Altavelia Polhemus & Moreira, 2019

Polhemus, Dan A., Molano, Fredy, Morales, Irina, Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo & Floriano, Carla Fernanda Burguez, 2019, Altavelia, a new genus of Neotropical Veliinae (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Veliidae), with a key to species and descriptions of four new species from Colombia, Zootaxa 4585 (2), pp. 295-314 : 296-300

Altavelia Polhemus & Moreira , gen. n.

Figs. 1–11

Description. Large-sized veliids, body elongate. Length 4.6–9.8 mm, usually greater than 6.5 mm; body length-towidth ratios ranging from 2.90 to 4.44.

Color. Ground color brown to black, in some species marked contrastingly with yellow or orange; silvery pubescence absent.

Structural characters. Head with eyes globose, exerted, separated by approximately 1.5× eye width, slightly removed from anterior pronotal margin, ocular setae present. Head declivant anteriorly, not recessed into pronotum, with three pairs of facial trichobothria; gular region short, often not visible. Labium long, extending onto metasternum, article I not attaining posterior margin of bucculae, articles I and IV subequal in length, article II very short, one-third length of article I, article III about 4× length of article I. Antennae with article I longest, II and III progressively shorter, article IV subequal to or slightly shorter than article II; setae on antennae short, greatest length less than 2× width of antennal article on which they arise.

Pronotum of wingless and micropterous forms slightly bilobate ( Figs. 1 A–D, 2A–C, 6A, 6C, 8A, 9A–C, 11A– B), with lateral margins of anterior lobe swollen; collar distinct, delineated by line of foveae; calli flat, unmodified; anterior lobe of pronotum bearing a few coarse foveae, numerous obscure foveae present on posterior lobe; humeri slightly expanded, lateral margins gently bowed outward; mesonotum exposed laterally. Pronotum of macropters longer and wider, central section domed; posterior margin broadly rounded, bearing numerous small foveae; extending caudad over wing bases and scutellum, humeri raised, prominent ( Fig. 9D ). Forewing uniformly blackish, with four closed cells, without pale markings. Meso- and metasterna each with a pair of median tubercles, these tubercles meeting at suture, forming a cup-like cavity between ( Fig. 3A ). Metasternal scent gland opening (omphalium) obscure.

Abdomen lacking silvery setae or pruinose areas; prominent paired longitudinal carine present on mediotergites I–II and basally on mediotergite III of macropters (visible only after removal of wings, Fig. 3B ), absent in apterous form. Hair-free longitudinal striae or elongate lacunae absent between abdominal mediosternites and parasternites; small lacunae present at sutures between individual parasternites.

Legs very long and slender, length of hind leg exceeding length of body; uniformly dark colored, lacking pale annuli; all segments unarmed, lacking prominent spines or teeth; male fore tibial grasping comb well-developed and prominent, extending for 1/6 to over half of length of tibia; females without grasping comb; all tarsi threesegmented, article I shortest, article II shorter than III on fore leg, article II subequal to or shorter than III on middle leg, article II usually longer than article III on hind leg; pretarsal claws moderately long, evenly tapering.

Male abdominal sternum VII without projections; terminalia very large; proctiger bearing prominent setal tufts or sclerotized wing-like processes; parameres symmetrical, very long and slender, lacking a prominent basal inflection, basal lobe weakly developed. Female abdominal tergum VIII deflected downward, not lying on same horizontal plane as tergum VII ( Fig. 6B ); first gonocoxae partially exposed, plate-like; tergum IX elongate, strongly protruding posteriorly.

Type species. Paravelia inveruglas Kirkaldy, 1899 .

Etymology. The name “ altavelia ” refers to the high elevations at which species of this genus occur (“ alta -”, Latin, nominative feminine singular, meaning high, tall).

Distribution. Known from elevations between 1500 and 3600 m in the Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

Comments. Previous students of Neotropical Veliidae have long recognized the distinctive attributes of a subgroup of elongate, large-sized species of Paravelia occurring in the Andes, which were treated in part as the P. inveruglas group by Hungerford (1930), based on the characteristics of that nominate species. As noted by D. Polhemus (2014), species strictly conforming to this group concept display the following features: 1) development of prominent setal tufts or sclerotized wing-like processes on the male proctiger; 2) elongate body shapes, with length-to-width ratios ranging from ~3.0 to 4.5; 3) a uniformly blackish forewing coloration, lacking pale markings; 4) antennae with segment I longest; 5) very long and slender legs in relation to the body, with the length of hind leg exceeding that of the body; and 6) the female abdomen with tergum VIII deflected downward and not lying on same horizontal plane as tergum VII, thereby displacing the female proctiger downward to a position below the other abdominal terga. The latter character is particularly evident when viewed laterally ( Fig. 6B ).

