A N N A L E S H I S T O R I C O - N A T U R A L E S M U S E I N A T I O N A L I S H U N G A R I C I Volume 97 Budapest, 2005 pp. 33-39.

A new species of Stirogaster from Iran (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Stenopodainae)

D. R É D E I

Department of Entomology, Corvinus University of Budapest, H-l 118 Budapest, Ménesi út 44, Hungary. E-mail: dredei@freemail.hu

Abstract- Stirogaster ahriman sp. n. is described from Southern Iran. The new species is closely re­lated to S. uvarovi C H I N A , 1934. With 16 figures.

Key words - Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Stenopodainae, Stirogaster, new species, Iran.

INTRODUCTION

Stenopodainae is one of the most speciose subfamilies in the family Redu­viidae, comprising more than 700 described species of about 114 genera in the world fauna ( M A L D O N A D O - C A P R I L E S 1990). Fourteen genera and 111 species, Oncocephalus K L U G , 1830, have been reported to occur in the Palaearctic Region in the catalogue by PUTSHKOV & PUTSHKOV (1996).

The genus Stirogaster was erected for Stirogaster fausti by JAKOVLEV (1874). Over the next almost eighty years, only three species belonging to this ge­nus were described, namely S. desertorum HORVÁTH, 1913, S. uvarovi CHINA, 1934 and S. ruttledgei MILLER, 1952. LlNNAVUORl (1964) described a new spe­cies, S. laticeps and presented a key to the species of the genus. Later, the same au­thor (LlNNAVUORl 1986) described two further species, S. pilosus and S. hanifa, and keyed the genus again. Most recently, MOULET (2003) synonymised the mono-typic genus Davatchicoris DlSPONS et VlLLIERS, 1967 with Stirogaster and there­fore transferred its single species D. balachowskyi DlSPONS et VlLLIERS, 1967 to this genus. The same author (MOULET in press) described S. carayoni and pre­sented a new key to all known Stirogaster.

The genus seems to be restricted to the Middle East and North Africa, enter­ing the Afrotropical and Oriental Regions marginally. The species with the widest range are S. fausti and S. desertorum. Both species are widely distributed in the Middle East and North Africa, the former also occurring in Northern India, whereas the latter in Niger. The other species have been reported only from a few

localities, most of them occurring in the Middle East, which must be the centre of

the dispersion of the genus. The only species, which is known to occur only in the

Afrotropical Region (Sudan), is S. ruttledgei. Four species, namely S. fausti, S. desertorum, S. uvarovi and S. laticeps have hitherto been reported from Iran.

Recent collecting trips to Iran by Hungarian entomologists also yielded nu­

merous assassin bugs. While identifying the material deposited in the Hemiptera Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum (HNHM) , Budapest, a re­

markable specimen of Stirogaster has been found. Since it differs essentially from

the known species, it is described as new in this paper.

Stirogaster ahriman sp. n.

(Figs 1-16)

Type material - Holotype (male): "IRAN, prov. Fars / Mts. Ktihha-ye Zagros" (printed), "Safe Abad / 23. VI . 2000. / leg. Gy. Ro/.ner" (printed), "HOLOTYPE / Stirogaster / ahriman sp. n. / det. D. Rédei, 2004" (type label with red borders, handwritten + printed); deposited in the HNHM.

Description - Macropterous male. Measurements (in mm): Total length of body (from apex of head to apex of fore wings) 10.3, greatest width of abdomen 2.9. Length of head (without neck) 1.44, fore lobe 1.05, hind lobe 0.39, preocular part 0.59, postocular part 0.25; width across eyes 1.50, interocular distance 0.57, interocellar distance 0.32. Length of antennái joints I : I I : I I I : IV = 1.82 : 1.72 : 0.49 : 0.49. Length of labial joints I : I I : I I I = 0.84 : 0.60 : 0.50. Length of pronotum 2.03, fore lobe 0.95, hind lobe 1.08, width across anterolateral angles 0.97, across humeral angles 2.31. Length of scutellum 1.05, basal width 0.87. Length of fore wings from base to apex of membrane 7.0, to apex of corium 5.0, to apex of clavus 2.8. Length of fore coxa 0.64, greatest width 0.43, length of fore fe­mur 2.88, greatest width 0.67, length of fore tibia 2.38, length of fore tarsus without claws 0.60, tarsal joints I : I I : I I I = 0.25 : 0.29 : 0.35; length of mid femur 2.45, tibia 2.55, tarsus without claws 0.55, tar­sal joints I : I I : I I I = 0.21 : 0.24 : 0.28; length of hind femur 3.95, tibia 4.75, tarsus without claws 0.71, tarsal joints I : I I : I I I = 0.28 : 0.28 : 0.31.

