Tuponia Reuter, 1875 - Reuter 1875: 98 as a subgenus of Megalodactylus, upgraded by Reuter 1878: 16.

Tuponia can be recognised by the following characters: body elongate oval; dorsum somewhat shining, without distinct punctures and covered with pale, sericeous setae and dark setae; basic colouration greenish or yellowish-brown with brown, dark brown or reddish spots; membrane dark grey, vein pale green to brown; endosoma elongated, C-, S- or J-shaped; sometimes with sclerotised apical structures and membranous lobes; secondary gonopore usually developed between subapical part of sclerotised lobes; sclerotised ring elongated oval, interramal sclerite elongate and smooth. For detailed diagnostic characters and figures, see Drapolyuk (1980), Drapolyuk (1982), Li and Liu (2016) and Kim et al. (2021).

Afrotropical Region, Oriental Region, Palaearctic Region (Drapolyuk 1980, Drapolyuk 1982, Kerzhner and Josifov 1999, Li and Liu 2016).

The subgenus can be recognised by the following characters: body elongate oval (male) or suboval (female), comparatively moderate to large (2.1–4.1 mm, usually around 3.0 mm); dorsum somewhat shining, without distinct punctures and covered with pale, sericeous setae; apical 1/3 of clavus and median part of hemelytra usually with suberect, dark brown to reddish setae, forms transverse line; basic colouration pale green to yellowish-green, partly brownish or tinged with red; membrane dark grey, vein pale green to brown; endosoma C-, S- or J-shaped, usually with one or two sclerotised apical structures; endosomal membrane rather developed, situated along apical processes; secondary gonopore usually developed between the subapical part of sclerotised lobes; female sclerotised ring elongate oval, surrounded by wide and weakly sclerotised labiate plates; bursa copulatrix with a pair of distinct, round structures dorsally; posterior wall with elongated, distally round interramal sclerites and weakly sclerotised, rough interramal lobe.

This subgenus was established by Wagner (1964) and can be recognised by the following characters: body elongate oval (male) or suboval (female), comparatively small (1.7–2.5 mm, usually around 2.0 mm); dorsum somewhat shining, without distinct punctures and covered with long, pale hair and short, suberect brownish setae; basic colouration green to yellowish-green, usually concolorous; membrane dark grey, vein pale green to brown; endosoma C-, S- or J-shaped, usually with one or two sclerotised apical structures; endosomal membrane weakly developed, indistinct; secondary gonopore usually developed between the subapical part of sclerotised lobes; female sclerotised ring elongate oval, surrounded by wide and weakly sclerotised labiate plates; inner margin of bursa copulatrix with thin, arch-shaped sclerotised structure; posterior wall with elongated, distally round interramal sclerites and weakly sclerotised, interramal lobe with rough surface

Tuponia chinensis Zheng & Li, 1992 - Zheng and Li 1992: 12.

Tuponia koreana Kim & Jung, 2021 - Kim et al. 2021: 1268. New synonymy.

Recognised by elongate oval body, 1.8–2.3 mm; basic colouration pale green to yellowish-green, weakly shining (Fig. 1A–C, Fig. 2A–D); dorsum covered with pale sericeous setae and dark brown setae; labium reaches metacoxa; hemelytra pale green, covered with long, sericeous setae and dark brown, simple setae; tibial spine blackish-brown, base without dark spot. Male genitalia (Fig. 4A–I): Endosoma S-shaped, with two elongated, twisted sclerites; secondary gonopore situated subapically between the two sclerites; left paramere with thick and round sensory lobe; sub-basal part of sensory lobe with elongated, pointed-end process; hypophysis sub-triangular, pointed-end; right paramere rather elongated and flat, slightly curved; hypophysis short. Female genitalia (Fig. 6A–C): Sclerotised ring ovoid, thin-rimmed; interramal sclerites slender and elongated. For detailed diagnostic characters and figures, see Zheng and Li (1992), Li and Liu (2016) and Kim et al. (2021).

a

b

c

d

e

f

Figure 1.

Korean Tuponia species, live individuals.

a: A: Tuponia chinensis, male;  
b: B: ditto, female;  
c: C: ditto, last instar;  
d: D: T. mongolica, male;  
e: E: ditto, female;  
f: F: ditto, last instar.  

Figure 2.  

Dorsal habitus of Korean Tuponia chinensis. A, B Male; C, D Female. Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

Figure 3.  

