Saldula Van Duzee 1914

Genus Saldula Van Duzee, 1914 Acanthia Fabricius, 1775 sensu Latreille, 1796: 85. Acanthia Reuter, 1895: 9. Saldula Van Duzee, 1914: 32; Kiritshenko, 1951: 94; Cobben, 1960: 238; Cobben, 1985: 221; Vinokurov, 1988: 752; Péricart, 1990: 141; Lindskog & Polhemus, 1992: 67; Chen & Lindskog, 1994: 397; Lindskog, 1995: 127; Vinokurov, 2004b: 102. Vinokurov et al., 2012: 58; Vinokurov, 2015: 581; Vinokurov & Kment, 2015: 373; Vinokurov et al., 2018: 134. Type species: Cimex saltatorius Linnaeus, 1758. Definition of genus Saldula (s.str.). Lindskog & Polhemus (1992) discussed the monophyly of the genus Saldula and provided the following two synapomorphic characterizations to define Saldula (s.str.): corium with eye spot on the median cell; male median endosomal sclerite with anteromedial laminar projections. Additionally, the presence of a secondary hypocostal ridge could also be a useful character to distinguish Saldula (s.str.) from the remaining species belonging to Saldula (s.l.), although this character is not synapomorphic, which is shared in the closely related genera Micracanthia Reuter, 1912 and Ioscytus Reuter, 1912. Therefore, the species of Saldula (s.str.) should exhibit the following characters: a. Endocorium with an eye spot on median cell; b. Median endosomal sclerite of male with anteromedial laminar projections; c. Ventral side of hemelytra with secondary hypocostal ridge. Given the lack of a clear molecular phylogeny within the family Saldidae, we are only able to point out the species not belonging to Saldula (s.str.), and do not have sufficient evidence to establish new genera for the controversial species. In this article, all the species of Saldula (s.l.) from the Chinese fauna are reviewed, and only the species that belong to Saldula (s.str.) are discussed under the “Discussion” section under each species. Diagnostic characteristics of Saldula (s.str.). Body relatively small (about 3–5 mm in length), nearly ovate or slightly elongated. Dorsum covered by short or long setae. Head short and wide, with three pairs of trichobothria; compound eyes relatively large, reniform; ocelli relatively approximate; antennomeres long and slender, antennomere I shortest, antennomere II longest, antennomeres III and IV subequal in length; transverse swelling above mandibular plates. Pronotum short and wide, median part of callus with a pit; hemelytra with an eye spot on median cell, ventral side of hemelytra with secondary hypocostal ridge, membrane with four close cells. Lavral organ present. Male paramere hook-like, with processus hamatus and processus sensualis; parandria usually wide, with blunt apex; median endosomal sclerite with anteromedial laminar projections. Female subgenital plate usually nearly triangular; spermatheca with flange. Comparative notes. The genus Saldula (s.str.) is similar to the genera Micracanthia Reuter, 1912 and Ioscytus Reuter, 1912. In addition to the two synapomorphies mentioned above, they can be distinguished by the following characteristics. Micracanthia has a relatively small body size (i.e., usually smaller than 3 mm), whereas the body size of Saldula is much larger (i.e., usually larger than 3 mm). Moreover, the veins of the hemelytra of Micracanthia are relatively simple, whereas those of Saldula are normal, not simplified. For Ioscytus, the hemelytra are usually unicolorous black or reddish, whereas those of Saldula usually have a black-white color pattern. Moreover, antennomeres III and IV are usually incrassate in genus Ioscytus, whereas they are usually normal, not incrassate in Saldula. Distribution. Saldula (s.l.) is distributed world-wide, including Afrotropical, Australian, Madagascan, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oceanian, Oriental, Palearctic, Panamanian, Saharo-Arabian and Sino-Japanese (Larivière & Larochelle 2018). However, the species not belonging to Saldula (s.str.) are mainly tropical, and Saldula (s.str.) is mainly Holarctic, with several species distributed in the Afrotropical, Neotropical and Oriental regions (Lindskog & Polhemus 1992, Larivière & Larochelle 2018). Key to the species of Saldula from China 1 Dorsum with extremely long hairs, exceeding lateral margin of pronotum and hemelytra from dorsal view (Fig. 6)..................................................................................... S. lindskogi Vinokurov, 2004 – Drosum only with short, recumbent setae. If with long, erect setae, not exceeding lateral margin of pronotum or hemelytra from dorsal view........................................................................................... 2 2 Antennomere II with long erect hairs...................................................................... 3 – Antennomere II with only short recumbent hairs............................................................. 