Paravelia cunhai, Rodrigues & Moreira, 2016

Rodrigues, Higor Daniel Duarte & Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, 2016, A new species, new synonymy, and notes on Paravelia Breddin (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae), Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 56 (17), pp. 183-188 : 184-187

Paravelia cunhai sp. nov.

( Figs. 1-7 , 11 )

Type material: Holotype, macropterous ♂ ( MZUSP), BRAZIL, Pará , Vitória do Xingu, comunidade Leonardo da Vinci, poça dentro de caverna, 03°09’07”S, 52°04’30”W, 08.II.2014, E.J. R. Cunha leg.

Description

Macropterous male: Holotype, length 4.42. Dorsal, ventral, and lateral habitus as in Figs. 1-3 , respectively. General color dark brown to blackish, including head, thorax, and most of fore wing. Antenna brown, slightly darker ventrally. Rostrum with two basal segments brown, segment III yellow laterally and brown medially, distal segment blackish. Fore wing with basal ovate white macula, not touching humeral angle and ending beyond posterior margin of pronotum, at apex another rounded white macula, slightly smaller than basal ( Fig. 1 ); veins whitish. Connexiva light brown on mesal margin and dark brown on lateral margin, yellow on intersegmental regions. Coxae, trochanters, and approximately basal half of femora yellow; apical half of femora, tibiae and tarsi brown. Abdomen and genital segments brown to light brown, except darker region of insertion of lateral abdominal muscles.

Head: Length 0.80; maximum width 0.88. Declined anteriorly, covered by fine golden pubescence intermixed with elongate dark brown setae; midline impressed, shining, posteriorly with pair of dorsal oblique impressed, shining lines and pair of indentations near mesal margin of eyes; bucculae and jugum without black denticles. Ocular setae present. Antenniferous tubercle developed, shining. Antenna covered by golden pubescence and elongate golden setae scattered on segments II-IV; antennomere I more robust, curved outward; II thicker than III-IV; length of antennomeres, I 0.64, II 0.52, III 0.66, IV 0.82.

Thorax: Pronotum length at midline 1.80, maximum width 1.72; covered by fine golden pubescence, intermixed with elongate dark brown setae; anterior lobe with row of rounded punctations adjacent to anterior margin, without marks or pruinosity; posterior lobe covered by rounded punctations, larger towards apex; humeral angle slightly elevated; posterior angle rounded. Fore wing reaching tip of abdomen, leaving only posterior portion of genital segment exposed; with four closed cells; veins in basal half with elongate dark brown setae. Propleuron with two rows of round- ed punctations on epimeron. Mesopleuron with row of rounded punctations on episternum. Metapleuron with scattered rounded punctations. Meso- and metapleura with whitish pruinosity on intersegmental region. Prosternum with row of four rounded punctations anteriorly. Meso- and metasterna centrally with two pairs of small tubercles on intersegmental region. Pro- and mesoacetabula with rounded punctation on mesal surface.

Legs: Densely covered with short, appressed, pale setae and elongate, brownish setae. Fore tibia with grasping comb (0.20 mm long) occupying 1/5 of its length. Hind femur slightly thicker than others, with 22 small spines on mesal margin ( Fig. 4 ). Leg measurements as follows: foreleg, femur 1.16, tibia 1.04, tarsomeres 1-3, 0.06, 0.20, 0.30; middle leg, femur 1.30, tibia 1.36, tarsomeres 1-3, 0.10, 0.34, 0.36; hind leg, femur 1.52, tibia 1.80, tarsomeres 1-3, 0.10, 0.40, 0.31.

Abdomen: Connexiva covered by golden pubescence and elongate brown setae; not elevated, without black denticles. Sterna covered by fine golden pubescence and elongate dark brown setae, the latter concentrated on lateral margins; II compressed laterally and bearing weak longitudinal carina anteriorly; VII without projections or nodules, with posterior margin evenly con- cave and small black denticles. Segment VIII (= considered in literature as first genital segment) with fine golden pubescence on apical 2/3 intermixed with elongate dark brown setae dorsolaterally; several black denticles on lateral areas ( Figs. 5-6 ). Proctiger with elongate golden setae on apical 1/3, without spines or projections. Paramere anteriorly notched on dor-

sal surface, sinuous, with elongate golden setae and rounded apex ( Fig. 7 ).

Female: Unknown. Distribution and habitat: This species was collected in a pool inside a cave in the state of Pará, northern Brazil ( Fig. 11 ), where there was no incidence of light. This habitat was recorded for the genus recently by Rodrigues & Moreira (2016) for three species: P. digitata Rodrigues & Moreira , P. nieseri Moreira & Barbosa , and P. splendoris Drake & Harris. The habitat of the new species constitutes further evidence that some Paravelia have troglophilic habits, but because they can also be found outside the caves, we must consider them facultative cave organisms.

Comparative notes: This species is known only from the macropterous form and is morphologically similar to P. lanemeloi Moreira & Barbosa, 2012 . Both species have in common the coloration of the body, maculae pattern on the fore wings, and general shape of the parameres. However, P. cunhai sp. nov. differs from it by the length of the grasping comb on the fore tibia, which occupies 1/5 of its length, presence of a row of spines on the inner margin of the hind femur, and absence of black denticles on abdominal sterna II-VI; whereas in P. lanemeloi the grasping comb of the male occupies 1/3 of the inner margin of the fore tibia, the hind femur does not have spines, and abdominal sterna II-VI have small black denticles. In addition, the new species was collected in a cave from the state of Pará, northern Brazil, whereas P. lanemeloi has been recorded only from the southern portion of the Espinhaço range, in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil ( Fig. 11 ) above 1000 m elevation ( Moreira & Barbosa, 2012; Rodrigues et al., 2014b).

Etymology: The specific epithet honors Erlane José Cunha, who kindly made this specimen available for study.

Figures

FIGURE 11: Distribution records for four species of Paravelia; green square surrounded by a dotted line represents the type locality of P. cupariana, a new junior synonymy of P. spinifera.

FIGURES 1‑7: Paravelia cunhai sp. nov., male holotype: (1) dorsal, (2) ventral and (3) lateral views; (4) hind femur; (5) lateral and (6) dorsal views of abdominal segment VIII, black arrow indicates black denticles; (7) genital capsule in lateral view, Pr = proctiger, Pa = paramere. Size bar = 1.00 mm and applies only to Figs. 1 and 2.