Velia (Cesavelia) mitrai, Basu, Srimoyee, Subramanian, K. A. & Polhemus, Dan A., 2013

Basu, Srimoyee, Subramanian, K. A. & Polhemus, Dan A., 2013, A new species of Velia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from West Bengal, India, Zootaxa 3693 (3), pp. 344-350 : 345-349

Velia (Cesavelia) mitrai sp. nov.

Description. Apterous male (Figs. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11–17). Size: Length 7.0– 7.1 mm, maximum width of body (across thorax) 1.8 mm.

Colour: Body ground color black, with scattered silvery pubescent patches dorsally. Head black with a prominent median furrow; antennae and eyes black. Pronotum black, with broad patches of silvery pubescence laterally and a transverse orange patch anteromedially. Anterior and posterior margins of pronotum bearing one and three rows of black punctures respectively. Abdominal tergites II, V, and VI with dense patches of silvery pubescence laterally, smaller patches of silvery pubescence present at anterolateral angles of tergites III and IV. Tergite VII with one pair (1+1) of silvery pubescent stripes near lateral margins. Outer halves of connexiva orange both dorsally and ventrally. Legs uniformly black. Abdominal sternites II–VI dark orange-brown medially.

Structure: Head length 0.68, width 1.10. Length of first antennomere 2.2 times head length and 1.4 times head width. Head width 1.8 times as long as interocular space. Pronotum length 1.47 times as long as eye length (pronotum, 0.59, eye, 0.40). Mesofemur 2.0 times as long as pronotum width. Metatibia 1.0 times as long as metafemur, 1.8 times as long as metatarsus. Second mesotarsus 1.3 times as long as third tarsomere; second metatarsomere 1.7 times as long as third metatarsal segment. Flexor side of meso- and metatibia with erect setae. Metatrochanter with 8 denticles, 5th and 6th denticles somewhat longer than the remainder. Metafemur of male stout, 6.4 times as long as wide (Figs. 11, 12), posterior margin bearing prominent spines (Figs. 11, 12), starting with twelve small teeth, followed by two long diverging teeth, continued with ten small teeth, then another larger tooth, followed by seven small teeth of progressively decreasing size to apex (Fig. 12). Length of abdominal tergites 4.20, maximum width 1.50. Connexival spines in male short with apices pointed when viewed from both dorsally and laterally. Measurements of leg segments as provided in Table 1.

Leg Measurements Male 1 Male 2 Mean

Fore leg Coxa 0.33 0.32 0.32 Trochanter 0.42 0.4 0.41 Femur 2.05 2.0 2.02 Tibia 1.97 1.94 1.95 Tarsomere 1 0.08 0.07 0.07 Tarsomere 2 0.25 0.22 0.23 Tarsomere 3 0.51 0.50 0.50

Mid leg Coxa 0.34 0.33 0.33 Trochanter 0.49 0.47 0.48 Femur 3.03 3.00 3.01 Tibia 3.11 3.10 3.10 Tarsomere 1 0.11 0.10 0.10 Tarsomere 2 1.15 1.12 1.13 Tarsomere 3 0.95 0.93 0.94

Hind leg Coxa 0.46 0.45 0.45 Trochanter 0.59 0.57 0.58 Femur 2.95 2.90 2.92 Tibia 3.15 3.10 3.12 Tarsomere 1 0.13 0.10 0.11 Tarsomere 2 1.08 1.00 1.04 Tarsomere 3 0.67 0.66 0.66 FIGURES. 1–6. Velia mitrai sp. nov., habitus photographs and structural details. 1. Apterous male, dorsal view. 2. Apterous female, dorsal view. 3. Apterous male, ventral view. 4. Apterous female, ventral view. 5. Apterous male, head and pronotum, dorsal view. 6. Abdomen of female, lateral view.

