Aphelocheirus (s.str.) inops HORVÁTH, 1918

Zettel, H. & Tran, A. D., 2009, Notes On The Aphelocheiridae (Heteroptera) From Indochina, With Redescriptions Of Aphelocheirus Inops And A. Gularis And The Description Of A New Species From Vietnam, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 55 (3), pp. 211-226 : 213-217

Aphelocheirus (s.str.) inops HORVÁTH, 1918

( Figs 1 , 3, 6, 11, 15–19)

Aphelochirus inops HORVÁTH, 1918: 140 .

Aphelocheirus (Aphelocheirus) inops (HORVÁTH) : POLHEMUS & POLHEMUS 1989: 220–222.

Material examined. Lectotype (by present designation; brachypterous male): “Annam\ Laos ”, “inops Horv. \ det. Horváth ”, “TYPUS”, “ Aphelochirus \ inops Horv. ”, “ LECTOTYPUS \ Aphelochirus \ inops Horváth, 1918 \ des. Zettel & Tran 2008” ( HNHM) . Paralectotypes: 1 male, 1 female (brachypterous) “Annam\ Laos ”, “inops Horv. \ det. Horváth ”, “TYPUS”, “ PARALECTOTYPUS \ Aphelochirus \ inops Horváth, 1918 \ labelled Zettel & Tran 2008”, “ Aphelocheirus \ inops Horváth \ det. Zettel & Tran 2008” ( HNHM) . Additional material: 1 male (brachypterous) Vietnam: Ha Giang Prov., Vi Xuyen, Viet Lam stream, 11.XII.2000, Coll. V.V. Nguyen & X.N. Ngo, # VNHG0001 ( ZRCS) .

Lectotype designation. The type series in the Hungarian Natural History Museum consists of the following brachypterous specimens: (1) two males (including lectotype) and one female of A. inops ; (2) one female of A. gularis ; (3) four females sp. “A”; one female sp. “B”. Two further paralectotypes in the J.T. POLHEMUS Collection ( POLHEMUS & POLHEMUS 1989) were not examined during the current study.

HORVÁTH (1918) did not designate a holotype or “type”. The fact that the syntype series consists of four species requires a lectotype designation. POLHEMUS and POLHEMUS (1989) listed in the paragraph of examined material a brachypterous male “ holotype ” in the Hungarian Natural History Museum and two “ paratypes ” in the JOHN T. POLHEMUS Collection. Normally, this would meet the requirements of a lectotype designation. However, these authors failed to label a specimen in the Hungarian Natural History Museum accordingly. Moreover, important parts of their redescription, if not the whole, is based on the syntypes (= “ paratypes ”) in the JOHN T. POLHEMUS Collection, which is obvious, because the male syntypes in the Hungarian Natural History Museum have not been dissected (before the present study) and no material from this institution has been loaned, but only one pair was taken on exchange. However, the lectotype designation carried out in this paper is in full accordance with the interpretation of this taxon by POLHEMUS and POLHEMUS (1989).

Description of brachypterous male (if no variation is given, measurements refer to the lectotype). Size. Body length 6.9–7.9 mm (lectotype: 6.9 mm). Body width 4.6–5.2 mm (lectotype: 4.6 mm). Pronotum width 3.5–4.0 mm (lectotype: 3.5 mm).

Colour. Dorsal colour of lectotype ( Fig. 1 ) almost uniformly medium brown, except head yellow. Specimen from Ha Giang with dark brown dorsum, except head yellow and narrowly infuscated anterolaterally. Ventral side, including appendages yellowish, partly brownish infuscated .

Head ( Fig. 1 ) short, length 0.9 times head width; dorsal surface coarsely punctured, except a few large punctures near anterior margin, all punctures confluent. Anterior section of head (anterior of anterior eye margin) moderately short, 0.65 times eye length (eye length measured parallel with median line of head). Rostrum 1.8 times as long as profemur, tip reaching mesotrochanter.

Thorax: Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) with distinctly convex disk, coarsely granulate. Median pronotum length 0.7 times median head length. Maximum width at posterior corners, 3.8 times median length. Lateral margins of pronotum strongly convex and convergent anteriorly; width at anterior corners 0.47 times maximum width. Prosternum anteromedially produced into small lobe. Propleuron (Fig. 3) medially with stout, triangular process, its anterior tip slightly acute. Mesosternum with high medial hump (Fig. 6), its anterior, steeply sloping face approximately as long as its ventral outline. Mesoscutellum coarsely granulate; anterior width 3.0 times median length, its centre only slightly convex.

