Plagiognathus ozgurkocaki Çerçi 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Çerçi, Barış
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Miridae
Plagiognathus
Plagiognathus ozgurkocaki

description: Plagiognathus ozgurkocaki sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 45F8D0A6-6150-4C52-A11D-70EA2B75BF6E
Figs 1–3, 4A, 5; Table 1
Diagnosis
The new species is diagnosed by the combination of following characters: size remarkably small, 2.6– 3.0 mm, general coloration yellowish brown to orange, outer margin of endocorium darkened along its length, cuneus largely darkened except its basal margin and apex, vestiture dense and pale yellow, first antennal segment yellow with a basal ring and pre-apical dots, second antennal segment yellow with a basal ring and rest of antennae unicolorous yellow.
Etymology
The new species is named after Özgür Koçak (Karaman, Turkey), a nature photographer and naturalist who dedicated himself to observe and discover the unnoted natural biodiversity of Karaman province. He also discovered and collected the new species described here.
Type material
Holotype TURKEY • ♂; Karaman, Ermenek, Evsin köyü; 36°37′26′′ N, 33°00′55′′ E; alt. 1000 m; 25 May 2021; Ö. Koçak leg.; Phlomis leucophracta; LEMT.
Paratypes TURKEY • 14 ♂♂, 13 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; LEMT • 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀; same collection data as for holotype; BCIT.
Description
Male
COLORATION. General coloration yellowish brown to orange (Fig. 2A). Head yellowish brown, clypeus narrowly black at apex, dark-brown dot adjacent to each eye in darker colored specimens. Antennal segments yellow, first segment with narrow ring basally and two black dots pre-apically from which two black bristles arise, second segment with very narrow and mostly faded black ring basally, rest of segments unicolorous yellow (Fig. 2F). Pronotum yellowish brown to orange, posterior corners slightly embrowned in darker colored specimens. Scutellum mostly dark brown, paler basally at center. Hemelytra yellowish brown to orange, with brown longitudinal stripe medially on corium that widens apically and more easily distinguished in alive specimens (Fig. 1B–D), cuneus largely dark brown except basal margin and extreme apex. Membrane with black spot below membranal cells that is connected to outer margin of membrane with broad and marginally diffuse transverse band. Posterior femora pale yellow with minute black dots pre-apically on dorsal surface and larger black dots on ventral surface, characteristic of this genus. Tibiae with large black dots at base of each tibial spine and at femoral-tibial junction. First two tarsal segments yellow, last segment dark brown. Body dark brown to black.
VESTITURE. Dorsum uniformly covered with dense, semi-erect, simple, pale-yellow setae. Head densely covered with pale-yellow setae, from semi-erect to erect. Antennal segments covered with very fine, adpressed pale-yellow setae, first antennal segment with two black bristles that arise from black dots. Pronotum and hemelytra covered with, dense, semi-erect, simple pale-yellow setae. Tibiae with long
black spines, two spines arise from each black dot. Abdomen covered densely with short adpressed pale yellow setae.
STRUCTURE. Small and ovoid, 2.6–2.9 mm in size, 3.0–3.3 × as long as the width of posterior margin of pronotum. Head, including eyes, 1.2–1.4 × as broad as the width of anterior margin of pronotum, interocular distance 1.4–1.8 × as long as eye width (Fig. 2C), buccala variable in shape, from a straight inferior margin to triangular projection anteriorly (Fig. 2D–E), labium reaching posterior coxae. Second antennal segment 1.0 × as long as head width across eyes, 0.7–0.8 × as long as width of posterior margin of pronotum, ratios of antennal segments 7: 22–25: 14–16: 9–10, length of antennae 0.5 × total length of body. Pronotum 2.1–2.3 × as long as wide at posterior margin, anterior margin 0.5–0.6 × as wide as posterior one, lateral and posterior margins straight, anterior margin with shallow depression medially. Hemelytra slightly enlarged towards middle, surpasses apex of abdomen only slightly. Right paramere lanceolate with single pointed apex (Fig. 3H), left paramere as in Fig. 3D–G, apical blades of vesica large, after gonopore tapering and separated from each (Fig. 3A–C).
Female
Closely resemble male in coloration and vestiture (Fig. 2B), but size slightly larger, 2.6–3.0 mm, 3.0– 3.5 × as long as width of posterior margin of pronotum. Interocular distance 1.8–2.2 × as long as eye width, second antennal segment 0.9–1.0 × as long as head width across eyes and 0.6–0.7 × as long as width of posterior margin of pronotum, length of antennae 0.4–0.5 × as long as total length of body. Rest of morphometric characters as in male.
Host plant association
All the specimens were collected from Phlomis leucophracta (Lamiaceae) (Fig. 1A).