Genitalia: Male genital segment 8 1.1 times as long as wide, elongated and hairy below (Figs. 9, 13). Proctiger of moderate length, slightly expanded distally with posterior margin broadly rounded, bearing long setae laterally and medially, basal lobes small (Fig. 15). Male paramere evenly curved, slightly twisted medially, apex moderately rounded (Figs. 16, 17). Endosoma with lateral sclerite relatively slender, expanded centrally, broadly curved along its length (Fig. 14); accessory sclerite present; dorsal sclerite and secondary ventral sclerite visible and wellpigmented; ventral sclerite visible (Fig. 14).

Apterous female (Figs. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 18). Size: Length 7.3–7.4 mm, body maximum width 1.8–1.9 mm, width 1.8-1.9 mm.

Colour: Similar to male in general structure and coloration, except, tergites II–V and abdominal sternites with lateral and ventral orange markings brighter orange in colour.

Structure: Head length 0.86, width 1.16. Interocular width 0.57. Eye length 0.41, width 0.30. Lengths of antennomeres I–IV: 1.56, 1.07, 1.00, 1.00 respectively. Pronotum length 0.57, width 1.44. Abdominal tergites I– VII having combined length of 4.10. Rostrum length 2.00, reaching beyond fore coxa. Metafemur slender and slightly longer than in male, lacking spines. Posterior connexival apices longer than in male, pointed when viewed both dorsally and laterally (Figs. 6, 8), covered with short hairs. Apex of proctiger forming rounded lobe, hairy and broader than long (width/length: 0.56/0.49) Ovipositor structure as in Fig. 18. Measurements of leg segments as provided in Table 2 .

Leg Measurements Female 1 Female 2 Female 3 Mean Discussion. Based on a comparison to other Vel ia species currently known from South and Southeast Asia, Velia mitrai sp. nov. possesses character states most similar to those seen in Velia tomokunii J.T. & D.A. Polhemus from Nepal. However, it is showing some similarity with Velia sinensis Andersen from China, Velia tonkina D. & J. Polhemus from Vietnam. This species can be separated from these other taxa by the following unqiue combination of characters involving the structure of the male metafemur; the male genitalia including the paramere, proctiger, and endosomal sclerites; and the form of the female connexiva, proctiger and terminal abdomen:

1) The male metafemur is narrow and elongate, and has a distinctive pattern of spination, particularly in regard to the presence of two large spines on the basal half of femur. This pattern is unique among species currently known from Asia, and is distinct from the somewhat incrassate femur shape with limited spination exhibited by V. anderseni from Bengal (see Fig. 5 in Tran 2009), the most geographically proximal Velia species. In, Velia mitrai sp. nov., metafemur of male starting with twelve small teeth, followed by two long diverging teeth, continued with ten small teeth, then another larger tooth, followed by seven small teeth of progressively decreasing size towards apex. Whereas, in Velia tomokunii Polhemus & Polhemus, 1998 , metafemur starting with twelve small teeth, followed by a long teeth, continued with eleven small teeth, followed by a long tooth and another sets of six small teeth to apex.

2) The male proctiger is of same general shape as seen in V. tomokunii , V. tonkina and V. s i n e n s i s, but slightly more elongate and broadly rounded distally. The male paramere shape is crescentic, as is typical for the genus, but the apex is more acute than in either V. sinensis or V. tomokunii , and instead more closely approaches the character state seen in V. anderseni from Bengal. The proctiger shape is however noticeably different from this latter species (see Fig. 17 in Tran 2009). The lateral sclerite of the male endosoma is distinctly bowed in its central section (Fig. 14), and is similar to but different from the character state seen in V. tomokunii from Nepal.

3) The female connexiva are subparallel along their middle section, then divergent posteriorly, forming small, acute posterolateral projections when viewed ventrally, a character state similar to that seen in V. tomokunii . In lateral view the posterior apices of the connexiva in V. mitrai also appear as angular projections, whereas in V. tomokunii they form nearly blunt right angles; as a result, the lateral aspect of the connexiva in V. mitrai is more similar to that of V. sinensis and V. tonkina .