6 3 Pale type predominant, hemelytra with brown-testaceous markings, pigmentation with vague margins (Fig. 32).......................................................................................... S. sibiricola Cobben, 1985 – Dark type predominant, hemelytra with contrasting black-white markings, pigmentation with clear margins.............. 4 4 Apical part of exocorium with a large, pale spot (Fig. 9).................................. S. nobilis (Horváth, 1883) – Corium only with small, scattered pale spots, without large, pale spot in apical part................................. 5 5 Antennomere II mainly yellowish or yellowish-brown; pale spots on hemelytra whitish; basal spot on clavus subequal in size comparing to apical one; processus sensualis of male paramere distinctly protruding (Fig. 4).. S. burmanica Lindskog, 1975 – Antennomere II mainly black; pale spots on hemelytra yellowish; basal spot on clavus smaller than apical one and sometimes even absent; processus sensualis of male paramere relatively blunt (Fig. 11)................. S. orthochila (Fieber, 1895) 6 Dorsal part of foretibia without dark stripe, with only a dark spot on basal part, or completely pale..................... 7 – Dorsal part of foretibia with black stripe.................................................................. 11 7 Pronotum with yellowish marking on lateral margin (Fig. 3)................................ S. bengali Cobben, 1986 – Pronotum completely black, without yellowish marking....................................................... 8 8 Antennomeres II–IV subequal in length; parandria with acuminate apex; body relatively small, less than 3 mm long (Fig. 8)............................................................................. S. niveolimbata (Reuter, 1900) – Antennomere II distinctly longer than III or IV; apex of parandria blunt; body relatively large, up to 3 mm ............... 9 9 Gular lobe with yellowish margin; hemelytra with distinct variation, exocorium nearly completely pale in pale individuals (Fig. 16).......................................................................... S. recticollis (Horváth, 1899) – Gular lobe completely black; hemelytra not as described above................................................ 10 10 Hemelytra as in Fig. 18b, mainly dark, exocorium mainly dark with distinct pale costal margin; endocorium with scattered pale spots but without complete eye spot (Fig. 18)........................................ S. taiwanensis Cobben, 1985 – Hemelytra as in Fig. 10b–e, with distinct dark-pale markings, exocorium mainly pale; endocorium with a complete eye spot (Fig. 10).................................................................... S. opacula (Zetterstedt, 1838) 11 Dorsal side of foretibia with dark stripe interrupted at base................................................... 12 – Dorsal side of foretibia with continuous dark stripe......................................................... 15 12 Dorsum with dense, long, suberect hairs (Fig. 14)..................................... S. pericarti Vinokuorv, 2012 – Dorsum only with short, recumbent setae.................................................................. 13 13 Lateral margin of pronotum nearly straight; middle part of femora completely black; corium with a large C-shaped pale spot; clavus usually with an additional pale spot on basal part (Fig. 7)......................... S. melanoscela (Fieber, 1859) – Lateral margin of pronotum convex; femora mainly yellowish; hemelytra not as described above..................... 14 14 Mouthpart sclerites mainly dark-yellowish with black markings and gular lobe black; median dark spot on exocorium reach the outer margin of exocorium except in extremely pale individuals; body of paramere relatively short (Fig. 17)......................................................................................... S. saltatoria (Linnaeus, 1758) – Mouthpart sclerites including gular lobe pale-yellowish; median dark spot on exocorium not reaching the outer margin of exocorium except in extremely dark individuals; body of paramere long and slender (Fig. 5).. S. fucicola (J. Salhberg, 1870) 15 Dorsal side of head and thorax with long, erect hairs; frons relatively wide (Fig. 15)......... S. pilosella (Thomson, 1871) – Dorsal side of head and thorax only with short, recumbent setae; frons relatively narrow............................ 16 16 Pronotum with yellowish lateral margin (Fig. 19)..................................... S. xanthochila (Fieber, 1859) – Pronotum entirely black, without pale lateral margin........................................................ 17 17 Mandibular plates yellowish; basal half of corium with a wide, transverse, pale stripe; dorsal side of male paramere with dense, long hairs (Fig. 2)....................................................... S. arenicola arenicola (Scholtz, 1847) – Mandibular plates black; pigmentation of hemelytra not as mentioned above; dorsal side of male paramere only with sparse, long hairs.......................................................................................... 18 18 Processus sensualis of male paramere wit