Hemielytra ( Fig. 1 ) coarsely granulate, large, not reaching posterior margin of tergite 2, medially without gap (note that in Fig. 1 the lectotype’s left hemielytron is not in natural position). Each hemielytron much wider than long (ca. 1.5 times) and laterally with small triangular embolar process (process width ca. 0.1 times total hemielytron width).

bels not on scale. © NHMW Hemiptera Image Collection, published with permission

Legs relatively short and stout, femora scarcely exceeding lateral margin of body. Profemur 2.9 times as long as wide; shorter than both meso- and metafemur; those without special modifications.

Abdomen ( Fig. 1 ). Tergites 2–7 with acute posterior corners, but corners of tergites 2 and 3 less pronounced. Sternite 3 medioposteriorly with small tubercle. Sternites only slightly asymmetrical, sternite 4 with 2, sternite 5 with 4 peg-like setae.

Genitalia. Pygophore with left parandrium distinctly longer than right one (Fig. 15); left parandrium of narrow, subtriangular shape, with apex slightly recurved; right parandrium forming a Figs 3–14. 3–5 = Medial process of propleura ventrolateral aspect: 3 = A. inops , 4 = A. gularis , 5 = A. tuberculipes sp. n., 6–9 = Medial carina of mesosternum, lateral aspect: 6 = A. inops (brachypterous morph), 7 = A. gularis (holotype, macropterous morph), 8 = A. gularis (brachypterous morph), 9 = A. tuberculipes sp. n. (brachypterous morph). 10 = Subgenital plates of female paratype of A. tuberculipes sp. n.: 11–14 = Subgenital plates of female syntypes of A. inops , ventral aspect. 11 = A. inops ,

12 = A. gularis , 13 = A. sp. “A”, 14 = A. sp. “B”

wide, apically truncate hook. Main body of aedeagus (Fig. 15) almost straight, with weakly curved apex. Left paramere (Figs 16, 17) stout, with bend near mid-length, distal part curved and slightly widened towards subtruncate apex; at bend with a group of slightly longer setae, otherwise bare or with very short setae. Right paramere (Figs 18, 19) with enlarged bend at proximal two fifths, distal part slender, weakly curved, and steadily narrowed towards acute apex, only with short setiferation.

Description of brachypterous female. Size. Body length 8.2 mm. Body width 5.5 mm. Pronotum width 4.2 mm. Similar to brachypterous male. Abdomen symmetrical, sternite 4 with 4, sternite 5 with 4, and sternite 6 with 7 peg-like setae. Subgenital plate (Fig. 11) with broad base and small, narrow, tongue-shaped distal part, its sides S-curved, its apex narrowly rounded, with paired tufts of long setae laterally and one tuft of short seate subapically.

Discussion. Aphelocheirus inops is closely related to A. jendeki ZETTEL, 1998 which is known from China (Yunnan), northern Vietnam ( ZETTEL 1998, 2001) and northern Thailand ( SITES 2006), but this species differs in larger body size, in very short, obtuse posterolateral angle of the hemielytron of brachypterous specimens, in wider bases of both parameres, and in the extremely narrow, almost spine-shaped distal part of the right paramere (see ZETTEL 1998: figs 15, 17–20).

Figs 15–25. Genitalia of males: 15–19 = A. inops (lectotype), 20–25 = A. gularis (holotype). 15, 20 = Parandria and aedeagus. 16, 17, 21, 22 = Left parameres, two aspects. 18, 19, 23–25 = Right parameres, two or three aspects, respectively

The female of A. jendeki has a similar subgenital plate as A. inops , but the distal part is more triangular and less strongly narrowed.

Distribution. The type locality of this taxon is uncertain. The specimens’ locality labels bear only the information “Annam-Laos” which covers a large area in today’s Laos and central Vietnam. There is also no information about the collector or expedition. The only exact locality data of A. inops are available from a recently collected specimen in Ha Giang Province in northern Vietnam.

Figures

Figs 1–2. Habitus, dorsal aspect: 1 = brachypterous male of A. inops (lectotype by present designation; body length 6.9 mm), 2 = macropterous male of A. gularis (holotype; body length 6.8 mm). La-