First record of the predatory stink bug species Picromerusgriseus (Dallas) (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Asopinae) in Japan, with an illustrated key to the Japanese species of the genus Picromerus Amyot & Serville

Jun Souma; Akihiro Utagawa; Tadashi Ishikawa

doi:10.3897/BDJ.11.e105293

First record of the predatory stink bug species Picromerusgriseus (Dallas) (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Asopinae) in Japan, with an illustrated key to the Japanese species of the genus Picromerus Amyot & Serville

Biodivers Data J. 2023 May 17:11:e105293. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e105293. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jun Souma¹, Akihiro Utagawa², Tadashi Ishikawa³

Affiliations

¹ Shirakami Research Center for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki-shi, Aomori, Japan Shirakami Research Center for Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science, Hirosaki University Hirosaki-shi, Aomori Japan.
² Omata-machi, Ashikaga-shi, Tochigi, Japan Omata-machi Ashikaga-shi, Tochigi Japan.
³ Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa, Japan Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa Japan.

Abstract

Background: The predatory stink bug genus Picromerus Amyot & Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Asopinae) comprises 11 species found in the Northern Hemisphere. In Japan, two species have been recorded to date. However, an easy-to-understand identification method, such as an illustrated key, is lacking. Currently, Picromerusgriseus (Dallas, 1851) has been recorded in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Taiwan, but not in Japan.

New information: Picromerusgriseus was recorded in Japan for the first time, based on a single individual collected from grasslands around the fields of Ishigaki Island of the Ryukyu Islands, which belong to the Oriental Region. This discovery represents the easternmost record of the species. An illustrated key to the species of Picromerus occurring in Japan is also provided.

Keywords: Asopinae; Heteroptera; Ishigaki Island; Japan; Oriental Region; Pentatomidae; Picromerusgriseus; Ryukyu Islands; illustrated key; new record; stink bug.

Jun Souma, Akihiro Utagawa, Tadashi Ishikawa.