Heza nebrias, Swanson, 2021

Swanson, Daniel R., 2021, Four new species of Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville (Heteroptera: Reduviidae Harpactorinae) from the Neotropics, Zootaxa 4958 (1), pp. 366-379 : 370-371

Heza nebrias sp. nov.

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( Figs. 2 , 6 , 11, 12 , 18 )

Type material: HOLOTYPE, ♂, PERU: Tingo Maria, 20 June 1982, Roy W. Rings, OSUC 651120 ( OSUC). PARATYPE, ♂, BRAZIL: Rondonia, Posada , Rancho Grande, S 10-17’ -51.7” W62-52’ 7.3”, ca 60 km S. Ariquemes, elev. 150 m, 15–23 April 1996, F. W. Stehr & M. C. Nielsen ( MSUC).

Etymology: The specific epithet comes from the Greek adjective νεβρίας, -ου (Latinized nebrias , nebrou) ‘dappled like a fawn’ and references the tomentose spotting of the hemelytral base and to a lesser extent, the pronotum.

Diagnosis: Separated from other species of Heza by the following combination of characters: only first connexival segment (=second tergite) armed posterolaterally with spine or tubercle; discal armature of anterior pronotal lobe medium-sized, cylindrical, blunt; corium and clavus basally with large patches of dense tomenta; anterior pronotal lobe lacking dense whitish tomenta and that of posterior pronotal lobe limited to eight small spots; and median process of pygophore with distinct apical fold.

Description: Macropterous male (holotype). Coloration: Rusty red-brown, except apices of head and rostrum, most of profemur to apex of foreleg, meso- and metatrochanter to apex of respective leg, and venter pale yellowish. Setal patches of basal half of hemelytra whitish. Veins of hemelytral membrane black. Pleura and venter suffused with red.

Structure: Head. Postantennal spines medium, robust, straight, sharp, otherwise head as per description under Heza . Antennae with scape largely glabrous, other antennomeres missing in holotype. Eyes, ocelli, and rostrum as per description under Heza .

Thorax. Pronotum with anterior pronotal lobe covered with short appressed pale setae but with a few glabrous channels, with collar armed with obliquely-directed, somewhat sharp conical tubercle, disc armed with two medium, robust, apically-blunt spines. Posterior pronotal lobe disc noticeably convex, with faint, short, paired carinae emanating from transverse constriction behind tubercles of anterior pronotal lobe, covered with sparse long erect setae (more conspicuous laterally) and with paired submedial and paired sublateral dense golden setal spots near transverse constriction, disc armed with two medium, thin, essentially erect, sharp spines constricted at middle, humeral anglei with medium, sharp spine over humerus directed laterally and somewhat dorsad, posterior margin slightly convex in front of scutellum and sinuate between humeri and posterior angles, posterior angles roundly obtuse. Scutellum with short appressed white setae and sparse erect longish golden setae. Pleura and sterna as per description under Heza . Hemelytra with corium covered with dense, white, waxy setal patches and spots in basal half.

Legs. Forelegs with profemur straight, largely glabrous on dorsal and lateral surfaces. Protibia slightly curved apically. Middle and hind legs as per description under Heza .

Abdomen. As per description under Heza .

External genitalia. Pygophore with integument smooth, essentially glabrous except sparse moderately long erect setae, with posterior margin setose. Median apical process robust, erect, approximately 1.5 times taller than apical width, lateral margins converging from base to middle and diverging slightly from middle to apex, apex strongly convex, margin robustly “hooked” or folded caudad, fold wider than shaft. Parameres moderately-sized, almost reaching median process at rest, more or less cylindrical but slightly sinuate at middle in dorsal plane, densely setose on dorsal margin and near apex.

