96 Invasive Stink Bugs and Related Species (Pentatomoidea)
2.2.10.7.38 Rhynchocorini Stål, 1871
Stål (1871) proposed the family-level group Rhynchocorina and provided a key to the nine genera he
included within it. The nine genera were Rhynchocoris Westwood, Hoffmanseggiella Spinola, Morna
Stål, Pugione Stål, Pegala Stål, Vitellus Stål, Cuspicona, Ocirrhoe Stål, and Periboea Stål (= Diaphyta
Bergroth). This is a fairly well-characterized tribe; as such, it has undergone relatively few changes, other
than the addition of several more genera, since Stål originally established it.
This is a fairly large tribe (18 genera and 106 species; Table 2.3) occurring in the Australian, New
Guinean, and Oceanic regions, and marginally reaching to Southeast Asia and India. Members of this
tribe range from small to large in size, most are green in color when alive (fading to yellow after death),
and they often have black or reddish markings, especially along the margins of the head and pronotum
(Figures 2.23L; 2.24A, B; 2.31L). There is a tendency for the punctures to be less dense, and as such,
the body surface is somewhat shiny. The most unifying characteristic is the structure of the thoracic
sterna and the abdominal venter. The base of the abdomen is armed with a relatively stout spine or
tubercle that is usually rounded apically. The spine usually reaches to the hind coxae where it is received
by an elevated metasternum. The caudal margin of the metasternum is either excavated or bifurcated to
receive the abdominal spine; anteriorly the metasternum joins with the elevated mesosternal ridge, which
is also quite elevated and produced anteriorly onto the prosternum (Figure 2.7E), sometimes greatly so,
and, in some cases, even reaches onto the base of the head. The ostiolar rugae are usually quite elongate,
reaching over half the distance to the metapleural margins. Many genera also have the humeral angles
produced into conical productions or spines. The male parameres are somewhat F-shaped. The female
spermathecal bulb is ball-shaped with three long, finger-like diverticula.
There are two rhynchocorine genera that possess a charater unique within the Pentatomidae. In all
known pentatomids, the front wings, when at rest, lie adjacent to the lateral margins of the scutellum
with the distal part of the corium lying below the apex of the scutellum (i.e., scutellar tongue). In mem-
bers of the genera Petalaspis Bergroth and Vitellus, the front wings, at rest, lie in a similar position,
but the distal part of the corium now lies on top of the scutellar apex. The lateral margins of the scutel-
lar tongue have now become flattened and recessed below the coria. Gross (1975a) described this as a
quadrate membranous plate around and beneath the coria; this gives the scutellar apex a decidedly acute
appearance.
Gross (1975b), based on external features, indicated that the rhynchocorines are similar to members
of the Catacanthini, Menidini, Nezarini, and Piezodorini but, eventually, dismissed these possible rela-
tionships base on the male genitalia. Superficially, the rhynchocorines look similar to members of the
Edessinae, but their thoracic structure is quite different. They are, however, structurally quite similar
to a group of South American genera tentatively placed in the Pentatomini (called the Evoplitus group
in this chapter, see Section 2.2.10.7.34). The thoracic structure is extremely similar, but the coloration
is quite different (the South American genera are usually mottled with brown and fuscus, never green-
ish or yellowish). Gross (1975a) revised some of the Australian members of this tribe (e.g., Cuspicona
and Ocirrhoe). Other groups that have received recent attention include Avicenna Distant (Gross and
McDonald 1994), Diaphyta (McDonald 2001), and Vitellus (Gross and McDonald 1994).
Biprorulus bibax Breddin is considered to be a major pest on citrus in Australia (James 1989, 1992,
1993, and numerous others).
2.2.10.7.39 Rolstoniellini Rider, 1997
Distant (1902) first proposed this group as the Compastaria, based on the preoccupied generic name
Compastes Stål. Family-group names based on a preoccupied generic name are not allowed, so
Rider (1997) proposed Rolstoniellus as a replacement name for Compastes with the resultant tribal
name Rolstoniellini. This tribe contains six genera (Agathocles, Amasenus Stål, Critheus Stål,
Exithemus, Nesocoris Bergroth, and Rolstoniellus [Figure 2.32A]) and 19 species (Table 2.3) dis-
tributed in the Oriental region except for Nesocoris, which occurs in New Caledonia. Two genera,
Agathocles and Exithemus will be transferred to the Caystrini based on their morphology (Salini
Shivaprakash and Petr Kment, unpublished data). Another genus originally placed in this tribe,
Homalogonia Jakovlev, was later transferred to the Cappaeini. On the other hand, the Oriental