Systelloderes stysi, Baňař, 2008

Baňař, Petr, 2008, A new species of Systelloderes (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Enicocephalidae) from South Africa, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (2), pp. 233-240 : 234-239

Systelloderes stysi sp. nov.

( Figs. 1-10 )

Type locality. South Africa, Eastern Cape, Hogsback.

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♀, ‘ South Africa, Eastern Cape / Hogsback, 970-1300m / 32°35′S 26°56-57′E / 5-7.xii. 2006, P.Bulirsch leg’.The specimen bears a red label ‘ HOLOTYPUS / Systelloderes / stysi sp. nov. / P.Baňař det.2008’. The specimen is card-mounted, with the abdomen mounted separately on the same card and right fore leg mounted on a second card on the same pin; deposited in the collection of Moravian Museum in Brno ( Czech Republic).

Description. Large species, general facies ( Fig. 1 ) elongate, moderately robust, extremities relatively short, modestly submacropterous.

Measurements (all in mm). Total body length – 5.71. Head.Anterior lobe, L – 0.64; posterior lobe, L – 0.31, W – 0.35; distance of eye to apex of antennifer – 0.27; diatone (max W across eyes) – 0.38; min dorsal interocular distance – 0.22; min ventral interocular distance – 0.24; eye, L – 0.16. Labium. Total L – 0.86; segment I, L – 0.11; segment II, L – 0.16; segment III, L – 0.37; segment IV, L – 0.22. Antenna. Segment I, L – 0.22; segment II, L – 0.47; segment III, L – 0.53; segment IV, L – 0.36. Pronotum. Total L (max) – 0.84; collum: L (median) – 0.18, max W – 0.44; mid lobe: L (max) – 0.44, W (max) – 0.62; hind lobe: L (max) – 0.28, L (median) – 0.18, W (max) – 0.87. Forewing. Max L – 2.71. Fore leg. F 1: L – 0.89, max W – 0.38; Ti 1: L – 0.76, max W – 0.36; Ta 1: L – 0.23, max W – 0.14; anterior claw, L (basis – apex) – 0.26; posterior claw, L (basis – apex) – 0.24. Middle leg. F 2: L – 0.67, max W – 0.16; Ti 2: L – 0.61, max W – 0.09; Ta 2: L (without claw) – 0.29, max W – 0.08. Hind leg. F 3: L – 0.98, max W – 0.31; Ti 3: L – 1.01, max W – 0.12; Ta 3: L (without claw) – 0.47, max W – 0.08.

Coloration ( Fig. 1 ). Head, pronotum and mesoscutellum dark brown, with posterior lobe of head slightly paler than anterior lobe and hind lobe of pronotum paler than rest of pronotum, rest of thorax and forewings brown, legs and antennae light brown, labium yellowish brown. Abdomen much paler than rest of body, whitish with sclerotized dark brown spots.

semierect setae, directed distad. Dorsal and ventral faces with erect tr- setae (double-row of 4+4 on each face). Anterior face of Ti 1 on proximal half sparsely and on distal half densely covered with long, curved setae, ventral, dorsal and posterior faces with long semierect setae and numerous tr- setae. Ta 1 densely covered with long outstanding setae on all faces; unguitractor plate with 1+1 parempodial setae, anterior one (near to anterior, longer claw) much shorter than posterior one ( Fig. 9 ).

Middle and hind legs densely covered with semierect setae, F 2 and Ti 2 on all faces, F 3 and Ti 3 on anterior, ventral and dorsal faces only, posterior face smooth. Ventral faces of F 2 and F 3 with several (4-5) tr- setae each, dorsal faces of F 2 and F 3 with 1+1 subterminal (adtibial) tr- setae each. Ti 2 and Ti 3 with adpressed setae becoming longer and denser distally. Dorsal face of Ti 2 and Ti 3 with group of 4-6 tr- setae subterminally. Ta 2 and Ta 3 with 8-10 tr- setae on dorsal face.

Forewings with sparse, short setae on veins, none on wing membrane.

Abdomen with short, adpressed setae, becoming longer on laterotergites of segments 7 and 8.

Structure. Head ( Fig. 1-2 ) strikingly narrow and long, slightly longer than pronotum (1.13 times as long as pronotum). Anterior lobe markedly longer than posterior one, 2.06 times as long. Lateral margin of preocular part parallel-sided proximally, its long distal part convex, diverging towards antennifer. Eye 0.59 times as long as distance between eye and apex of antennifer. Postocular impression of anterior lobe broad and shallow. Posterior lobe transverse, 0.89 times as long as wide, its dorsum slightly convex, lateral sides more convex. Eyes small, in lateral view not exceeding dorsal or ventral outlines of head. Ocelli large, ocellar tubercles low. Ventral outline of head continuous, very slightly concave, only the apex (fused bucculae) and basis (association with the neck) outstanding. Dorsal ocular index 4.75, ventral ocular index 5.97. Antennae moderately long, thin, segment I long, cylindrical, II-IV terete (not flagelliform, neither IV subfusiform), antennal formula (with the longest segment first) III, II, IV, I; segment III being 1.13 times as long as segment III. Labium ( Figs. 1-2 ) directed anteriad, without particular structures, labial formula (longest segment first) III, IV, II, I. Segment III: 2.3 times as long as segment II. Labrum reaching approximately middle of segment II.

