Heterotrioza kochiae ( Gegechkori, 1975 )

Heterotrioza kochiae ( Gegechkori, 1975) View in CoL

Feeds on

In Bulgaria, adults were collected on Bassia prostrata (L.) Beck (= Kochia prostrata (L.) Schrad., Amaranthaceae ), which has been listed as a host plant ( Gegechkori 1984, Gegechkori and Loginova 1990).

Distribution

General distribution. Bulgaria, Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia: Stavropol Region) ( Gegechkori and Loginova 1990). Distribution in Bulgaria (Fig. 116 b View Figure 116 b ). Material examined: BN.

Notes

New record for Bulgaria and Europe.

Diagnosis

Adult (Fig. 116 a View Figure 116 a , c View Figure 116 c , d View Figure 116 d , e View Figure 116 e ). Originally described (as Trioza kochiae ) by Gegechkori (1975) from Georgia and later also recorded from other countries of the Caucasus. Gegechkori (1975) considered H. kochiae to be similar and closely related to Trioza eurotiae Loginova, 1960 (now Heterotrioza eurotiae ), which occurs sympatrically with H. kochiae in the Caucasus, but has also been recorded from Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Mongolia and Iran ( Loginova 1960, Gegechkori and Loginova 1990, Burckhardt and Lauterer 1993). However, Gegechkori (1975) did not give any characters to distinguish the two species and his illustrations are not detailed enough, which makes the identification of H. kochiae difficult. Here, we provide habitus photographs and illustrations of the male and female terminalia of specimens of H. kochiae from Bulgaria, collected from Bassia prostrata on the Black Sea coast in summer (15 July 1973, P. Lauterer leg.) (Fig. 116 a View Figure 116 a , c View Figure 116 c , d View Figure 116 d , e View Figure 116 e ), which agree well with the original description, except for a smaller size (forewing length, in mm: 1.38–1.44 in males (n = 3) and 1.46–1.56 in females (n = 3) from Bulgaria, while Gegechkori (1975) reported 1.59–1.67 in males and 1.62–1.70 in females for the type series from Georgia, collected on 1 June). We consider this size difference as intraspecific variation. We compared the Bulgarian specimens of H. kochiae with the original description of H. eurotiae and with material from Kazakhstan, identified as H. eurotiae by Loginova and deposited in the MMBC (1 male, 2 females, Kokterek sands, 10 km Karatal, Zaisan District, 9 July 1962, Eurotia ceratoides , leg. Loginova). On the basis of this comparison, we can confirm that H. kochiae and H. eurotiae are similar in body colouration and the general structure of the head, forewings, female and male terminalia and especially the aedeagus. Heterotrioza kochiae is smaller than H. eurotiae (in the latter species, the forewing length in mm according to Loginova (1960) is 1.80–1.90 in males, 1.95–2.00 in females; 1.78 in the male and 1.88–2.08 in the females from MMBC). Heterotrioza kochiae differs from H. eurotiae mainly by a relatively broader and shorter paramere (in lateral view) with a less pronounced postero-apical tooth (Fig. 116 c View Figure 116 c ) and by the female proctiger and subgenital plate, both of which are slightly broader apically (in lateral view) than in H. eurotiae and the female proctiger is also straight dorsally (in females of H. eurotiae , the proctiger is distinctly concave dorsally, Fig. 116 d View Figure 116 d ). Both species probably also differ in their host plants: while H. kochiae was only reported from Bassia prostrata , H. eurotiae was described from a number of specimens found on Krasheninnikovia ceratoides (L.) Gueldenst. (= Eurotia ceratoides (L.) C. A. Mey, Amaranthaceae ) and most of the later records are also from this plant species ( Loginova 1960, Gegechkori and Loginova 1990), with the exception of a record from ' Kochia sp. ' (= Bassia sp. ) from Mongolia ( Loginova 1972) and a record from ' Kochia cana ' (= Bassia stellaris (Moq.) Bornm. ) from Iran ( Burckhardt and Lauterer 1993), which should be re-examined.