Revision of the genus Orthocephalus Fieber, 1858 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae)

Abstract

The Palaearctic genus Orthocephalus Fieber, 1858 is revised. The generic names Anapomella Putshkov, 1961 and Oraniella Reuter, 1894 are synonymized with Orthocephalus Fieber, 1858; providing for three comb. nov. — O. arnoldii (Putshkov, 1961), O. tibialis (Reuter, 1894), and O. tristis (Reuter, 1894). The following new species-level synonymies are established: O. niger Reuter, 1879 = O. bivittatus Fieber, 1864, O. parvulus Reuter, 1891 = O. saltator (Hahn, 1835), and O. beresovskii Reuter, 1906 with all its varieties = O. funestus Jakovlev, 1881. Piezocanum medvedevi Putshkov, 1961 is transferred to Orthocephalus and the replacement name O. putshkovi nom. nov. is proposed to remove the homonymy with O. medvedevi Kiritshenko, 1951. Keys to males and females, and data on distribution and host plants are given for all 23 species of the genus, including Orthocephalus turkmenicus sp. n. (Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkmenistan). Color digital habitus images and genitalic illustrations are provided of female specimens for all species and males for most of the species. Scanning electron micrographs are used to illustrate characteristic features for Orthocephalus and related groups. A phylogenetic analysis, including 33 taxa and 35 characters, is presented. The main results of this study are support for a sister-group relationship between Orthocephalus and Pachytomella, the monophyly of Orthocephalus as here diagnosed, and the relatively apical position of the clade containing Anapomella arnoldii and Oraniella tibialis within Orthocephalus.

The Halticini of the world (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Orthotylinae): generic reclassification, phylogeny, and host plant associations

“…); Southwood & Leston, 1959: 247 (key); Wagner, 1961: 50 (diag., key); Kerzhner, 1964a: 966 (diag., key); Wagner & Weber, 1964: 267 (descr., key); Wagner, 1973: 41 (descr., key); Schuh, 1995: 63 (world cat. ); Namyatova & Konstantinov, 2009 (generic revision, phylogeny).…”

“…In addition to feeding on asterids, three species have also been collected off rosids, with O. coriaceus found on oak (Fagaceae) (Ehanno, 1960, 1965), O. vittipenis on Ononis spinosa (Fabaceae) (Göllner‐Scheiding, 1972), and O. saltator on Spiraea sp. (Namyatova & Konstantinov, 2009). Orthocephalus saltator has also been collected on unidentified grass (Poaceae) (Ehanno, 1960; Gravestein, 1978), several species of Fabaceae (Reuter, 1891; Saunders, 1892; Tamanini, 1981; Seidenstücker, 1959), as well as Thymus serpyllum (Lamiaceae) (Reuter, 1891) and Salix sp.…”

“…Orthocephalus saltator has also been collected on unidentified grass (Poaceae) (Ehanno, 1960; Gravestein, 1978), several species of Fabaceae (Reuter, 1891; Saunders, 1892; Tamanini, 1981; Seidenstücker, 1959), as well as Thymus serpyllum (Lamiaceae) (Reuter, 1891) and Salix sp. (Salicaceae) (Namyatova & Konstantinov, 2009) (Table 1).…”

“…Remarks: Orthocephalus is superficially similar to Dasyscytus, Pachytomella , and Anapus , but can be readily distinguished by the unique structure of the secondary gonopore. In a recent revision of Orthocephalus , Anapomella Putshkov and Oraniella Reuter were designated junior synonyms of Orthocephalus , based primarily on the secondary gonopore structure (Namyatova & Konstantinov, 2009). This was supported through a phylogenetic analysis, which also proposed a sister relationship between Orthocephalus and Pachytomella .…”

“…Our phylogeny supports this sister taxon relationship as well, based on two synapomorphies (69‐1: opening of secondary gonopore slit‐like; 83‐1: DLP with pair of sickle‐shaped sclerites adjacent to sclerotized rings). Interestingly, although we incorporated the coding of Namyatova & Konstantinov (2009) into our analysis, only the slit‐shaped secondary gonopore opening was found to be synapomorphic in both analyses. This appears to be the result of differences in taxon sampling, as Namyatova & Konstantinov (2009) sampled all Orthocephalus , not all of which possess paired sickle‐shaped sclerites on the DLP.…”