemelytron dark brown to black. Abdomen: Dark brown to black. STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Structure as in generic description. Body 2.3–2.7× as long as width of pronotum. Head: Somewhat broader than in male, eye not protruded, in contact with anterior pronotal margin; head 1.3–1.5× wider than high; vertex 2.3–2.6× as wide as eye; antennal segment II 0.5–0.6× as long as basal width of pronotum, 0.5–0.6× as long as width of head; segments III and IV combined, longer than antennal segment II. Thorax: Pronotum 1.9–2.2× wider than long and 0.9–1.0× as wide as head; posterior margin of pronotum straight or concave, mesoscutum often partly exposed; length of hemelytra ranging from reaching abdominal tergum V to reaching tergum VII, with posterior margin truncate or broadly rounded; clavus not separated or separated by shallow suture. GENITALIA: Dorsal labiate plate without sclerotised areas near each ring, sclerotised rings oval, 1/4 th– 1/5 th width of labiate plate (Fig. 6); posterior wall with a single sclerite projecting beyond anterior margin of posterior wall (Fig. 7, as P. parallela).
Differential diagnosis. Distinguished by the macropterous male, vertex with a spot near each eye, yellowish antennae and legs, in darker specimens at least antennae or fore and middle legs pale brown or yellowish; straight apical process of left paramere without triangular process at base (Fig. 5 as in P. passerinii), dorsal wall of theca without depression (Fig. 4), endosoma with single long spicule, wide sclerotised area and without denticulate area (Fig. 4), sclerotzed ring oval, 1/4 th– 1/5 th width of labiate plate, sclerotised area near each of those sclerotised rings indistinct (Fig. 6). Male genitalia apparently not separable from those of P. passerinii, but the latter species can be recognized by the uniformly dark tibiae and distinct sclerotised areas of the dorsal labiate plate (Fig. 6). Pale males are similar to those of P. alutacea, but that species differs in having a single spot on posterior margin of vertex, a short, twisted apical process of left paramere (Fig. 5), and an aedeagus with small denticulate spicule (Fig. 4).
Distribution. Known for the eastern Mediterranean region, namely, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon (KERZHNER & JOSIFOV 1999). New for Syria and Jordan.
Discussion. Pachytomella phoenicea can not be distinguished from P. passerinii by male genitalic structures. However, I treat P. phoenicea and P. passerinii separately, as these two species have non-overlapping characters in colouration and female genitalia. Namely, representatives of P. phoenicea possess yellowish appendages and a dorsal labiate plate without a sclerotised area ventral to each sclerotised ring, whereas P. passerinii is characterized by having uniformly dark brown to black appendages and a dorsal labiate plate with a distinct sclerotised area ventral to each sclerotised ring.
REUTER (1891, 1904) described the three following colour varieties: P. phoenicea var. antennalis Reuter, 1891, P. phoenicea var. pedalis Reuter, 1904 and P. phoenicea var. nigricornis Reuter, 1904. In his work (REUTER 1904) var. typica is distinguished by the antennae and labium being yellowish; the base of antennal segment I, apex of antennal segment II in female and entire antennal segment II in male, apical quarter of labial segment I, bases of coxae, apices of tibiae, and sometimes base of hind tibia being black; var. antennalis is distinguished by antennal segment II, apex of middle tibia in males or apex and base in both sexes being black, and colouration of other parts as in var. typica; var. nigricornis is distinguished by the entire antennae, base and apex of fore tibia and entire hind tibia being black; var. pedalis is distinguished by the entire antennae, apex of fore femur, stripe in hind femur, and tibiae being black, and colouration of other parts as in var. typica. All these varieties are similar in genitalic structure and examination has showed that there is no clear distinction in appearance between the varieties, as colouration of appendages can vary in different ways. On the basis of this evidence, I propose to synonymize all the varieties under the name P. phoenicea.
description: Published as part of Namyatova, Anna A., 2010, Revision of the genus Pachytomella (Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae: Halticini), pp. 341-368 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 50 (2) on pages 363-366, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4503680