Aphelocheirus (Aphelocheirus) narmadaensis, G.Thirumalai, 2008

G. Thirumalai, 2008, Aphelocheirus (Aphelocheirus) narmadaensis sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Nepomorpha: Aphelocheiridae) from Madhya Pradesh, India, Zootaxa 1923, pp. 55-61 : 56-59

Aphelocheirus (Aphelocheirus) narmadaensis sp. nov.

(PLATES I & II)

Type material: Holotype: Central Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur (A/12401) ♂ (brachypterous): Barman Village , (23º1' N and 79º 0' E, MSL 340m) Narmada River , opp. to Barman Guest house, Narasimhapur District , Madhya Pradesh, India (Narmada Survey 1964–65), 18-xii-1964, Coll: H. Khajuria ; Paratypes: Central Regional Station , Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur (A/12402) 1 ♂ and Central Regional Station , Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur (A/12403) 3 ♀♀ (brachypterous) same data as holotype .

Description. Brachypterous male (PLATE 1A): Body length 7.3–7.5mm; maximum body width (across 3 rd abdominal segment) 5.0– 5.1mm; pronotum width 3.9mm; width of head (including eyes) 1.6mm; maximum width of head (across medianly) excluding eyes 0.9mm.

Colour: Dorsal side (Plate I, Fig. A): Head yellow with black eyes, a medial dark spot posteriorly. Pronotum yellow, shining, coarsely rugose with very distinctly golden, short pilosity, lateral margin glabrous, dirty yellow; disc with irregular dark patches, with dark central median spot on posterior margin. Scutellum brownish and yellow. Hemelytra dirty brown, embolium yellow. Abdominal tergites dull brown with fine golden pilosity.

Ventral side: Head including antennae yellow; rostrum pale brown; ventrites brown, lateral margins light yellow, legs and genital segments brown; claws dark brown.

Head (dorsal side): Shining with dense fine pale spots, finely rugose slightly produced ahead of eyes, head 1.6 times as long the eye length. Head 1.6 times broader than long; eyes 1.5 times longer than broad (width/ length = 0.6/0.9).

Thorax: Pronotum rugose, shining, with dense pale dots, only slightly elevated on disc, as long as head and 3.7 times broader than median length (width/length = 3.9/1.1); lateral margins bare, without erect setae or pilosity. Scutellum moderately rugose, glabrous, 3 times broader than long, tip acuminate, lateral margins not sinuate. Hemelytra widely separated medially, reaching posteriorly base of abdominal tergite 3, with sparse fine golden pilosity, with long projected corners on embolar margin.

Abdomen: Dorsal (PLATE I, fig. C): Weakly rugose with fine golden pilosity, tergites 2–8 exposed, all symmetrical; paired glandular openings present medially on posterior margin of tergite 3.

Ventral: Antenna glabrous; length of antennal segments 1–4 = 0.1, 0.2, 0.2, 0.3 (in mm); rostrum long (total length 2.7 mm) and reaching to middle coxae. Labrum yellow, shining, with evenly rounded tip. Rostrum 1.8 times as long as the fore femur. Propleura with pointed tip posteriorly, with inner propleural projection as in PLATE I, Fig. B. Mesosternum carinated medianly. Metasternum pruinose. Metaxipus small and narrowly pointed. Abdomen pruinose, ventrites 4–6 slightly elevated medianly; peg-like setae medially absent. Genital segments shining with sparse golden pilosity (PLATE I, Fig. D).

Legs: With long golden setae; dorsal claw well developed and curved.

Relative length of legs (in mm):

Male Femur Tibia Tarsus 2 Tarsus 3 Total

Fore leg 1.5 1.4 0.2 0.3 3.4

Middle leg 1.7 1.2 0.3 0.3 3.5

Hind leg 2.4 2.3 1.3 0.7 6.7

* the first segment is very short.

B= Brachypterous; M= Macropterous

* Holotype 1♂ (B); Godavari , Botanical Gardens, Lalitpur, Nepal. 27° 35' (N) 85° 22' (E); altitude: 1531m

Genitalia: Genital capsule as in PLATE II, Fig. A). Right parandrium a little longer and apically wider than left one (PLATE II, Fig. B). Left paramere longer and distinctly narrower than right one. Left paramere distally curved towards tip (PLATE II, Figs C, D). Right paramere stout, slightly arched, at medial face with sparse long brush-like hairs, apex tapering to pointed tip (PLATE II, Figs. E, F).

Brachypterous female (PLATE 1 E): Body length 7.4 to 7.9 mm, maximum body width (across 3 rd abdominal segment) 4.9–5.2 mm; pronotum width 3.8–3.9 mm; width of head including eyes 1.6–1.7 mm, excluding eyes 1.0 mm.

Colour: Same as in male.

PLATE I. A. Apterous Male Dorsal View (Holotype) 1.2 X; B. Left Propleuron Apterous Male 1.5X (IPP- Inner Propleural Projection); C. Apterous Male Abdomen Dorsal View 2.0 X; D. Apterous Male Abdomen Ventral View 2.0 X; E. Apterous Female Dorsal View 1.2 X; F. Apterous Female Abdomen Ventral View 2.5 X

Head: Head slightly produced ahead of eyes; head 1.6 times as long as eye length; eye 1.3 times longer than broad (width/ length = 0.7/ 0.9 mm); rostrum 2.1 times as long as fore femur and reaching up to middle coxae.

Thorax: Pronoun as long as head, 3.6 times as long as median length; mesoscutellum 3.0 times as wide as long. Legs similar to those of brachypterous male except middle leg a little longer than fore leg, and hind leg longest.

Relative length of legs (in mm):

Female Femur Tibia Tarsus 2 Tarsus 3 Total

Fore leg 1.4 1.2 0.2 0.3 3.1

Middle leg 1.9 1.6 0.2 0.2 3.9

Hind leg 2.2 2.2 1.1 0.7 6.2

* the first segment is very short.

PLATE II. A. Genital Capsule Male( Parameres Dissected ) (Holotype) ; B. Close Up of Genital Capsule Male (Parameres Dissected) (Holotype) ; C. Left Paramere (Holotype) ; D. Tip of Left Paramere (Holotype) ; E. Right Paramere (Holotype) ; F. Tip of Right Paramere (Holotype)

Abdomen: Abdominal tergites 4–6 with dark spots medially. Abdominal ventrites without peg-like setae. Subgenital plate triangular with narrow tufts of long setae at lateral margins (PLATE I, Fig. F), apically pilose.

Etymology: The specific epithet narmadaensis is derived from Narmada, the river from which the species was collected.

Comparative Notes: Aphelocheirus (Aphelocheirus) narmadaensis sp. nov. is different from all known Indian species of the subgenus by the shape of fore wings of the brachypterous morph in both the sexes; the shape and structure of the male parameres, especially the characteristic shape of left one; the triangularly shaped subgenital plate of the female; and some other characters mentioned in the text. A list of congeners so far known from India is given in Appendix I, including sets of differential characters compared with Aphelocheirus narmadaensis sp. nov.; their distributional records are compiled in Table 1.

Macropterus forms unknown.