Pronotum ( Figs. 1-3 ). Collum 2.44 times as wide as long, with narrow precollum, dorsum with straight, impressed median groove and a pair of elevations. Collar constriction sharply delimited. Middle lobe (dorsal side) with straight, broad and deep median impression terminating in three quarters of its length; disc with plastic relief, with a) inversely triangular anteromedial depression, b) broad and not distinctly delimited, subcircular posteromedial depression, c) sublinear median connection of both depressions, and d) paired deep lateral pits emitting one lateral depression each. Lateral margins convex. Constriction between middle lobe and hind lobe broad, sharply demarcated. Middle lobe 2.4 times as long as collum, 1.57 and 2.44 times as long as hind lobe maximum and median length, respectively. Middle lobe 1.4 times as long as wide. Hind lobe very short, with shallow median groove, its median length as long as collum, lateral margins rounded, posterolateral angles subrectangular; medially broadly and shallowly concave. Hind lobe 4.83 times as wide as medially long. Proepimeral lobe (sensu ŠTYS & BAŇAŘ 2006) extensive but not closing fore acetabula. Concave central part of mesoscutellum shaped as equilateral triangle.

Legs rather short, fore legs strikingly stout. Fore leg ( Figs. 3-5 , 8-9 ) extremely stout, particularly femur and tibia incrassate. Fore leg sensilla not studied except anterior trochanteral organ. Cx 1 ( Fig. 3 ) conical, anteroventral face with dense, prominent, drop-type cuticular thorns. Tr 1 with anterior trochanteral organ ( Fig. 6 ) consisting of 6+1 sensilla (group of six on anterior face, well visible in Fig. 6 ), one isolated on dorsal face, not visible in Fig. 6 ). F 1 2.34 times as long as wide, with small group of tile-shaped cuticular processes with several apical teeth each ( Fig. 10 ) in the distal third of anterior face. Ti 1 2.1 times as long as wide, broadly triangular, compressed at antero-posterior plane. Cleaning comb short, formed by tightly packed short 30 setae. Armature-bearing distiventral process absent. Apicitibial armature ( Figs. 5 , 8 ) consisting of seven spiniform setae: three ventral (two marginal straight and short, one broken median), two long subventral (posterior one slightly oblique towards tarsus), and two short dorsal (strongly oblique towards tarsus). Ta 1 cylindrical, 1.64 times as long as wide, tarsal armature ( Fig. 9 ) consisting of 1+1 proximal spiniform setae, anterior one being straight and posterior one curved, and 1+1 distal setae (both semicircular). Claws of the same shape, regularly curved, posterior one shorter.

Middle and hind leg. F 3 much stouter than F 2, tibiae widening distad, apices of both middle and hind tibiae with strikingly short posteroventral and anteroventral setal comb each; every comb terminated ventrally by long spiniform seta. Claws isomorphic.

Forewings reaching midlength of abdominal segment 6, venation as usual for Systelloderes , not studied in detail.

Abdomen (distorted in the holotype) with series of 1+1 large sclerites on ventrites and tergites 3-8.

Terminalia (distorted in the holotype, not studied in detail). Subgenital plate large, strongly sclerotized, elongate, basal margin convex.

Differential diagnosis. Systelloderes stysi sp. nov. can be distinguished from all African species by a large body, its length being 5.7 mm. The 10 species of Systelloderes living in South Africa ( S. beieri Villiers, 1969 , S. bergeri Villiers, 1976 , S. brincki Villiers 1962 , S. brunneaui Villiers, 1969 , S. capensis Villiers, 1962 , S. meridionalis Villiers, 1962 , S. olivaceus Maldonado Capriles, 1988 , S. pugnatorius (Distant, 1904) (described as Henicocephalus ), S. rudebecki Villiers, 1969 , and S. stuckenbergi (Villiers, 1960) (described as Compsoderes )) are much smaller (body length of all species except S. olivaceus at most 4 mm, body length of S. olivaceus 4.6 mm). Systelloderes stysi sp. nov. differs from S. olivaceus by the following characters: antennal segment II shorter than segment III (segment II moderately longer than segment III in S. olivaceus ); transverse hind lobe of head (lobe longer than wide in S. olivaceus ); collum longer than hind lobe of pronotum; details of apicitibial armature (two dorsalmost spines much longer and less curved in S. olivaceus ), and stouter fore tibia (ratio of length to maximum width equal to 2.1 in S. stysi sp. nov. and 2.8 in S. olivaceus ).

Etymology. I dedicate this species to Pavel Štys (Charles University, Praha), an eminent entomologist and reputable researcher of the Heteroptera, my teacher and friend, on the occasion of his 75 th birthday.

Bionomics. The holotype was collected by sieving leaf litter in a cloud forest (P. Bulirsch, pers. comm.).

Distribution. Known only from Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Figures

Figs. 1. Systelloderes stysi sp. nov., holotype, female, dorsal

Fig. 2. Systelloderes stysi sp. nov., holotype, female, head in lateral view.

Figs. 3-6. Systelloderes stysi sp. nov., holotype, female, right fore leg. 3 – total view; 4 – apex of tibia and tarsus; 5 – apicitibial armature; 6 – anterior trochanteral organ.All anterior view.

Figs. 7-10. Systelloderes stysi sp. nov., holotype, female. 7 – head and pronotum, dorsal view; 8 – right fore tibia, apicitibial armature, anterior view; 9 – right fore tarsus, tarsal armature and parempodial setae, antero-ventral view; 10 – right fore femur, anterior view, detail of tile-shaped cuticular processes. Abbreviations: ac – anterior claw; pc – posterior claw. Hairs omitted except of parempodial setae.