Measurements (in mm). Total length (apex of head to apex of abdomen): HT: 16.4, PT: 15.7; total length (apex of head to apex of hemelytra): HT: 16.9, PT: 16.8; head (+ neck) length: HT: 2.6, PT: (2.1 + 0.5); head width (across eyes): HT: 1.4, PT: 1.4; anteocular length: HT: 0.7, PT: 0.7; postocular (+ neck) length: HT: 1.3, PT: (0.8 + 0.5); scape length: HT: 6.5, PT: 7.1; pedicel length: HT:?, PT: 1.5; basiflagellum length: HT:?, PT: 8.0; distiflagellum length: HT:?, PT: 1.8; antennal segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 0.2: 1.1: 0.3; eye length: HT: 0.6, PT: 0.6; eye width: HT: 0.3, PT: 0.3; rostral segment 1 length: HT: 1.6, PT: 1.6; rostral segment 2 length: HT: 1.1, PT: 1.2; rostral segment 3 length: HT: 0.5, PT: 0.4; rostral segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 0.7: 0.3; pronotum length: HT: 4.1, PT: 3.8; pronotum width (across humeri, without spines): HT: 4.2, PT: 3.7; pronotum width (across humeri, with spines): HT: 5.4, PT: 4.9; anterior pronotal lobe length: HT: 1.5, PT: 1.4; posterior pronotal lobe length: HT: 2.6, PT: 2.4; scutellum length: HT: 1.1, PT: 1.1; scutellum width (at base): HT: 1.3, PT: 1.4; hemelytra length: HT: 11.1, PT: 11.1; procoxa length: HT: 0.9, PT: 0.7; protrochanter length: HT: 0.9, PT: 0.8; profemur length: HT: 6.0, PT: 6.1; protibia length: HT: 5.5, PT: 5.6; protarsus length: HT: 0.7, PT: 0.7; protarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 2.0: 2.5; mesocoxa length: HT: 0.8, PT: 0.7; mesotrochanter length: HT: 0.7, PT: 0.8; mesofemur length: HT: 4.7, PT: 5.0; mesotibia length: HT: 5.0, PT: 5.2; mesotarsus length: HT: 0.6, PT: 0.6; mesotarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 2.0: 2.5; metacoxa length: HT: 1.0, PT: 0.7; metatrochanter length: HT: 0.7, PT: 0.7; metafemur length: HT: 7.0, PT: 7.1; metatibia length: HT: 8.0, PT: 8.0; metatarsus length: HT: 0.8, PT: 0.6; metatarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 2.0: 2.5; abdomen length: HT: 9.2, PT: 8.8; abdomen (widest) width: HT: 2.9, PT: 2.9.

Variation: Pedicel and flagellomeres of paratype as per description under Heza . The paratype has a slightly less swollen pronotum and at least vestiges of two more pairs of tomentose spots near the basal margin of the posterior pronotal lobe, much in the same arrangement as H. phthinica sp. nov. The tomentose patches and spots of the clavus and corium are a little more discrete in the paratype as well.

Female: Unknown.

Distribution: Peru, Brazil ( Fig. 21 ).

Remarks: Owing to the distinctly tomentose clavus and base of the corium, H. nebrias sp. nov. will reach couplet # 18 in Maldonado’s (1976) key. However, it differs from Heza multiguttata Champion, 1899 in median process of the pygophore lacking a distinct recurved apical fold. Heza nebrias sp. nov. also differs from Heza insignis Stål, 1859 in the thin, less convex, and wider apical fold on the median process of the pygophore. Both of these species differ from Heza nebrias sp. nov. further in having more extensive tomentose spots near the anterior margin of the posterior pronotal lobe.

The median process of the pygophore most closely matches Heza rubra Maldonado, 1976 and Heza binotata ( Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, 1825) ; however, it differs from the former in possessing a strongly tomentose clavus and in the reddish-brown legs (rather than green faded to yellow in rubra ) and from the latter in the relative thickness of the recurved apical fold of the median process of the pygophore, as well as lacking the large tomentose spots on the posterior lobe of the pronotum. Heza ocellata Maldonado, 1976 , a species which shares a similar dispersion pattern of small tomentose spots on the posterior pronotal lobe, differs in having a truncate or slightly concave apex on the median process of the pygophore and also lacks a strongly tomentose clavus.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Type localities of Heza nebrias sp. nov., Heza phthinica sp. nov., and Heza viridipes sp. nov. Filled symbols represent the type locality, open symbols represent localities of paratypic material.

FIGURES 1–4. New species of Heza, dorsal habitus: (1) Heza graziae sp. nov., male holotype; (2) Heza nebrias sp. nov., male holotype; (3) Heza phthinica sp. nov., male holotype; (C) Heza viridipes sp. nov., male holotype. Scale bar = 2 mm.

FIGURES 5–8. New species of Heza, lateral habitus: (5) Heza graziae sp. nov., male holotype; (6) Heza nebrias sp. nov., male holotype; (7) Heza phthinica sp. nov., male holotype; (8) Heza viridipes sp. nov., male holotype. All show left side, except H. phthinica reflected.

FIGURES 9–16. New species of Heza, pygophore: (9) Heza graziae sp. nov., caudal view; (10) Heza graziae sp. nov., lateral view; (11) Heza nebrias sp. nov., caudal view; (12) Heza nebrias sp. nov., lateral view; (13) Heza phthinica sp. nov., caudal view; (14) Heza phthinica sp. nov., lateral view; (15) Heza viridipes sp. nov., caudal view; (16) Heza viridipes sp. nov., lateral view.

FIGURES 17–20. New species of Heza, median process of pygophore (with line drawing): (17) Heza graziae sp. nov.; (18) Heza nebrias sp. nov.; (19) Heza phthinica sp. nov.; (20) Heza viridipes sp. nov.