Saldula nobilis ( Horváth, 1883 )

Li, Zihe, Li, Hongjiao, Bu, Wenjun & Ye, Zhen, 2025, Taxonomic review of Saldula (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Saldidae) from China, Zootaxa 5666 (4), pp. 451-488 : 465-466

Saldula nobilis ( Horváth, 1883)

( Figs 9 , 26 )

Salda nobilis Horváth, 1883: 317 .

Teloleuca nobilis Oshanin, 1912: 89 .

Saldula nobilis : Cobben (1959: 306); Cobben, 1960: 245; Chen & Zheng, 1987: 395; Péricart, 1990: 152; Chen & Lindskog, 1994: 408; Lindskog, 1995: 130; Vinokurov, 2015: 581; Vinokurov et al., 2018: 135.

Chinese common name. ḛẅãø.

Material examined. CHINA: Heilongjiang: 1 female, Heihe city, Nenjiang county, Gaofeng Forest Park, 49.0956°N, 125.2458°E, 337 m, 20 July 2021, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM); 1 male, Shangzhi city, Mao’ershan Mountain, 27 July 2003, Yunling Ke leg. (NKUM); 1 female, Ning’an city, Jingpohu Lake, 9 August 2003, Weibing Zhu leg. (NKUM). Jinlin: 1 male, Baishan city, Changbai county, Malugou town, Shuangshantou, 41.519844°N, 128.13808°E, 829 m, 9 August 2023, Zihe Li leg. (NKUM). Inner Mongolia: 2 males, 2 females, Ningcheng county, Huluyu Scenic Spots, 41.8138°N, 118.7568°E, 1017 m, 3 August 2021, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM); 1 male, 3 females, Kalaqin Banner, Maojingba Forest Park, 41.6108°N, 118.2324°E, 1098 m, 4 August 2021, Zhen Ye leg. (NKUM). Hebei: 1 male, Wulingshan Mountain, 26 August 1973, Shengli Liu leg. (NKUM). Gansu: 3 males, 3 females, Wuwei city, Tianzhu county, X151 County Road, 37.7306°N, 102.4306°E, 2184 m, 4 July 2023, Zihe Li leg. (NKUM).

Diagnosis. Body relatively ovate, brachypterous individuals predominant, dorsum with dense, long, black setae ( Fig. 9a ). Head short and wide, antennomere II relatively long, almost equal to length of antennomeres III+IV, with dense, long hairs; mandibular plates black, transverse swelling, maxillary plates and anteclypeus mainly pale-yellowish to yellow for male and mainly black for female, labiomeres III+IV mainly yellowish-brown; preocellar spots elongated, cuneiform, attached to inner margin of compound eyes. Pronotum shining, short and wide, lateral margin shallowly concave; hemelytra mainly black, with a distinct large, white spot on apex of exocorium ( Fig. 9b–e ); legs mainly pale-yellowish, ventral side of fore femora infuscate, lateral side of each femur with brown spots, tibiae mainly pale-yellowish, apex of tarsomere III of each leg infuscate. Male paramere relatively stout, with long hairs on dorsal side, processus sensualis with a tuft of short setae ( Fig. 9f–h ); parandria relatively wide, with rounded margin, distance between inner margin narrow, inner side with weaker sclerotization ( Fig. 9i ); median endosomal sclerite relatively large, U-shaped, strongly sclerotized. Female subgenital plate with nearly rounded apex, apical half pale.

Comparative notes. Lindskog (1995) put forward that this species does not fit into Saldula (s.str.) as defined by Lindskog & Polhemus (1992) for lack of the synapomorphic characters of Saldula (s.str.) (i.e., eye spot on median cell of endocorium and laminar projection on the male median endosomal sclerite). Saldula nobilis exhibits distinctly different color patterns and a relatively larger median endosomal sclerite compared to those of S. burmanica and S. orthochila . This species is similar to S. sibiricola and comparative notes on S. nobilis and S. sibiricola were provided by Cobben (1985) and Vinokurov (2004b): the basal part of the clavus of S. nobilis seldomly has a pale spot, but S. sibiricola usually has a narrow, pale spot; the hemelytra of S. nobilis are primarily dark with contrasting black and white pigmentation, and the apical half of the corium has a large pale spot on outer margin; whereas the hemelytra of S. sibiricola exhibit predominantly pale coloration with vague brown markings.

Habitats. This species seems to have a tolerance to low temperature, being found in forested and mountainous areas.

Distribution in China. Heilongjiang (new record), Jilin ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Inner Mongolia ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Wang & Li 2012, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Hebei ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Liu & Bu 2009, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Shaanxi ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Gansu (new record), Qinghai (Vinokurov 2015, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Jiangxi ( Vinokurov et al. 2018), Sichuan ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Vinokurov et al. 2018), Xizang ( Chen & Lindskog 1994, Vinokurov et al. 2018).

General distribution. Widely distributed across Eurasia ( Schuh et al. 1987, Lindskog 1995, Larivière & Larochelle 2018, Vinokurov et al. 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 9. Saldula nobilis. a, dorsal habitus, scale=2.0 mm; b–e, variation of hemelytra, scale=2.0 mm; f–h, different views of paramere, scale=0.2 mm; i, parandria, scale=0.2 mm.

FIGURES 25–30. In situ photographs of Saldula species. (25) S. arenicola arenicola; (26) S. nobilis; (27) S. opacula, photo by Beichen Zhang; (28) S. pallipes; (29) S. recticollis; (30) S. saltatoria.