Redeicephala taylori, Davranoglou & Ox, 2016

Davranoglou, Leonidas-Romanos & Ox, Oxford, 2016, Redeicephala taylori, a new genus and species of Reduviidae from New Guinea, with notes on a few morphological features of the Tribelocephalinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 56 (1), pp. 39-50 : 45-47

Redeicephala taylori sp. nov.

Type locality. Papua New Guinea, Sandaun Province, Torricelli Mountains (misspelled as Torecella in label of holotype, see below).

Type material. HOLOTYPE: J (macropterous), ‘N. GUINEA / Torecella Mts // G.P.Moore / B.M. 1939-479 [printed, white label] // tape label [description]’ ( BNHM). Pygophore and phallus preserved in glycerine microvial, pinned along with the specimen.

Description. Colour. General colouration light brown. Head and anterior lobe of pronotum darker than rest of body, eyes silvery white, rostrum, antennae and legs yellow. Abdomen light brown, posterior margin of epipleurites and hypopleurites with a whitish suffusion, cephalic and thoracic sutures and glabrous patches of abdomen marking inner muscle attachments orange. Hemelytra pale ochraceous, clavus blackish, distal portion of R, base of free distal portion of Cu, m-cu crossvein and a broad surrounding area at the apex of corium with dark suffusion. Body setation light brown, setae on labrum, labium, legs and abdomen yellow.

Structure. Genitalia. Pygophore ( Figs 12–14 ) rounded, strongly sclerotized. Posterior portion of cup-like sclerite forming a spiniform projection protruding from genital capsule, somewhat curved ventrad, very thin and acute apically. Parameres ( Figs 15–16 ) slender, strongly bent, apex truncate and provided with a small, rounded projection dorsally ( Fig. 16 ). Phallus: articulatory apparatus somewhat U-shaped ( Fig. 18 : aa). Ductifer broad, arms not adjoined to each other, thickest medially, very thin at level of ductifer ( Fig. 18 ). Dorsal connectives as in Fig. 18 , somewhat inflected inwards. Capitate processes small; no ponticu- lus transversalis visible; pedicel extremely narrow; phallotheca extremely flat ( Figs 20–21 ), apically with 1+1 very large, flattened wing-like prolongations (phallothecal projections) ( Fig. 20 : pp); dorsal phallothecal sclerite ( Fig. 18 : dps) somewhat spatulate, extremely broad, forming 1+1 processes tapering apically (projections of dorsal phallothecal sclerite) ( Figs 18, 20 : pdps); endosomal struts separate basally, fuse medially and continue as a narrow spatulate structure until approximately the first two-thirds of the dorsal phallothecal sclerite ( Fig. 18 ); endosoma extremely flattened, apically slightly bilobate ( Figs 17–18, 19 : esm); endosomal surface covered by a unique pattern composed of hundreds of minute denticles ( Fig. 19 ).

Measurements (in mm). Total body length 14.0; greatest width of abdomen 5.40; length of head 2.80; anteocular 1.63; vertex 0.70; width across eyes 1.12; interocular width 0.30; lengths of antennal segments I: II: III: IV = 2.83: 2.33: 0.76: 1.48; maximum widths of antennal segments I: II: III: IV = 0.23: 0.09: 0.046: 0.046; lengths of labial segments II: III: IV = 1.42: 1.30: 0.21; maximum widths of labial segments II: III: IV = 0.24: 0.19: 0.09; entire length of prothorax 2.20; anterior pronotal lobe length/width 0.93/1.56; posterior pronotal lobe length/width 1.25/3.38; length/width of mesoscutellum 0.50/0.67; length of fore wing from base to membrane 8.90; length of abdomen in lateral view 7.75; lengths of coxa: trochanter: femur: tibia: tarsus of fore leg 0.60: 0.60: 3.12: 3.43; mid leg 0.60: 0.60: 3.31: 2.81: 0.90; hind leg 0.70: 0.64: 4.38: 3.43: –; maximum widths of coxa: trochanter: femur: tibia: tarsus of fore leg 0.60: 0.30: 0.38: 0.25: –; mid leg 0.55: 0.30: 0.38: 0.25: 0.1; hind leg 0.53: 0.30: 0.38: 0.25: –.

Etymology. It is a pleasure to dedicate this species to my supervisor Graham K. Taylor, for his support, which greatly encourages me during my newly-started Ph.D. studies.

Biology. Unknown.

Distribution. Known only from an unspecified location in the Torricelli Mountains, Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea.

Figures

Figs 12–16. Pygophore of Redeicephala taylori gen. & sp. nov.12 – dorsal view; 13 – ventral view; 14 – dorsolateral view, spiniform cup-like sclerite strongly visible; 15 – right paramere, outer view; 16 – left paramere, inner view.

Figs 17–21. Internal male genitalia of Redeicephala taylori gen. & sp. nov. 17 – phallus, ventral view; 18 – phallus, dorsal view; 19 – ventral view of phallotheca with apex of endosoma; 20 – phallus, ventrolateral view; 21 – phallus, lateral view.Abbreviations: aa – articulatory apparatus; esm – endosoma; dps – dorsal phallothecal sclerite; pdps – projection of dorsal phallothecal sclerite; pp – phallothecal projection; str – struts.