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Corresponding author: Ram Keshari Duwal ( ramkeshariduwal@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Laurence Livermore
© 2017 Ram Keshari Duwal, Tomohide Yasunaga, Toshiya Hirowatari.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Duwal RK, Yasunaga T, Hirowatari T (2017) First record of Biromiris from the Oriental region, with a new species from Philippines (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae, Phylinae). ZooKeys 677: 89-95. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.677.11308
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The unique genus Biromiris Schuh is recognized from the Oriental region for the first time, with the description of a new species, Biromiris tomokunii sp. n., from the Philippines. The new species is documented with photographic images of the dorsal habitus and male genital structures. A key to all known species of Biromiris is provided.
Biromiris tomokunii , Leucophoropterini , Miridae , new species, Philippines, Phylinae , taxonomy
Biromiris Schuh, 1984 (Phylinae), containing six described species from the Australian region, forms one of the smaller and rarely encountered genera of the plant bug tribe Leucophoropterini (
The observed specimen (holotype) is deposited in the Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan (
All measurements are given in millimeters. The terminology mainly follows
Biromiris
Schuh, 1984: 206, type species by original designation: Biromiris enarotadi
Distinguished by carinate lateral margin of pronotum; transverse roll (or, double chin) gula; terete or slender antennal segments III & IV; white dorsolateral area on metepisternum dorsal to scent gland; partial transverse fascia on anterior corium; and form of male genital structures. For detailed descriptions see
The Oriental to Australian regions across Wallacea.
1 | Antennal segments III and IV terete | 4 |
– | Antennal segments III and IV slender (or, linear) | 2 |
2 | Body distinctly small, shorter than 2.30 mm; entire procoxa pale, tinged with red on distal region; cuneus with small white spot at inner corner; Philippines (Palawan) | B. tomokunii sp. n. |
– | Body size longer than 3.00 mm; procoxa dark reddish, with white distal margin; cuneus with wide white area on anterior margin | 3 |
3 | Body including ventral side basically chestnut; narrow vertex and pronotal carina; Australia (New South Wales) | B. cassisi Menard & Schuh |
– | Body including ventral side basically brown; wide vertex and broad pronotal carina; Australia (Queensland) | B. binjour Menard & Schuh |
4 | Head, pronotum and scutellum orange brown or brown; antennal segment II entirely brown or basally golden | 5 |
– | Head, pronotum and scutellum mahogany or chestnut; antennal segment II basally pale or mahogany and distally chestnut | 6 |
5 | Scent gland evaporatory area unicolorous with thoracic pleuron; pro- and mesocoxae and femora golden, and metafemora dark red; labium reaching apex of mesocoxa; Indonesia (West Irian), Australia (Queensland) | B. enarotadi Schuh |
– | Scent gland evaporatory area paler than thorax; all coxae and metafemora dark brown, and pro- and mesofemora pale; labium reaching apex of metacoxa; Australia (New South Wales) | B. scheyville Menard & Schuh |
6 | Ventral side of head and thorax mahogany or chestnut; posterior margin of vertex concave; metatibia without spines; Papua New Guinea (Morobe), Australia (Queensland) | B. bulolo Schuh |
– | Ventral side of head and thorax golden brown; posterior margin of vertex straight; metatibia with suberect pale spines, Indonesia (West Irian) | B. cyclops Schuh |
Holotype male. PHILIPPINES, Palawan, Matalangao, 10.33°N, 119.25°E, 450m, 29.viii.1985, M. Tomokuni (
Recognized by small size; brownish general coloration; wide vertex; slender (not terete) antennal segments III and IV; dark bunch of suberect setae on apex of the clavus; white transverse fascia and/or macula on the anterior and posterior corium; prominent spot on the inner corner of cuneus (Fig.
The new species is distinguished from all congeners by its small size; slender antennal segments III and IV; anterior transverse white fascia continuous on clavus but narrow and not reaching claval commissure; distinct white macula on posterior corium at level of apex of clavus; and prominent white spot on inner corner of cuneus (Fig.
Male. Coloration (Fig.
Surface and vestiture: Head: shiny and weakly shagreen; dorsally covered with pale or yellowish semi-erect simple setae, and ventrally with dark erect setae. Antenna: covered with appressed pale setae. Thorax: pronotum and scutellum weakly shagreen and impunctate; pronotum uniformly distributed with dark or black semi-erect setae. Hemelytron: weakly shagreen and impunctate with several reflecting patches; corium with mixed vestiture, semi-erect black and yellow or golden simple setae; clavus with dark erect setae at the apex; cuneus with dark setae only. Legs: all legs covered with appressed pale or dark setae; and hind tibia with two rows of sub-erect dark spines. STRUCTURE: macropterous, body elongate-oval. Head: triangular, clypeus barely observed from dorsal view; vertex weakly concave, with carinate basal margin; eyes relatively small. Antenna: antennal fossae not continuous with inner margin of eyes, segment II clavate and relatively thick, and segments III and IV not terete. Labium: reaching apex of metacoxae. Thorax: pronotum convex and trapezoidal, with narrow collar-like margin lies underneath vertex, and lateral sides of the anterior pronotum with narrow carina; mesoscutum obscurely exposed; scent gland evaporatory area more or less triangular, with distinctly elevated peritreme. Hemelytron: posterior corium (anterior to cuneus) splayed out; cuneal fracture distinctly incised; cuneus small and triangular. Legs: all femora long and sub-parallel except for narrow extreme apex; tarsal segment I and II sub-equal, and segment III relatively longer. GENITALIA (Fig.
Female. Unknown.
Measurements: 1♂: Total body length 2.21; length from apex of clypeus to cuneal fracture 1.90; width of head across eyes 0.51; width of vertex 0.28; length of antennal segments I–IV ? (broken); basal width of pronotum 0.70; length of pronotum 0.42; width across hemelytron 0.78; length of metafemur, tibia and tarsus 0.74, 1.14, 0.20.
Named after Dr. Massaki Tomokuni (Curator Emeritus, Department of Zoology,
Philippines (Palawan).
All six species of Biromiris described by
The majority of Biromiris species are represented by just a few specimens or the holotype only; further researchers are encouraged to utilize broader surveys to clarify the zoogeographical distribution pattern and biology of this genus (
Almost nothing is known about the biology of Biromiris, as most of species were collected in different kinds of trap (e.g. light traps and pitfall traps) except for B. scheyville Menard & Schuh; where the host plant was confirmed as Myrtaceae (Menard & Schuh 2011). The biology of the present new species, B. tomokunii remains unknown.
We are grateful to Dr. M. Tomokuni (