4) The female proctiger is of same general shape as in V. tomokunii and broader than long, with evenly rounded sides. However, the proctiger of V. sinensis and V. tonkina is hairy and end with a round lobe as in Velia mitrai sp. nov.

Etymology. This species is named after Mr. Ranajit Mitra, who has assisted the authors in field studies of different wetlands within the Darjeeling district of West Bengal by providing valuable suggestions and information. The specific epithet mitrai comes from his surname title ‘Mitra’.

FIGURES. 7–12. Velia mitrai sp. nov., structural details. 7. Abdominal tergites of male, dorsal view. 8. Abdominal tergites of female, dorsal view. 9. Genital segments of male, ventral view. 10. genital segments of female, ventral view. 11. Hind leg of male, dorsal view. 12. Metafemur of male, detail showing pattern of spination.

FIGURES. 13–18. Velia mitrai sp. nov., details of genitalia of (13–16) male and (17–18) female. 13. Proctiger, dorsal view. 14. Endosomal sclerites, lateral view (svs, secondary ventral sclerite; ds, dorsal sclerites; ls, lateral sclerite; as, accessory sclerite). 15. Left paramere, internal view. 16. Left paramere, external view. 17. Proctiger. 18. Ovipositor.

Repositories. The holotype and partypes are deposited in the entomological collections of the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata (ZSIK).

Type material examined. HOLOTYPE, apterous male: INDIA, West Bengal, Darjeeling District, Neora Valley National Park, small stream, 27.082816° N, 88.743785° E, alt. 2006 m a.s.l., 3 March 2012, coll. Srimoyee Basu, Reg. No.: 2945/H15 (ZSIK). Paratypes: 1 apterous male, 3 apterous females, same data as holotype, Reg. No.: 2946/H15 (single lot) (ZSIK).

Ecological notes. The type series of Velia mitrai sp. nov. was collected from a small, unpolluted, shaded stream flowing through a forest within the Neora Valley. Individuals were observed skating against the mild current of the stream. The bottom substrate was muddy with scattered pebbles (Fig. 19).

Biogeographic notes. The Velia assemblage occuring in India has until the present been known to consist of three species: Velia anderseni Tran et. al. from North West Bengal, Velia steelei Tamanini from Arunachal Pradesh, and Velia championi Tamanini from Uttarakhand, with V. tomokunii known from adjacent Nepal. Our new species was collected from high altitude streams in the Neora Valley National Park, which falls within the Darjeeling Himalaya region, a part of Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot. As such, it represents another one in this set of apparently locally endemic Velia species occurring at higher elevations along the southern margin of the Himalayan uplift. It is expected that other eastern Himalayan states of India may also harbor further new species of Velia , which might have easily gone undetected in this underexplored region because of their cryptic habits.

Tables

TABLE 2. Measurements of leg segments of female (in mm).

Fore leg Coxa	0.23	0.24	0.23	0.23
Trochanter	0.40	0.42	0.39	0.40
Femur	2.19	2.20	2.18	2.19
Tibia	2.20	2.21	2.19	2.20
Tarsomere 1	0.07	0.09	0.07	0.23
Tarsomere 2	0.21	0.22	0.20	0.21
Tarsomere 3	0.48	0.49	0.48	0.48
Mid leg Coxa	0.30	0.32	0.30	0.30
Trochanter	0.63	0.65	0.64	0.64
Femur	2.93	2.94	2.92	2.93
Tibia	3.49	3.45	3.47	5.20
Tarsomere 1	0.12	0.13	0.11	0.12
Tarsomere 2	1.35	1.37	1.34	1.35
Tarsomere 3	0.81	0.80	0.83	0.81
Hind leg Coxa	0.43	0.45	0.43	0.43
Trochanter	0.56	0.54	0.56	0.55
Femur	3.06	3.03	3.00	3.03
Tibia	3.74	3.76	3.72	3.74
Tarsomere 1	0.15	0.17	0.14	0.15
Tarsomere 2	1.16	1.14	1.17	1.15
Tarsomere 3	0.79	0.78	0.80	0.79