Pseudophlepsius binotatus

Pseudophlepsius binotatus (Signoret, 1880) (Figs 1, 2–7, 14–19, 28–37, 54–59, 67, 73–76, 81–88) Phlepsius comma Haupt, 1917: 243–245 (synonymy by Haupt, 1929) Pseudophlepsius binotatus pseudalhageos Zachvatkin, 1953: 235 Description. Pale yellowish with whitish forewings. Head, pro-, and mesonotum with numerous dark small spots partially merging with each other; head also with two larger spots on fore margin. Forewings with fine mesh pattern (Figs 2–7). Specimens with lighter and darker pattern can be found in the same sample (Figs 2–3, 4–5). Abdominal apodemes of the 2 nd tergite in male wide triangular (Figs 14–19). Aedeagus U-shaped, stems with denticles in distal halves on ventral side (Figs 28, 30, 32, 34, 36). Stem apices comparatively narrow, rounded (Figs 29, 31, 33), occasionally, angular and obliquely cut (Figs 35, 37). Basal processes of aedeagus curved inwards, with hook-like tips. Styles with long narrow tips evenly bent outward (Figs 54–59). Valve large, subgenital plates without macrosetae, with elongated narrow tips (Fig. 67). Pygofer lobes with rather narrow, rounded apices and pointed, almost straight ventral processes. 2 nd valvulae of ovipositor with 14–16 rounded, slightly protruding teeth (Figs 73–76). Body length: ♂, 4.6–5.4 mm; ♀, 5.7–6.4 mm. Calling signal. The calling signal consists of single or repeated phrases lasting from 1.5 up to 4–5 s (Figs 81–83). The main part of a phrase is a sequence of low-amplitude pulses, variable in shape and often merging with each other to some extent. Against the background of these vibrations, the male periodically produces short high-amplitude syllables consisting of three or four pulses, sometimes combined in pairs (Figs 84–88). Typically, a phrase includes two or three such syllables, one of which is always present at its very end. The amplitude ratio of different components of the phrase can vary greatly even among males from the same sample (Figs 84–85 and 86–87). In addition, as with all insects, the repetition period of the signal components decreases with increasing temperature (De Vrijer, 1984). Therefore, signals recorded at a higher temperature have a lesser duration. For example, a signal recorded at a temperature of 35–37 oC (Figs 83, 88) appears on the oscillograms almost as a signal recorded at a temperature of 26 oC (Figs 82, 86) but “compressed” in half along the time axis. Host. Was collected from Alhagi pseudalhagi in the Lower Volga region, southeastern Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and from A. persarum in Turkmenistan (Fig. 1). Distribution. The range of P. binotatus apparently includes the arid regions of the western half of the Palearctic within the range of the genus Alhagi, i. e. northern Africa, Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and possibly also western Mongolia and northwestern China. Remarks. Since P. binotatus sensu lato is a group of morphologically very similar species, the question arises about the valid name of the taxon feeding on Alhagi sp. We investigated the male calling signals in populations from the Lower Volga region and from the deserts of southern Turkmenistan, less than 20 km from the Iranian border. Both of these localities are located within the regions from which the type material of P. binotatus originates. Our study area in Turkmenistan is quite far from Kerki, from where P. comma was described, but it is located in the same natural zone. In both localities studied, the species from Alhagi spp. was abundant, while no closely related taxa were found there. On this basis, we use the name Pseudophlepsius binotatus (Signoret, 1880) for the species feeding on Alhagi spp.