In the current paper, species possessing the above characteristics are removed from Paravelia and assigned to the new genus Altavelia. Ecologically, the members of this group occur at high elevations in the Andes (between 1500 and 3600 m), and possess semi-terrestrial habits that are notably different from those of other species held in Paravelia ( Padilla-Gil & Moreira 2011, D. Polhemus 2014). All of the included species have very long legs in relation to the size of their bodies, which appear to aid in terrestrial locomotion. Notes on distribution, habitat preferences, and nomenclatural history were provided for A. amoena ( Drake, 1957) , A. boliviana ( Breddin, 1898) , A. daza ( Padilla-Gil & Moreira, 2011) , A. flavomarginata ( Hungerford, 1930) , A. inveruglas , A. osborniana (Kirkaldy, 1909) , and A. willei ( Drake & Harris, 1940) by D. Polhemus (2014), Rodrigues et al. (2014b), and Rodrigues & Moreira (2016a) and are not repeated herein.

Although Hungerford (1929, 1930) based his inveruglas species group concept on Paravelia inveruglas , he included within his group two species, P. albotrimaculata ( Kirkaldy, 1899) and P. helenae ( Hungerford, 1929) , that do not possess all of the distinctive character states displayed by P. inveruglas and other species now transferred to Altavelia. In the case of P. albotrimaculata , this species is known from only a single macropterous female holotype from Venezuela; therefore, assessment of the character states in the male terminalia is not possible. However, on the basis of its large size, elongate body shape, hind leg armature and a forewing pattern consisting of two pale spots basally and a large pale spot distally (see figures 12 and 13 in Hungerford 1930, and note that this character state was misinterpreted by D. Polhemus 2014 in the context of his discussion of Hungerford’s inveruglas group), this taxon appears to be more closely allied to a group of large-sized species breeding in phytotelmata, including P. loutoni D. Polhemus, 2014 , P. myersi (Hungerford, 1931) , and P. reclusa D. Polhemus, 2014 . In particular, the multiple pale spots in the forewing represent a character state inconsistent with the uniformly dark coloration present in all species of Altavelia. In the case of P. helenae , this species also has three pale spots on the forewing, lacks lateral projections on the male proctiger, and inhabits bromeliads. As such, it also does not conform to the morphological or ecological character states definitive for Altavelia. Both of the above species have been retained in Paravelia for the present.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A. Altavelia altoandina, male holotype, dorsal view. B. Altavelia altoandina, female paratype, dorsal view. C. Altavelia antioquia, male paratype, dorsal view. D. Altavelia antioquia, female paratype, dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. A. Altavelia montana, male paratype, dorsal view. B. Altavelia montana, female paratype, dorsal view. C. Altavelia quindiana, female holotype, dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. A. Altavelia montana, thorax and base of abdomen, ventral view; white arrows show position of central tubercles. B. Altavelia flavomarginata, female, apex of thorax and abdomen, dorsal view.

FIGURE 4. A. Altavelia altoandina, male proctiger, dorsal view. B. Altavelia antioquia, male proctiger, dorsal view. C. Altavelia columbiensis, male proctiger, dorsal view. D. Altavelia flavomarginata, male proctiger, dorsal view. E. Altavelia montana, male proctiger, dorsal view. F. Altavelia altoandina, paramere. G. Altavelia antioquia, paramere. H. Altavelia columbiensis, paramere. I. Altavelia daza, paramere. J. Altavelia flavomarginata, paramere. K. Altavelia montana, paramere. L. Altavelia inveruglas, male proctiger, dorsal view. M. Altavelia inveruglas, paramere. N. Altavelia osborniana, male proctiger, dorsal view. O. Altavelia osborniana, paramere.

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Altavelia altoandina, A. antioquia, A. montana, and A. quindiana.

FIGURE 6. A. Altavelia boliviana, male, dorsal view. B. Altavelia boliviana, female, apex of abdomen, left posterolateral view. C. Altavelia columbiensis, male, dorsal view. D. Altavelia columbiensis, male, lateral view.

FIGURE 7. Distribution of Altavelia boliviana, A. columbiensis, and A. daza.

FIGURE 8. A. Altavelia daza, male, dorsal view. B. Altavelia daza, male, proctiger and parameres, dorsal view. C. Altavelia daza, male, lateral view.

FIGURE 9. A. Altavelia amoena (junior synonym of A. flavomarginata), male, dorsal view. B. Altavelia flavomarginata, male, dorsal view. C. Altavelia inveruglas, male, dorsal view. D. Altavelia osborniana, female, dorsal view

FIGURE 10. Distribution of Altavelia flavomarginata, A. inveruglas, A. osborniana, and A. willei.

FIGURE 11. A Altavelia willei, male, dorsal view. B. Altavelia willei, male, dorsal view. C. Altavelia willei, male, apex of abdomen, lateral view. D. Altavelia willei, male, dorsal view, apex of abdomen (Figs. 11A, C and D, specimen from Peru, Dept. Ancash, as listed in D. Polhemus 2014).