Orius vicinus (?)

A vacuum sample from streamside vegetation turned up this 2mm Anthocorid bug.

Based on the long hairs, fine punctures and transverse wrinkling on the posterior lobe of the pronotum (rather than the coarse punctures described for O. minutus), I'm pretty confident that this is Orius vicinus. However, this is a very difficult genus. This specimen shows the leg pigmentation usually described for O. vicinus, but this character is variable and not reliable (Orius (Heterorius) vicinus (Ribaut) (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) in western North America, a correction of the past. (2010) Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 112(1), 69-80). The bad news is that this specimen is a female (males do not overwinter) and my hopeful attempts to examine the bursa and copulatory tube were unsuccessful. We currently have no confirmed VC55 records for O. vicinus.