Dorsal habitus of Korean Tuponia mongolica. A, B Male; C, D Female. Scale bar: 2.0 mm.

Figure 4.  

Male genital structure of Korean Tuponia chinensis. A, E–H, endosoma; B, I phallotheca; C left paramere; D right paramere. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.

Figure 5.  

Male genital structure of Korean Tuponia mongolica. A endosoma; B phallotheca; C left paramere; D right paramere. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figure 6.  

Female genital structure of Korean Tuponia species. A–C, T. chinensis; D–G T. mongolica (A, D: bursa copulatrix (before dissected posterior wall); B, E bursa copulatrix (dorsal view); F bursa copulatrix (ventral view); C, G: posterior wall). Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Korea (Incheon), China (Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Ningxia, Shaanxi) (Zheng and Li 1992, Li and Liu 2016, Kim et al. 2021).

Known host plant is Tamarix chinensis (Tamaricaceae) (Zheng and Li 1992, Li and Liu 2016, Kim et al. 2021).

We examined specimens of Tuponia chinensis in SNU and propose T. koreana Kim & Jung as a junior synonym of T. chinensis Zheng & Li. The diagnostic characteristics of T. koreana nearly match those of T. chinensis and the genitalia of the two nominal species are identical. Kim et al. (2021) separated T. koreana from T. chinensis by the following characters: i) metatarsal segment II distinctly shorter than segment III, ii) left paramere with one long process pointing down and iii) endosoma without visible secondary gonopore. However, as in Fig. 7, they only measured the length of each segment at the ventral side of the metatarsus and the actual length of segment II is not distinctly shorter than that of segment III. Additionally, in the structure of the left paramere, our specimen shows a straight lateral process (Fig. 4C). However, we could not find other structural differences and concluded that these were minor intraspecific variations. In addition, Kim et al. (2021) stated that a secondary gonopore of T. koreana is ‘clearly invisible,’ but it can be seen upon displacement of the two apical sclerites of the endosoma, as shown in Fig. 4E–H. When compared with the description of Zheng and Li (1992), the secondary gonopore of the Korean specimen looks conspecific in its subapical location and rugged margin.

Figure 7.  

Metatarsus of Tuponia chinensis. Red arrow indicates segment borders in the dorsal side of tarsus and blue arrow indicates segment borders in the ventral side. Ratio of tarsal segments visualised with red bar (dorsal view: a), blue bar (ventral view: b) and black bar (actual length: c). A male; B female; C holotype male, a traced picture of Kim et al. (2021): fig. 1C; D a traced picture of Kim et al. (2021): fig. 1D.

Tuponia mongolica Drapolyuk, 1980 - Drapolyuk 1980: 63.

Tuponia tamaricicola Hsiao and Meng, 1963 - Hsiao and Meng 1963: 447, 449. (junior primary homonym of Tuponia tamaricicola Lindberg, 1939)

Tuponia hsiaoi Zheng and Li, 1992 - Zheng and Li 1992: 10.

Recognised by elongate oval body, 2.8–3.5 mm; basic colouration pale yellowish-green, weakly shining (Fig. 1D–F, Fig. 3A–D); dorsum covered with pale sericeous setae and dark brown setae; labium reaches metacoxa; hemelytra pale yellowish-green, partly tinged with pale orange; posterior half of clavus and posterior 1/3 of corium densely covered with brown setae; tibial spine blackish-brown. Male genitalia (Fig. 5A–D): Endosoma S-shaped, with two elongated, pointed-end sclerites and laterally serrate, membranous lobe; secondary gonopore developed between two sclerites; left paramere laterally wide; hypophysis twisted, apically hooked, sensory lobe with small pointed-end protuberance laterally. Female genitalia (Fig. 6D–G): Sclerotised ring ovoid, thin-rimmed; interramal sclerites slender and elongated. For detailed diagnostic characters and figures, see Drapolyuk (1980), Zheng and Li (1992) and Li and Liu (2016).

Korea (Incheon), China (inner Mongolia, Shandong, Hebei, Ningxia), Mongolia (Drapolyuk 1980, Li and Liu 2016).

Known host plants are Tamarix sp. and Tamarix chinensis (Tamaricaceae) (Drapolyuk 1980).

This species can be confused with T. jaxartensis Drapolyuk and T. zhenyuanensis Li & Liu, from which it is easily distinguished by endosoma with laterally serrate and elongated apical sclerites, phallotheca with a fin-like protrusion at the inner margin and a structural difference of parameres.