Oxycarenus gossypii Horvath 1926

Oxycarenus gossypii Horváth, 1926 Figs 1 A, 2 A – C Oxycarenus gossypii: Horváth 1926: 136; Esaki 1926: 161; Slater 1964: 673; Péricart 2001: 115. Oxycarenus laetus: Zheng and Zou 1981: 96. Misidentification. Material examined. China • 3 ♂♂ 1 ♀; Yunnan, Yuanjiang; alt. 400 m; 25 Jul. 2006; Weibing Zhu leg. (NKUM) • 1 ♂ 2 ♀♀; Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Mengsong; alt. 1600 m; 23 Apr. 1958; Xvwu Meng leg. (IZAS) • 1 ♂; Yunnan, Xishuangbanna, Damenglong; alt. 650 m; 8 Apr. 1958; Leyi Zheng leg. (IZAS) • 5 ♂♂ 6 ♀♀; Hainan, Sanya, Fenghuang airport; 26 Mar. 2020; Bo Cai leg. (NJFU) • 16 ♂♂ 5 ♀♀; Hainan, Jianfengling thermal forestry institute; 21 Apr. 1985; Leyi Zheng leg.; from capsule of Abutilon indicum (NKUM) • 192 ♂♂ 183 ♀♀; Hainan, Sanya; alt. 10 m; 5–6 Apr. 1960; Suofu Li leg. (IZAS) • 26 ♂♂ 26 ♀♀; Hainan, Ledong; 11 Jun. 1960; Xuezhong Zhang leg. (IZAS) • 1 ♂; Hainan Nada; 27 Apr. 1954; Keren Huang leg. (IZAS). Redescription. Body brown, densely punctate, with white decumbent, erect, and apically enlarged setae. Antennae dark brown. Rostrum extends past anterior margin of abdominal sternite III, up to abdominal sternite V in females. Bucculae yellowish white. Pronotum brown, often lighter at anterior margin and posterior half, densely covered with deep, large punctures, white erect, and apically enlarged setae mixed with decumbent setae; callus area slightly elevated, densely covered with large, dark brown setae. Lateral margins of pronotum slightly sinuate. Scutellum brown, evenly punctate, flattened except basal margin concave, peripherally covered with both decumbent and erect, apically enlarged setae. Clavus brown, with both types of setae mentioned above. Corium yellowish brown, with a conspicuous black spot at distal angle; sparse erect setae, apical margin straight. Membrane smoky brown. Thoracic sternum brown, posterior margins of metapleura pale. Ostiolar peritreme of metathoracic scent gland yellow. Supracoxal lobewhite. Femora dark brown; fore femora beneath with four spines; fore tibiae yellowish brown; mid and hind tibiae pale, both ends brown. Abdominal sterna reddish brown, smooth, impunctate, without erect setae. Male sternites VI and VII with posterior margin with two transverse combs of glandular setae on either side of median line. Female abdominal sterna III to IV fused; ovipositor reaching abdominal sternites V – VII, with sternites V – VII medially strongly narrowed, pushed forward towards base of abdomen. Pygophore: dorsal opening narrowly triangular (Fig. 2 A); lateral projections in basal one third of pygophore openings, projecting obliquely posteriorly, tips truncate; distal margin of cup-like sclerite with a narrow, deep incision (Fig. 2 A). Parameres (Fig. 2 B, C) with basal shank relatively broad, about twice as wide as blade; outer projection rounded, inner projection more pointed from dorsal view; another finger-like inner projection present on inner side from ventral view. Measurements (in mm, n = 8). Body length 3.40–4.00, width 1.1–1.30. Head length 0.70–0.72, width across eyes 0.65–0.67; antennal segments I – IV length: 0.27–0.29: 0.56–0.58: 0.45–0.47: 0.52–0.54. Pronotum length 0.78–0.80, width of anterior margin 0.52–0.54, width of posterior margin 1.00–1.02; scutellum length 0.34–0.36, width 0.52–0.54. Distance of apex clavus – apex corium 0.60–0.62; distance of apex corium – apex membrane 0.72–0.74. Distribution. China (Hainan, Yunnan, Taiwan); Vietnam. Remarks. On review of descriptions and figures, we discovered that Oxycarenus gossypii was erroneously identified as Oxycarenus laetus (Kirby, 1891) in the study by Zheng and Zou (1981). However, distinct differences exist between these species: the clavus appears brown in O. gossypii, whereas it is pale in O. laetus; the membrane presents a smoky golden-brown hue in O. gossypii (in contrast to the colorless and hyaline membrane of O. laetus); and, while the corium of O. gossypii is pale or slightly smoky except at the base, it consistently remains pale in O. laetus.