Colour: General colour stramineous with dark pattern on head and fore wings. Head black, a pair of inconspicuous spots anterolaterad to ocelli yellowish; antennái tubercles, a pair of spines be­tween antennái insertions, clypeus, labrum, bucculae and dorsal side of jugae rather uniformly stra­mineous. Antenna! joints rather uniformly stramineous. Ventral side of labium stramineous, dorsal side brown, gradually lightening towards apex. Pronotum stramineous, posterior border of fore lobe with four small brownish spots, hind lobe with an anteromedial longitudinal brownish spot, posterior border of hind lobe inconspicuously brownish. Scutellum dark brown, apical prolongation lightened apically. Coriaceous anterior portion of fore wings light stramineous, slightly translucent, clavus with a wide, elongate, brownish spot along its medial border, corium hardly perceptibly darkened be­tween Cu and claval suture, veins light stramineous, extreme apex of PCu+lA with an apparent fulvous spot. Membrane whitish, translucent, an elongated basal spot mediad to PCu as well as most part of apical cells (except their borders along veins and a greater basolateral spot in external cell) greyish brown; veins PCu and Cu greyish, M stramineous, each with a fulvous spot basally. Abdo­men uniformly stramineous except a large, subtriangular spot on abdominal tergite VI I and four pairs of lateral spots on anterior halves of laterotergites I V - V I I brown (very light, hardly perceptible on

laterotergites VII). Legs uniformly testaceous, claws fulvous. - Body surface dull, finely rugose, densely covered with setigerous tubercles and smaller granules on head (also on rostrum), thorax, abdomen and legs as well as on veins of coriaceous anterior portion of fore wings; hind lobe of head also with some longer setigerous processes; head between and before antennái insertions densely covered with white, adpressed hairs; antennái joints I and I I with long, nearly perpendicular bristles, joints I I I and IV with shorter, semi-erect ones.

Structural characteristics: General appearance (Fig. 1) elongate oval, about 3.5 times longer than greatest width of abdomen.

Head (Figs 1-3) relatively short, slightly (about 1.05 times) wider than long, about 0.65 times as long as width of pronotum across humeral angles, divided into fore and hind lobes by a very deep transverse interocular furrow. Preocular part short, very slightly longer than eyes, about 2.4 times longer than postocular, declivent and gradually narrowing anteriorly; bucculae prominent, surpass­ing apex of tylus; frons with a pair of long, nearly parallel, semi-erect, obtuse spines between antennái insertions, antenniferous tubercles small, with a pair of long, relatively slender, obtuse spines. Eyes very large, laterally prominent, oval in lateral aspect, with a few strong bristles among facets; diatone

Figs 1-5. Stirogaster ahriman sp. n., 1 = fore part of body, dorsal aspect, 2 = same, lateral aspect, 3 = head, frontal aspect, 4 = right fore femur, tibia and tarsus, medial aspect, 5 = apex of left hind leg.

Scale bars = 1.0 mm

Figs 6-16. Stirogaster ahriman sp. n., 6 = left hemelytron, 7 = maie abdomen, dorsal aspect, 8 = geni­tal capsule, dorsal aspect (anal lube omitted), 9 - same, lateral aspect, 10 = phallus, dorsal aspect, 11 = same, dorsolateral aspect, 12 = same, lateral aspect, 13-16 - left paramere, four different orienta­

tions. Scale bars to Figs 6 and 7 = 1.0 mm, to Figs 8-16 = 0.25 mm

approximately 2.6 times as wide as interocular space. On ventral surface of head eyes strongly ap­proaching, nearly meeting each other. Ocelli large. Postocular part extremely short, strongly convex above, with a deep longitudinal impression between ocelli; abruptly, nearly vertically declivent posteri­orly, distinctly separated from short neck, lateral outline strongly converging posteriorly. Among setigerous tubercles and processes, a pair of trifurcate processes is also present behind eyes laterally. Antennái joint I strong, about 1.25 times longer than head; joint I I more slender, somewhat shorter than joint I ; joints I I I and IV gracile, very short, subequal in length; joints I and I I with long, erect, nearly perpendicular bristles, the longest ones about 2.9 (joint I) and 4.2 (joint II) times longer than diameter of joint, joints I I I and IV only with short, semi-erect setae (Fig. 1). Rostrum (Fig. 2) rather strong, joint I stout, 1.4 times longer than joint I I , joints I I and II I gradually narrowing posteriorly; joint I surpassing anterior border, joint I I posterior border of eyes, joint I I I projecting between bases of fore coxae.

