‘ Aradus nuristanicus Hoberlandt n. sp. ’

= Aradus betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)

(Fig. 4)

Material examined. ‘ Aradus nuristanicus n. sp. ’: 1♁ (Fig. 4), ‘J. Klapperich / Mangul, 1250 m / Bashgultal, Nuristan / 18. 7. 52, O—Afghan. [p] //cleaned + remounted / by E. HEISS VI[p] I([hw] 201[p]5[hw] // Holotypus [p] ♁ [hw] / Aradus / nuristanicus / n. sp. [hw] / Det. L. Hoberlandt 19[p]58[hw] //A r a d u s / betulae (L.) / det. E.HEISS 2015 [p]’ (NMPC).

Comments. Dissection of genitalic structures has shown that they correspond to those of Aradus betulae (Linnaeus, 1758), hence the examined material of ‘ A. nuristanicus ’ is recognized as conspecific with this species.

Distribution. Aradus betulae is a widespread species distributed in the Palaearctic Region from Great Britain and Spain in the west to the Far East of Russia and Japan in the north-east and Pakistan in the south-east (Heiss 2001, Aukema et al. 2013). New record for Afghanistan.