Scirtetellus qinghaiensis Liu, Xue et Liu, 2024

Liu, Yu-Xin, Xue, Huai-Jun & Liu, Guo-Qing, 2024, Two new species of the brachypterous Scirtetellus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) from China, Zootaxa 5497 (2), pp. 244-254 : 247

Scirtetellus qinghaiensis Liu, Xue et Liu , sp. nov.

( Figs 1A–B , 2 )

Diagnosis. Recognized by the following combination of characters: relatively short (male 2.34– 2.47, female 2.67); dorsum with long, erect, dark, bristle-like setae; head black, with two smooth dark black spots on the inner margins of the eyes; pronotum and hemelytron uniformly dark; second antenna segment cylindrical, not dilated apically in both sexes ( Fig. 1A–B ); aedeagus with two spicules, right sclerite short Y-shaped, left sclerite strap-shaped, flattened, apically dentated ( Fig. 2D–E ).

The new species is most similar to Scirtetellus obscurus Medvedeva, 1975 in the coloration and body proportions. S. qinghaiensis clearly differs from S. obscurus in the shape of aedeagal spicules, which one spicule apically split into 2 while one spicule of S. obscurus is divided into multiple forks.

Description. Male: Brachypterous, relatively small, total length 2.34–2.47. COLORATION ( Fig. 1A ): Dorsum, thoracic pleura, venter, and appendages black; head black, with two smooth dark black spots on the inner margins of the eyes, and sometimes with yellow at the edge of connexivum. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Dorsum, venter and head except vertex all smooth, inner side of eyes and clypeus highly polished. Head, thorax, hemelytra, genital capsule and abdomen with black long setae. STRUCTURE: Body 2.81–3.12 × as long as basal width of pronotum. Head: vertical, of nearly equal height and width; vertex flat; eyes relatively small, vertex between inner margins of eyes 1.57–1.62 × as wide as eye; almost round in lateral; antennal fossa located at distance from ventral margin of eye; antennal segments cylindrical, first segment 1.02–1.38 × as long as pronotum; second segment 1.24–1.38 × as long as basal width pronotum, 1.09–1.30 × as long as width head; third and fourth segments filiform; labium stout, always reaching and slightly surpassing hind coxa. Thorax: Pronotum trapeziform, 1.92–2.05 × as wide as length, 0.88–0.96 × as wide as head, with rounded anterior angles, anterior margin slightly convex while posterior margin concave; calli large, raised; mesonotum invisible; scutellum all black, width longer than length; claval commissural margin shorter than length of scutellum; hind femur enlarged. Abdomen: oval, gradually expanding at middle; connexivum upwarped. GENITALIA: Parameres of typical Halticini shape ( Fig. 2A–B ), right paramere larger than left one, with apex flat and concave, basal elongated and narrow, bearing blunt tubercle( Fig. 2 B'); left paramere Γ- shaped, strong curving, with two small cones( Fig. 2 A'); phallotheca ( Fig. 2C ) with membranous ventral wall, apically dentated and equipped with pair of subapical, rounded, sclerotized outgrowths at sides; aedeagus ( Fig. 2D–E ) with two spicules, right sclerite short Y-shaped, split in apical one-third; left sclerite strap-shaped, flattened, twisted medially, apically dentated.

Female: COLORATION ( Fig. 1B ): Similar to male, but with yellow at the edge of hemelytron. Dorsum, thoracic pleura, venter, and appendages black; head black, with two smooth dark black spots on the inner margins of the eyes. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Like male. STRUCTURE: Body larger than male, total length 2.67, 3.10 × as long as basal width of pronotum. Head: Vertical, vertex between inner margins of eyes 1.62 × as wide as eye; antennal segments cylindrical, first segment 1.07 × as long as pronotum; second segment 1.05 × as long as basal width of pronotum, 0.98 × as long as width of head; third and fourth segments filiform; labium stout, always reaching and slightly surpassing hind coxa. Thorax: Pronotum 2.09 × as wide as length, 0.93 × as wide as head. Abdomen: much wider width medially than in male, almost equal in length and width.

Etymology. It is named after the location of the type specimen. Noun in apposition.

Type material. Holotype: male, China, Qinghai province, Menyuan country, Sigou , 37.1276°N, 102.5023°E, alt. 2988m. 26 Jul 2020, Jing-yu Liang and Kun Jiang leg. ( NKUM) . Paratypes: 1 female, 2 males same data as holotype ( NKUM) .

DNA Barcoding. COI sequence of S. qinghaiensis have been deposited in GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/), with the following accession number: male (PP933752).

Distribution. Qinghai province of China.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus views of S. qinghaiensis sp. nov. (A) female; (B) male and S. shanxiensis sp. nov. (C) female; (D) male.

FIGURE 2. Genitalia of S. qinghaiensis sp. nov. (A) left paramere; (A') top view of left paramere; (B) right paramere; (B’) top view of right paramere; (C) aedeagus in ventral views; (D–E) endosoma with detached phallotheca in two different views.