Three new species of Ant-mimicking Mirid Bugs from central Thailand.

Mirid Bugs of the genus Pilophorus are found on every continent except Australia and South America. They are Mimics of Ants, and are commonly found living with Ants, suggesting the mimicry fools the Ants themselves, not just Ant-avoiding predators. Furthermore, unlike most Mirid Bugs, Pilophorus spp. are carnivorous, typically eating insects such as Aphids that ants often protect. They are used as biological controls of such pests in some parts of the world.

In a paper published in the American Museum Novitates on 15 February 2013, Tomohide Yasunaga and Randall Schuh of the Division of Invertebrate Zoology at American Museum of Natural History describe three new species of Pilophorus from Nakhon Nayok and Nakhon Ratchasima Provinces in central Thailand, discovered during a review of the genus in the country.

The first new species is named Pilophorus barbiger, where barbiger means bearded, referring to the dense setae (hairs) on the underside of the head. Pilophorus barbiger is a 3.1-3.6 mm, elongate, velvety, dark brown bug found living with an unidentified species of Ant on a variety of broadleaved trees.

Pilophorus barbiger (top) male and (bottom) female. Yasunaga & Schuh (2013).

The second new species is named Pilophorus giraffoides, due to its elongated and constricted protonum (front part of the thorax), which resembles the neck of a giraffe. This is a brownish bug 3-3.24 mm long. It's ecology is unknown, the specimens found were captured in light traps. 

Pilophorus giraffoides, female specimen. Yasunaga & Schuh (2013).

The final new species is named Pilophorus portentosus, where 'portentosus' means 'extraordinary' or 'monsterous', in reference to its unusually long antennae and legs. This is a 3.79 coffee-brown Bug, described from a single male specimen caught in a light trap.

 Pilophorus portentosus, male specimen. Yasunaga & Schuh (2013).

See also New species of Leafhopper from Laos, southeast Asia, New species of Leafhopper from Brazil, Four new species of Leafhopper from Southern Africa, A new species of Leaf Bug from the Mangrove Forests of Singapore and Thailand and Two new species of True Bug from the Mesozoic of China.

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A new species of Leaf Bug from the Mangrove Forests of Singapore and Thailand.

Mangroves are terrestrial plants that can survive immersion in salt water, typically inhabiting the tidal zone, or occasionally slightly beyond. Mangroves are an ecological rather than a taxonomic group, the ability to survive saltwater inundation having arisen numerous times in different plant groups, although the term Mangrove is usually reserved for tree-sized plants (and often inly tropical ones at that), whereas tidal habitats dominated by salt-tolerant herbaceous plants are generally called salt-marshes. One group of monocotyledonous plants, the Seagrasses, has moved beyond the tidal environment and returned to a fully marine lifestyle.

Mangroves present a unique environment, exploited by both terrestrial and marine life-forms, many of which have become adapted to live exclusively in Mangroves, including Fish such as mudskippers that now spend some of their lives out of water, and some animals from terrestrial groups usually intolerant of salt water, such as Amphibians and Insects.

In a paper published in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 29 February 2012, Dennis Murphy of the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore and Dan Polhemus of the Department of Natural Sciences at  Bishop Museum in Honolulu describe a new species of Leaf Bug from the Mangrove Forests of Thailand and Singapore.

The new species is given the name Mangalcoris miniatus, the Miniature Mangrove Leaf Bug. It is under 2 mm in length, bright red in colour, lacks wings and has exceptionally long legs. Mangalcoris miniatus was found living on the underside of wet intertidal timber in Magrove Forests in Singapore and Thailand. When the timbers were overturned the Bugs relocated to the new underside rapidly. Murphy and Polhemus suggest that the species may have escaped notice until now due to its small size and resemblance to Trombiculid Mites. When collected the Bugs produced a distinctive odour, presumably as a deterrent to predators. It was not possible to determine the Bugs diet.

Mangalcors miniatus. Male specimens at top, female specimens below. Murphy & Polhemus (2012).

See also Two new species of True Bug from the Mesozoic of China and An Assassin Bug from the Palaeocene of Spitsbergen Island.

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