Pronotum (Figs 1-2) about 1.15 times wider than long, divided into fore and hind lobes by a transverse impression, distinctly marginated laterally, margins each with a regular row of setigerous tubercles. Fore lobe about 0.9 times as long as hind lobe, nearly trapeziform in dorsal aspect, gradu­ally widening posteriorly, anterior margin broadly insinuated, anterolateral angles produced into a pair of relatively long, subpointed spines; disc with a fine medial longitudinal furrow which is super­ficial anteriorly, considerably deeper posteriorly. Anterolateral angles of prosternum with a pair of subpointed spines before coxal cavities. Hind lobe transverse, with a pair of longitudinal carinae di­verging posteriorly, not reaching posterior margin, disc somewhat impressed between carinae; lateral margins convex, posterior margin feebly concave before scutellum, humeral angles swollen, protrud­ing posterolaterally. Setigerous tubercles present in regular arrangement on pronotum as in Fig. 1. Scutellum (Figs 1-2), wide, subtriangular, lateral margins convex, widely impressed medially, with a pair of small, short basolateral denticles and a long, obtuse, nearly horizontal posterior process. Meso-and metapleura each with a narrow carina anterodorsally and dorsally, respectively.

Fore leg (Fig. 4) stout. Fore coxa short, stout, about 1.5 times longer than its greatest width. Fore femur widened, about 4.3 times longer than its greatest width, somewhat flattened laterally, ven­tral surface with a single row of different processes: the basal 7/10 of the ventral surface is occupied by about 25-27 spiniferous processes while the apical 3/10 of it is occupied by about 7-10 setigerous tubercles; the spiniferous processes are of two sizes: about 4 processes at extreme base of femur as well as further 4-5 ones are somewhat greater than the others (the greater processes without spines are about as long as the small ones and their spines together, as on S. desertorum). Fore tibia about 0.8 times as long as femur, very slightly curved, covered with deflexed or semi-erect setae originating from small tubercles, the setae are about 0.35-0.7 times as long as greatest width of joint. Fore tarsus relatively long, joint I very short, joint III subequal in length to joints I and I I taken together; claws long, conspicuously widened basally. Mid legs relatively short; femur nearly straight; tibia slightly longer than femur, straight, covered with deflexed or semi-erect setae originating from small tuber­cles, the setae are about 0.7-1.5 times as long as greatest width of joint (apical ones longer). Hind legs the longest; femur very slightly curved, not reaching apex of abdomen; tibia nearly straight, covered with deflexed setae in basal part of external surface and with semi-erect ones in remaining parts of the joint, the semi-erect setae are very long, the longest ones are more than three times longer than the greatest width of joint; tarsus (Fig. 5) with joints I and II subequal in length, joint I I I about 0.7 times as long as joints I and I I taken together.

Fore wing (Fig. 6) elongate, about three times longer than its greatest width (near to the level of the apex of corium), distinctly surpassing apex of abdomen. Venation of stenopodaine type without discal cell, Cu and M strongly curved laterally at base of external apical cell.

Abdomen of male (Fig. 7) elongate oval, lateral outline simple, posterolateral angles of tergites not produced, tergite V I I widely insinuated posteriorly; ventral surface with a medial longitudinal

keel running from base of abdomen to apex of sternite V I . Genital capsule (Figs 8-9) relatively short, wide, superoposterior border wide, flattened, with an anteromedial elevation. Parameres (Figs 13-16) symmetrical, short, stout, curved, apical part with a short anterodorsal tooth. Phallus (Figs 10-12) directed dorsad within genital capsule (Figs 8-9), basal plates greatly fused forming a long, rod-like structure, dorsal connectives enclose a sharp angle, ponticulus basilaris narrow, basal fora­men elongated, basal plate struts accompanying dorsal surface of phallosoma, endosoma with 1+1 bladder-shaped, posteriorly narrowing expansions.

Etymology - Specific name from Farsi; Ahriman is the name of the supreme spirit of darkness and evil in the ancient Persian mythology.

Comparative notes - Stirogaster ahriman sp. n. differs very sharply from most species of Stirogaster by its size and/or the almost uniformly stramineous pronotum (see L lNNAVUORl 1986; MOULET in press). It runs out to couplet 7(8) and 8(7) in the identification key presented by MOULET (in press) for all known Stirogaster, at this point, the user is confronted with the problem that none of the alternative choices fits the specimen. The new species is most similar to S. uvarovi by its general appearance and colouration. However, important differences can be observed between the two species. Based on the original description and figures of S. uvarovi, the most apparent distinctive characters are given in tabular form (Ta­ble 1).

Table 1. Distinctive characters for Stirogaster ahriman sp. n. and S. uvarovi C H I N A , 1934.

