FIGS 4, 5, 14, 20, 23, 29, 36, 57, 62, 68, 69, 80, 81, 96, 97

Bryocoris Fallén, 1829: 151. Type species: Capsus pteridis Fallén, 1807 (by monotypy).

Diagnosis

Recognized by the following combination of characters: antennal segment I slightly shorter than head width and distinctly longer than vertex width; labium slightly surpassing fore coxa, labial segment IV short, about twice as long as wide, slightly tapering at apex (Fig. 23); pronotal collar matt, narrow, equal to width of antennal segment I, finely scalloped posteriorly (Fig. 20); pronotum with shallow punctures; sides of scutellum finely scalloped or almost smooth (Fig. 29); costal margin of hemelytron pale yellow, sometimes darkened in apical one-quarter; genital capsule with large twin-coned process above left paramere (Figs 57, 62); left paramere more than three times as large as right paramere, with distinct sensory lobe and strongly bent apex (Fig. 69); both sexes, sometimes only females, occasionally or usually bracypterous (Fig. 5).

The genus is most similar in body proportions and coloration to Cobalorrhynchus Reuter, 1906; however, species of Cobalorrhynchus clearly differ from species of Bryocoris in having claw-shaped, long, thin, and strongly tapering labial segment IV, brown line on the costal margin of hemelytron, and by the structure of genital capsule and left paramere.

Diversity and distribution

Bryocoris includes ten species: Bryocoris bui Hu and Zheng, 2000; Bryocoris concavus Hu and Zheng, 2000; Bryocoris formosensis Lin, 2003; Bryocoris gracilis Linnavuori, 1962; Bryocoris insuetus Hu and Zheng, 2000; Bryocoris montanus Kerzhner, 1972; Bryocoris nitidus Hu and Zheng, 2004; Bryocoris persimilis Kerzhner, 1988; Bryocoris pteridis (Fallén, 1807), and Bryocoris xiongi Hu and Zheng, 2000. Most of these species are restricted to southern China (Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, Taiwan). Bryocoris persimilis and B. montanus are known from the Russian Far East, with B. montanus also recorded from Japan (Yasunaga, 2000). The distributional range of B. gracilis extends from Sichuan and Hunan provinces of China, Taiwan, and Japan to New Guinea. Only B. pteridis has a wide trans-Palaearctic range, which is almost entirely confined to forest regions.

Remarks

Relatively little attention had been given to this genus until Hu & Zheng’s (2000) work on the Bryocoris of China. These authors described four new species, restored Cobalorrhynchus as a subgenus of Bryocoris, and provided an illustrated key to species and detailed diagnoses for both subgenera.