Perittopus falciformis, Ye, Zhen, Chen, Pingping & Bu, Wenjun, 2013

Ye, Zhen, Chen, Pingping & Bu, Wenjun, 2013, Contribution to the knowledge on the Oriental genus Perittopus Fieber, 1861 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) with descriptions of four new species from China and Thailand, Zootaxa 3616 (1), pp. 31-48 : 36-37

Perittopus falciformis sp. nov.

Figs. 2, 10, 19, 23, 32, 37, 45a, 45b.

Material examined. Holotype: apterous female, CHINA: Yunnan Province, Pingbian County, 1500 m, 23. V. 1996, leg. Wen-jun Bu (NKUM). Paratypes: 1 male and 1 female, apterous (NKUM), 1 male, apterous (NCTN), same data as holotype.

Description to apterous female (Fig. 2). Color: ground color reddish, head bright reddish, labrum brownish, with buccula orange; rostrum yellow with black apex; antennae shining black except basal part of antennal segment 1 yellowish; pronotum reddish (Fig. 10), with scattered dark punctures; legs mainly yellow, apex of femora brownish, tibiae and tarsi weakly infuscated, and apex of tarsi almost blackish; abdomen dorsum (Fig. 19) dull red, connexiva mainly dull reddish except internal parts of laterotergites bright yellowish; abdomen venter bright orange. Structural characteristics: body length 3.17–3.2 (holotype: 3.2), medium-sized, rather stout, diamond shape in dorsal view, mainly with short, blackish, appressed pubescence and especially dorsum anteriorly and laterally covered by suberect, thicker, blackish hairs; head deflected, head length: 0.31–0.32, head width: 0.72–0.73, about 2.31 times head length, hind margin of head laterally and ventrally with some black peg-like spiculae, antennae relatively short and stout, about 0.55 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments 1–4: 0.48, 0.33, 0.4, 0.51; pronotum hind margin broadly rounded, slightly darker punctures scatter on the pronotal lobe, pronotum length: 0.87–0.88, pronotum width: 1.17–1.18, medially reaching hind margin of mediotergite 1, lateral part of pronotum medially without a distinct constriction in dorsal view (Fig. 10), posterior part slightly wider than anterior, mesonotum and metanotum completely hidden beneath pronotal lobe except laterally, prosternum anteromedially with some black peg-like spiculae; legs mainly with decumbent and suberect, blackish hairs, tarsi of fore leg short and incrassate, tarsi of middle and hind legs long and slender; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia, and tarsi): fore leg: 0.77, 0.74, and 0.35 (0.05 + 0.3), middle leg: 1.0, 1.2, and 0.83 (0.2 + 0.3 + 0.33), hind leg: 1.1, 1.5, and 0.57 (0.09 + 0.17 + 0.31); mediotergites not flat, after mediotergite 3 distinctly depressed, connexiva stout and raised, moderately convergent (Fig. 19), the smallest distance between connexiva at apex of segment 7 approximately 3 times thickness of connexivum, connexivum 7 with dense, posterodorsad directed and blackish hairs (Fig. 23), mediotergites 1–3 with short, sparse hairs, mediotergites 4–6 almost bare, hind margin of mediotergite 7 with relatively long, black, posterodorsad directed hairs, mediotergite 8 almost bare, connexivum 8 with short, sparse, blackish hairs in caudal aspect. Genital segments: gonocoxa 1 simple, platelike, exposed; procitiger small, directed posteriad, with dense, short hairs.

Description of apterous male. Color as in apterous female, but more or less darker. Body slightly slender, body length: 2.79–2.82, structure of head including antennae as in female, head length: 0.35–0.36, head width: 0.77–0.78, about 2.16 times head length, antennae about 0.58 times as long as body, lengths of antennal segments 1–4: 0.44, 0.32, 0.4, 0.5; pronotum medially without a transversal constriction, pronotum length: 0.7–0.8, pronotum width: 1.05–1.06; lengths of leg segments (femur, tibia, and tarsi): fore leg: 0.75, 0.78, and 0.32 (0.05 + 0.28), middle leg: 1.0, 1.16, and 0.85 (0.2 + 0.29 + 0.36), hind leg: 1.08, 1.5, and 0.62 (0.1 + 0.19 + 0.33); grasping comb short, about 0.17 times fore tibia length; abdomen pleurally and ventrally without special modification, mediotergites almost flat, connexiva narrow, slightly raised, weakly convergent, all mediotergites and laterotergites with relatively long, posterodorsad directed, blackish hairs; segment 8 (Fig. 32) about 1.23 times as long as wide, relatively stout, with dorsal hind margin concave, pygophore simple, apex of proctiger relatively slender ( Fig. 37 ), paramere ( Figs. 45 a, 45b) relatively simple, with narrow, short basal part and elongate, slender distally falciform part, apically slightly blunt; other characters as in apterous female.

Macropterous female and macropterous male are unknown.

Etymology. The specific epithet “ falciformis ” (from Latin, meaning “sickle-shaped”) is used to denote the falciform shape of the male paramere in lateral view.

Diagnosis. The male of this species can be easily distinguished from all described species of Perittopus by the characteristic shape of the paramere of male ( Figs. 45 a, 45b). In the apterous morph of the female, P. falciformis sp. nov. seems to be closely related to P. z h e n gi sp. nov. However, P. falciformis sp. nov. can be distinguished by its ground color, brightly reddish (Fig. 2); further differences are found in the shape of pronotum, which is without a distinctly medial constriction (Fig. 10); the tibiae and tarsi are weakly infuscated; the connexivum 8 has short, sparse, blackish hairs; segment 8 is relatively stouter, about 1.23 times as long as wide (Fig. 32).

Figures

FIGURES 36 – 40. Proctigers of Perittopus spp. in dorsal view (male) 36 P. crinalis sp. nov., 37 P. falciformis sp. nov., 38 P. yunnanensis sp. nov., 39 P. zhengi sp. nov., 40 P. asiaticus Zettel, 2001. Scale 0.2 mm.

FIGURES 41 – 45. Parameres of Perittopus spp. (41 – 45 a. in lateral view; 45 b. in perpendicular view) (male) 41 P. yunnanensis sp. nov., 42 P. crinalis sp. nov., 43 P. zhengi sp. nov., 44 P. asiaticus Zettel, 2001, 45 a P. falciformis sp. nov., 45 b P. falciformis sp. nov.. Scale 0.1 mm.