S. ahriman sp. n., male S. uvarovi C H I N A , 1934, male

1. Body smaller (length of holotype 10.3 mm). Body somewhat larger (about 14 mm).

2. Hind pronotal lobe with a brown Posterior border of hind pronotal lobe dis­anteromedial longitudinal spot between tinctly infuscate. carinae, posterior border of hind lobe only with inconspicuous brownish suffusion.

3. External apical cell greyish brown except ba- External apical cell greyish brown except ba-sally; costal area of membrane adjoining ex­ sally and apically; costal area of membrane ternal apical cell whitish. adjoining external apical cell infuscate.

4. Femora uniformly stramineous. Femora with a brown subapical annulus.

5. Antennái joint I I I about 0.3 times as long as Antennái joint I I I about 0.4 times as long as joint I I , about as long as joint IV. joint I I , about 1.4 times as long as joint IV.

6. Hind pronotal lobe only slightly, about 1.15 Hind pronotal lobe about 1.5 times longer times longer than fore lobe. than fore lobe.

7. Fore femur wider, about 4.3 times longer Fore femur narrower, about 5 times longer than its greatest width. than its greatest width.

8. Ventral surface of fore femur with about 8 Ventral surface of fore femur with about 8 greater spiniferous processes intermixed greater spiniferous processes intermixed with about 17-19 smaller ones. with about 35 smaller ones.

By its body size, S. ahriman sp. n. is near to S. desertorum and S. laticeps, however, these species have distinctly bicoloured pronotum and somewhat longer

first antennái joint. According to the two syntypes deposited in the H N H M exam­ined by the author, S. desertorum has much shorter fore pronotal lobe (hind lobe

1.42-1.56 times longer than fore lobe) and more elongate fore femora (4.93-5.15

times longer than its greatest width). According to its original description, S. lati­ceps - which must be taxonomically closely related to S. desertorum - has highly different armature on fore femora.

*

Acknowledgements - I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. PIERRE M O U L E T (Avignon) for his invaluable help and suggestions, and for providing me with the manuscript of his paper in press. I would also like to thank to Dr. IZYASLAV M . KERZHNER (St. Petersburg) for his help in some questions concerning the type material of Stirogaster desertorum.

REFERENCES

J A K O V L E V , V. E. ( 1874): Materialy dl'a entomologicheskoy Fauny europeyskoy Rossii. IV. [Contri­butions to the entomological fauna of European Russia. IV.] - Trudy Russkogo Entomolo-gicheskogo Obshchestva 8: 46-82.

LlNNAVUORl, R. (1964): Hemiptera of Egypt, with remarks on some species of the adjacent Eremian region. - Annales Zoologie! Fennici 1: 306-356.

LlNNAVUORl, R. ( 1986): Heteroptera of Saudi Arabia. - In: KRUPP, F. & BÜTTIKER, W. (eds): Fauna of Saudi Arabia 8. Natural History Museum, Basel, pp. 31-197.

M A L D O N A D O - C A P R I L E S , J. (1990): Systematic Catalogue of the Reduviidae of the World (Insecta: Heteroptera). - Caribbean Journal of Sciences, Special Edition: i -x, 1-694.

MOULET, P. (2003): Contribution à l'étude des Stenopodainae paléarctiques (Heteroptera, Reduvii­dae). - Nouvelle Revue d'Entomologie (N.S.) 20(3): 281-297.

M O U L E T , P. (in press): Sur quelques Stenopodainae paléarctiques (Hemiptera, Reduviidae). - Bulle­tin de la Société Entomologique de France.

PUTSHKOV, P. V. & PUTSHKOV, V. G. (1996): Family Reduviidae Latreille, 1807 - assassin-bugs. -In: AUKEMA, B. & RlEGER, C. (eds): Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region, vol. 2. The Netherlands Entomological Society, Amsterdam, pp. 148-265.

The distribution of Hungarian molluscs

The catalogue of the Mollusca Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum

Z . F e h é r and A . G u b á n y i

Authors aimed to continue the traditions of Hungarian faunal mapping set by Pintér and co-workers in 1979, and to create a com­puter programme and a database, that are able to collect and manage data both from the literature and collections and able to create distri­bution maps. Due to this " l iv ing" data system, where the integration of new data is permanently done and the errors are continuously cor­rected, the results are published in electronic format in English and Hungarian. The CD contains the catalogue in pdf format (the reader programme Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 also present). As the first step, this CD contains the checklist of the Hungarian molluscs and their distribution data based on the Mollusca Collection of the Hungarian Natural History Museum. Distribution of the 220 gastropod and 24 bivalve species in the collection are illustrated in 10x10 k m U T M grid maps, and all of their sampling sites are listed by U T M grids.

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