Lesneia johnsoni Yoshizawa & Lienhard, 2020

Yoshizawa, Kazunori, Marusik, Yuri M., Yao, Izumi & Lienhard, Charles, 2020, Systematic Position of the Enigmatic Psocid Family Lesneiidae (Insecta: Psocodea: Psocomorpha), With Description of Two New Species, Insect Systematics and Diversity (AIFB) 4 (6), No. 6, pp. 1-6 : 3-4

Lesneia johnsoni Yoshizawa & Lienhard , n. sp.

( Figs. 1A , 3 ) (urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:9D6860DA-E3FA-4110-819F-

8A3F50E789E7)

Holotype female (KY510). SOUTH AFRICA: Table Mountain National Park , Kirstenbosch Site 6, ‘ Fynbos’ shrubland, decayed log, 5.ii.2009, C. Uys (partly used for DNA extraction) (deposited at Geneva Museum of Natural History: MHNG).

Paratype female. SOUTH AFRICA: Table Mountain National Park, Cecilia, Spilhaus Site 14, ‘Fynbos’ shrubland, leaf litter, 18.x.2008, C. Uys (deposited at MHNG).

Description. Head black, antennae and mouthpart structures paler; eye small, IO/D = 7.0.

Thorax including legs blackish brown except for the basal half of mid and hind femora white; apical tip of tibiae and tarsi paler.

Abdomen including terminal segments black and heavily sclerotized, except for lateral longitudinal white irregular band; epiproct and paraproct pale brown; surface smooth; not strongly expanded dorsally but strongly expanded laterally, pre-terminal segments gradually broadened from narrow anterior segments toward 2/3 of pre-terminal abdominal length, then gradually narrowing toward truncated posterior end, in dorsal view abruptly narrowing toward clunium. Terminalia ( Fig. 3 ): Ventroposterior corner of clunium with posterior expansion. Epiproct small, ratio between length/ width ca. 5/8. Paraproct without latero-posterior membranous region; posteriorly with two closely approximated equal-length tiny spines. Subgenital plate nearly parallel-sided and with weakly arched posterior margin.

Body length 2.8 mm.

Etymology. The species epithet is dedicated to our colleague and friend, Kevin P. Johnson at Illinois Natural History Survey, for honoring his great contribution to elucidating the higher systematics of Psocodea . The large molecular dataset used in this study was originally compiled through the previous collaborative projects with him ( Johnson et al. 2004; Yoshizawa and Johnson 2010, 2013, 2014; Yoshizawa et al. 2014).

Remarks. This species is close to L. capensis Badonnel, 1931 , the type species of the genus, but clearly differs from the latter by the shape of the abdomen. In dorsal view, the pre-terminal abdomen looks somewhat truncated just before the terminal segments in L. johnsoni ( Fig. 1A ), whereas it is gradually narrowing toward the terminal segments in L. capensis . In addition, in L. capensis the paraproct lacks the tiny double-spine, the epiproct is triangular in shape and the femora of all legs are entirely blackish brown. All these differential characters were confirmed by CL on the holotype of L. capensis which is presently deposited at the Geneva Museum of Natural History (three slides mounted by A. Badonnel).

Figures

Fig. 1. Female habitus of Lesneia spp., dorsal (left) and dorsolateral (right) views.(A) L. johnsoni n. sp.(B) L. testudinata n. sp. (C) L. nigra. Scale = 1 mm.

Figs. 3–5. Female terminalia of Lesneia johnsoni n. sp.(3), Lesneia testudinata n. sp. (4), and Lesneia nigra (5). (A) terminalia, lateral view (setae omitted except for those on the paraproct). (B) epiproct, dorsal view. (C) subgenital plate, ventral view (setae omitted from right half).