Differential diagnosis
The genus Plagiognathus Fieber, 1858 is characterized by the sigmoid shaped and half-twisted body of vesica that has a more or less developed flange and terminates in two apical blades, lanceolate right paramere that has single apex and uniform dorsal vestiture, either black or pale (Schuh 2001). Additionally, all the Palearctic species have black dots on femora that form longitudinal lines (Wagner 1975). The new species is placed in this genus due to the shape of its vesica that closely resembles that of other species of Plagiognathus, the shape of right paramere, the black dots on the femora and uniform vestiture. Although pale yellow vestiture of dorsum in the new species reminds species of Europiella Reuter, 1909, it surely is not a member of this genus since species of Europiella invariably have apically bifid right paramere (Schuh et al. 1995). Among the 16 native species of Plagiognathus recorded from Western Palaearctic Region, only P. marivanensis, P. bipunctatus albicans (Reuter, 1901) and P. reuterellus Schuh, 2001 bear unicolorous pale yellow vestiture (Wagner 1975; Schuh 2001; Linnavuori 2010). The new species differs from these species by the combination of smaller size, presence of large black dots at the base of tibial spines, black dot at the femoral-tibial junction, brown pattern of endocorium, darkened cuneus and dark patterns of first and second antennal segments (Table 1). An identification key for these species is presented below.
Plagiognathus reuterellus, formerly P. flavipes, is characterized by unicolorous black dorsum and first two antennal segments, hence easily distinguish from the new species. This species is also strictly associated with Lonicera spp. (Wagner 1975).
The other species with unicolorous pale yellow vestiture, P. marivanesis and P. bipunctatus albicans have unicolorous whitish yellow dorsum and antennal segments (Fig. 4B–C) whereas P. ozgurkocaki sp.nov. is yellowish brown to orange with dark patterns on corium, cuneus and first two antennal segments (Fig. 4A). These two species are also remarkably larger, 3.0–4.0 mm, compared to P. ozgurkocaki sp. nov., 2.6 – 3.0 mm. Finally, P. marivanensis lacks a black spot below the membranal cells and that of P. bipunctatus albicans is punctual whereas that of P. ozgurkocaki sp. nov. is connected to outer margin of the membrane with a broad and marginally diffuse transverse band. The vesica of P. marivanensis is generally similar to that of the new species and only differ from it by small details, e.g., slightly smaller apical blades and the recess on the body of posterior blade around the secondary gonopore (Linnavuori 2010). In contrast, vesica of P. bipunctatus albicans differs from that of P. ozgurkocaki sp. nov. remarkably by much smaller and straight apical blades that do not separate from each (Schuh 2001).
Another species, Plagiognathus zuvandiensis Putshkov, 1978, known from Azerbaijan and Iran, also bears pale yellow setae admixed to the predominant black vestiture (Putshkov 1978; Linnavuori 2010). This species differs from the new species by remarkably larger size (3.3–4.1 mm), predominant black vestiture of dorsum, unicolorous hemelytra, lack of black spot at the base of hind tibia and long and slender vesica (Table 1) (Putshkov 1978).
The new species is remarkably small, among the Western Palearctic species, only Plagiognathus fusciloris Reuter, 1878 and Plagiognathus olivaceus Reuter, 1880 are known to be smaller than 3 mm (Wagner 1975). The new species mainly differs from both species by pale yellow vestiture, yellowish brown to orange coloration, brown pattern of endocorium, darkened cuneus and different coloration of first antennal segment (Table 1). Plagiognathus fulvipennis and P. raphani Wagner, 1963 are two species that show similarity with the new species due to yellowish brown to orange coloration of dorsum (Wagner 1963, 1975). Although both species can be easily distinguished from the new species by predominant black vestiture, there are other characteristic features that differ these species from the new species. Plagiognathus fulvipennis is much larger (3.5–4.7 mm), has unicolorous hemelytra, black first antennal segment with apical white ring, largely black second antennal segment and dark brown third and fourth segments, vesica with remarkably shorter posterior blade than anterior one (Wagner 1975; Schuh 2001). Plagiognathus raphani also has unicolorous hemelytra, black first antennal segment with apical white ring, vesica with small apical blades that are not separating from each other and is associated with Raphanus spp. (Wagner 1975; Schuh 2001).
Interestingly, the new species resembles Plagiognathus delicatus Uhler, 1887, a North American species, recently recorded from Germany (Rieger 2015), with regard to general coloration and patterns of dorsum, as well as pale yellow vestiture but this species has largely black first antennal segment, characteristically black calli, and is associated with Gleditsia triacanthos L. (Fabaceae) in North America (Schuh 2001) whereas the new species is associated with Phlomis leucophracta (Lamiaceae) (Fig. 1A). This plant species is endemic to Southern Anatolia and known only from several locations in Antalya, Isparta, Mersin and Karaman (Davis et al. 1982). This is the first record of a species of Plagiognathus associated with a species of Phlomis. Finally, the new species can be easily distinguished from all its congeners that are not explicitly mentioned above, by smaller size (below 3 mm) and unicolorous pale yellow vestiture.
description: Published as part of Çerçi, Barış, 2022, A new species of Plagiognathus (Heteroptera: Miridae) associated with the locally endemic Phlomis leucophracta (Lamiales: Lamiaceae) from Karaman, Turkey, pp. 148-160 in European Journal of Taxonomy 806 on pages 149-154, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.806.1709, http://zenodo.org/record/6402839