Review of the mirine plant bug genus Eurystylus Stål from Japan and Taiwan (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirinae), with descriptions of two new species, a new synonymy and a new combination
Author
Yasunaga, Tomohide
Author
Nakatani, Yukinobu
Author
Chérot, Frédéric
text
Zootaxa
2017
4227
3
301
324
journal article
37230
10.11646/zootaxa.4227.3.1
d71680f0-0069-4290-a53e-9272043455fc
1175-5326
268312
62ABB516-62B1-46AF-A235-3AD772358A8A
Genus
Eurystylus
Stål
Eurystylus
Stål, 1871
: 671
(n. gen.), type species:
Eurystylus costalis
Stål, 1871
: 671
(
Fig. 2
F; habitus images of the holotype available on http://www2.nrm.se/en/het_nrm/c/
eurystylus
_
costalis
.html), monotypic;
Schuh, 1995
: 766
(cat.);
Kerzhner & Josifov, 1999
: 99
(cat.);
Yasunaga, 2001
: 233
(diag.);
Zheng
et al.
, 2004
: 271
(diag., key to Chinese spp.); Schuh (
2002– 2014
) online catalog.
Diagnosis.
Eurystylus
is distinguished from other genera of the tribe
Mirini
by the following characters (whereas some of these characters are shared with the assumed related taxa,
Eocalocoris
Miyamoto & Yasunaga
[
EC
],
Eurystylopsis
Poppius
[
EP
],
Heteropantilius
Zheng & Liu
[
HP
] or
Miyamotoa
Yasunaga
[
MY
]): Body remarkably thick, box like [
HP, EC, EP
], generally matte or shagreened [
EP
]; dorsum impunctate [
HP, EC, MY
], with at least two
types
of vestiture [
EP
]; head weakly porrect and relatively horizontal or prognathous [
HP, EC, EP, MY
]; lateral margin of frons, bordering to antennal tubercle and inner margin of eye, with a fuscous, velvety mark that is usually visible even in species with darkened head (
Figs. 1
H, 2E, F); antenna, shorter than body, with segment I tumid, obviously flattened, segment II clavate (its apical part more than twice as thick as base), and segments III and IV short and filiform [
HP, EC, EP, MY
]; pronotum often with a pair of dark spots on disk, sometimes forming eyeshape, so-called ‘head bugs’ (as in
Figs. 2
A, E; 3E); collar thickened, broader than base of antennal segment II; scutellum tumid, long, with its lateral margin length greater than basal width; each femur more or less flattened [
EP
]; metatibia not much longer than metafemur; male genital segment (pygophore) noticeably shortened; abdominal sterna VIII and IX in female narrow; left paramere usually strongly constricted at base of widened and flattened (often flap-like) hypophysis (
Fig. 4
); endosoma with well-developed membranous lobes [
EC, MY
], with one to four lobal sclerites (
Fig. 5
, FL, ML, PL, TL); seminal duct strongly constricted distally (
Fig. 5
C); secondary gonopore thick-rimmed, with triangular or heart-shaped aperture [
EC, HP, MY
]; and female bursa copulatrix with a confluent ventral labiate plate [
EC, EP
]. The final-instar nymph is unique in having the generally pale, ovoid, thick body with several pairs of eye-like, or ocellate spots on dorsum (
Fig. 2
B–D).
Distribution.
Known from the Old World, mainly subtropical and tropical zones; most species occurring in the Ethiopian and Oriental regions; only a few members known from the Australian Region and Pacific Islands.
Biology.
As evidenced by many
Eurystylus
species that are collected on inflorescences, floral nectar and pollen are considered to be their major diets (
Yasunaga, 2001
). Most congeners are presumed to be herbivorous and polyphagous. The immature forms of more than seven species (including some undetermined or undescribed ones from tropical Asia) were confirmed to inhabit inflorescences of various dicots (see
Table 1
). The adults of the species shown in
Table 1
(except for
E. jingfui
) were observed to suck on flower buds, petals and/or pedicels (cf.
Fig. 1
G).
In the Afrotropical Region,
Eurystylus oldi
Poppius
is frequently documented as a major pest of sorghums,
Sorghum bicolor
(L.) Moench (
Poaceae
) in particular, and some
Eurystylus
species in
South Africa
were documented to feed on both male and female flowers of a castor,
Ricinus communis
L. (
Euphorbiaceae
), causing them to shrivel and die; in some cases, entire stems die (Wheeler, 2001). In Asia, no
Eurystylus
member has ever been reported as an agricultural pest, even though some species actually inhabit inflorescences of economic fruit trees, and ornamental or medicinal plants (e.g., chestnuts, oranges, mangos, aralias, lilacs;
Table 1
). The population densities of Asian species are usually not significant, and any harmful gregarious feeding is currently not recognized.
