Grypocoris (Lophyromiris) stysi (Wagner, 1968)

You may be surprised that this species - overtaking Synchiropus splendidus as our most-recently-formally-described featured creature, is actually British.

It's also quite conspicuous:

Photographed near Kingley Vale on the South Downs Way in West Sussex, UK in June 2012, using... Olympus E-420, Zuiko 40-150 mm digital lens and three KOOD magnifiers.

This delightful insect is

Grypocoris (Lophyromiris) stysi

(Wagner, 1968)

And if we're going to be completely honest, it was originally described by Fabricius in 1775. Wagner gets credit because he noted that some of the Calocoris sexguttatus around Europe were not quite like the others, in multiple ways but, for our purposes, the most notable is the orangish (rather than greenish) tint to the two rearmost light patches. As Fabricius' description had been based on the other form, Wagner has this species attributed to him.

As far as I'm aware, Kerzhner & Josifov moved both species into Grypocoris (a genus create 100 years before this species was identified) and the subgenus (Lophyromiris) (described by Wagner ten years before he identified this species) in 1999, but, seeing as they didn't  create any names or deposit the type specimen for either species, the only credit they receive in the name of the species is the bracketing of Wagner's own credit.

Anyhow, brief discussion over, and into the taxonomy:

 - Mirini
- Mirinae  
- Miridae     
- Miroidea       
- Cimicomorpha 
- Heteroptera          
See also Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes and Ranatra
- Hemiptera                
- Condylognatha             
- Paraneoptera                    
- Eumetabola                          

See also  Dolichotachina caudata, Diasemopsis meigenii, Helophilus pendulus, Episyrphus balteatus, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Megistocera filipes, Panorpa germanica, Acada biseriata Anthocharis cardamines, Laelia robusta, Zebronia phenice, Andrena nigroaenea, Synagris proserpina, Vespula germanica, Astata tropicalis, Hagenomyia tristis, Crambus pascuella, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini, Melolontha melolontha, Malachius bipustulatus, Otiorhynchus atroapterus and Cheilomenes lunata.

- Neoptera                                    

See also  Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Lobosceliana loboscelis and Cyathosternum prehensile

- Manopterygota                               

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Pterygota                                             

- Dicondylia                                             

- Insecta                                                      

- Hexapoda                                                     

- Arthropoda                                                       

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                              

- Protostomia                                                                 

- Nephrozoa                                                                      

See also Burhinus vermiculatus, Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo, Synchiropus splendidus and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                            

- Eumetazoa                                                                              

- Animalia                                                                                     

- Eukaryota                                                                                       

And, unless I'm very much mistaken, that's all, folks!

Anoplocnemis curvipes (Fabricius, 1781)

Continuing our bug theme - remember, it is absolutely okay to call any member of the insect order Hemiptera a 'bug'. It is not okay to call beetles (Coleoptera), wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera), Flies (Diptera), Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), Scorpionflies (Mecoptera), lacewings (Neuroptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), mayflies (Ephemeroptera), Dragonflies (Odonata), Termites, mantids and Cockroaches (arguably all Dictyoptera), Stick insects (Phasmatida), Earwigs (Dermaptera), Fleas (Siphonaptera), Caddisflies (Trichoptera), Silverfish (Thysanura), jumping bristletails (Archaeognatha), webspinners (Embioptera), heelwalkers (Notoptera), alderflies (Megaloptera), stoneflies (Plecoptera), snakeflies (Raphidioptera), or no-real-common-name orders Strepsiptera and Zoraptera, bugs. Because they're not bugs. 

Thrips (Thysanoptera), barklice (Psocoptera) and Lice (Pthiraptera) are also not bugs, but they're closely related, and so I'll forgive people who occasionally slip up there.

I'm afraid that the concession of three orders is all anyone's getting. Even Americans. Sorry, but just because it's a near universal vernacular doesn't mean it's correct. And come on, I'm giving you three whole orders to get wrong here... 


So, anyway, into the taxonomy...

Eukaryota
  Animalia
    Eumetazoa
      Bilateralia
        Nephrozoa
          Protostomia
            Ecdysozoa
              Arthropoda
                Hexapoda
                  Dicondylia
                    Pterygota
                      Metapterygota
                        Neoptera
                          Eumetabola
                            Paraneoptera
                              Condylognatha
                                Hemiptera
                                  Heteroptera
                                    Pentatomorpha
                                      Coreiodea
                                        Coreidae
                                          Coreinae
                                            Mictini

Anoplocnemis curvipes

(Fabricius, 1781)

As you may be able to guess from the early description, it's a widespread and conspicuous insect... (originally described by Fabricius in 1781, just 28 years after Linnaeus jump-started the taxonomy game as we now know it) - and here it is:

And now to the continuation of the bug theme: 

Anoplocnemis are stink-bugs - as you can tell from the bright orange stink gland between the second and third pair of legs. However, they are, and I cannot stress this enough, NOT shield bugs. All shield bugs are stink bugs, but not all stink bugs are shield bugs.

Remember this. It'll be referred to again later.



Acknowledgements/notes: identified as Anoplocnemis by me... identified as A. curvipes by Mick Webb of the Natural History Museum of London. 

Pephricus, Amyot & Serville, 1843.

We're going to start with a quick word on Bugs.

Americans in my limited readership are forgiven, but not excused here - yes, the vernacular "Bug" has a deep and rich history of use for all small invertebrates west of the pacific, similar to the Afrikaans (only slightly more broadly used) Goggo, but in such use, both terms are reductionist, and allow users not to contemplate the life-form they are describing so dismissively. 

So, back to the word Bug. It has a wealth of meanings, but when discussing insects, it should be used for the order Hemiptera, which comprises a lot of species with a few unifying features:

1) They are hemimetabolous, which is to say that their nymphs look more-or-less like wingless miniatures of the adults.

2) They have a piercing rostrum, a modified and highly effective mouthpart, which tends to limit them to a liquid diet.

3) They usually have only five segments to their antennae.

This is not a tiny order, with over 50,000 species, but it certainly does not include all insects. We're going to talk about one it does:

Eukaryota
  Animalia
    Eumetazoa
      Bilateralia
        Nephrozoa
          Protostomia
            Ecdysozoa
              Arthropoda
                Hexapoda
                  Insecta
                    Dicondylia
                      Pterygota
                        Metapterygota
                          Neoptera
                            Eumetabola
                              Paraneoptera 
                                Condylognatha (presumably from latin Condylus (reed) and the greek gnath (jaw bone)
                                  Hemiptera (literally 'half wing', includes all true bugs)
                                    Heteroptera (literally 'different wing', reflecting that the wings are asymmetrically held at rest, with one partially crossing over the other)
                                      Pentatomomorpha (mostly herbivorous sap-suckers, a few predatory species. Includes all the 'Stink bugs', most notable among which are the shield bugs of Pentatomidae).
                                        Coreoidea
                                          Coreidae
                                            Coreinae
                                              Phyllomorphini

Pephricus

Amyot & Serville, 1843

And here... it is:

This quite extraordinary bug is really quite difficult to notice when it's not just flown off or landed - the first I saw was immediately dismissed as a burr, until it started moving. This one was seen a few weeks later, in Kabulonga, Lusaka, Zambia. 

The genus does extend out of Africa, and into parts of the middle east, but its distribution is centred on sub-saharan Africa.