One generation per year is assumed for
Eurystylus
species inhabiting temperate and colder climate zones, whereas those in tropics, subtropics or warm temperate zone appear to have a bivoltine or multivoltine life cycle.
Discussion.
Eurystylus
is easily separable from related genera by the flattened antennal segment I, a pair of fuscous, velvety spots at lateral corner on the frons, thicker collar, elongate scutellum, and shortened genital segments (male pygophore and female segments VIII and IX). These characters will distinguish
Eurystylus
from taxa possessing similar facies (e.g., tumid box-like body, clavate antennal segment II), such as
Eurystylopsis
known from
Nepal
,
Taiwan
and continental
China
,
Eocalocoris
from southwestern
Japan
,
Heteropantilius
from
China
and
Taiwan
, and
Miyamotoa
originally described from the Amami Island-Group of the
Ryukyus
. However, these genera equally have more smooth dorsum, cylindrical antennal segment I, nearly equilateral scutellum, and conventional mirine paramere shape, in addition to their own unique characters or autapomorphy (for further information, see
Yasunaga, 1990
,
1995
;
Yasunaga & Takai, 1994
;
Zheng
et al.
, 2004
). The below key equivocally distinguishes the five related genera.
Within the four genera mentioned in above generic diagnosis,
Eurystylopsis
is assumed to be most closely related to
Eurystylus
, because these two genera share seven diagnostic characters, as well as the largely matte dorsal surface, and similar coloration, vestiture pattern (
Fig. 9
A–B), and shape of the metathoracic scent efferent system (
Fig. 8
G–H). The phylogenetic relationship of
Eurystylus
to other mirine genera will need to be further elucidated. However the shared characters of above-mentioned genera imply that at least the four genera may be originated from a same lineage;
Miyamotoa
is separated from the other genera in having the reduced M-vein that represents unusual character state in the tribe
Mirini
.
On the other hand, a few more superficially similar taxa appear to exist in the Old World. For instance in the Australian Region, the poorly known
Pseudeurystylus clavicornis
Poppius, 1915
(
Fig. 9
F), the sole representative of the monotypic genus
Pseudeurystylus
Poppius, 1915
, also shares similar color and vestiture patterns, clavate second antennal segment, tumid body and pronotum, and thick pronotal collar. However,
Pseudeurystylus
can be distinguished easily from all above mentioned taxa by the four ivory-white, callose stripes on the pronotal lateral margin and propleuron, the pronotal collar thicker than the base of antennal segment II at middle but not laterally (the collar has the almost similar thickness throughout in
Eurystylus
) and the pronotal callosities developed and nearly contiguous to the collar. In the Ethiopian Region where more than twelve
Eurystylus
species occur,
Stonedahl (1995)
considered the possible relationship between
Eurystylus
and
Volumnus
Stål, 1866
(including
Yambio
Linnavuori, 1975), mainly based on dorsal pilosity, thick and relatively short antennal segments III and IV and the presence of “a small, plate-like process on the base of maxillary plates, ventral to antennal fossae” (
Stonedahl, 1995
). However, as pointed out by Stonedahl for the vestiture (op. cit.), these character states are not considered unique, being observed in other mirine genera; the genital structures of
Volumnus
are also different from those of
Eurystylus
. A relationship between
Eurystylus
and
Volumnus
appears only superficial. To demonstrate a satisfactory phylogenetic position and sister taxa of
Eurystylus
, comprehensive work treating all the Old World members is required.
In
Japan
and
Taiwan
, three species,
Eurystylus coelestialium
,
E. luteus
, and
E. sauteri
, have been reported. However, our attempts to identify the specimens from these areas revealed that the Japanese and Taiwanese populations which have been assigned to
E. luteus
should belong to
E. sauteri
, and all previous records of
E. sauteri
from SW
Japan
and
Taiwan
were incorrect (see below Discussion for
E. ryukyus
and
E. sauteri
). Judging from the overall similarities (as in
Figs. 3
A–G, 4B–I) and distribution patterns (
Fig. 7
), it is highly probable that
luteus
(described by Hsiao from
Anhui
,
China
in 1941) and
sauteri
(by Poppius from
Taiwan
in 1915) are conspecific. The
holotype
of
luteus
is unfortunately female, but the male endosomal illustrations based on Chinese materials (
Zheng & Chen, 1991
;
Zheng
et al.
, 2004
) doubtlessly coincide with those found in
Japan
and
Taiwan
(
Fig. 4
D–I). We therefore refrain from using
luteus
for relevant Japanese and Taiwanese specimens, to avoid further taxonomic confusion.