Stysiellus, Gapon & TentatDAG, 2008

Gapon, Dmitry A. & TentatDAG, 2008, New subtribes and a new genus of Podopini (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Podopinae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 48 (2), pp. 523-532 : 526-531

Stysiellus gen. nov.

Type species. Scotinophara dentata Distant, 1902 .

Description. Body ( Fig. 13 ) rather small, its dorsal and ventral surfaces equally slightly convex. Coloration yellowish with head, anterior part of pronotum, points of punctation, and ventral surfaces of abdomen except its sides dark brown. Pubescence short, accumbent on head, anterior part of pronotum and ventral surfaces of abdomen, and partly raised on other parts of body.

Head wider than long, not inclined. Eyes pedicellate, slightly wider than long. Preocular part of head wide, parabolically narrowed anteriad. Jugae with hardly appreciable lateral notches and smoothly bent lateral angles, very weakly extending beyond clypeus, not converging. Clypeus evenly narrow, its base and frons very weakly convex. Dorsal surface of head with pale narrow longitudinal stripe and pale apices of jugae. Points of punctation very small, dense, absent on small areas at postero-internal margins of eyes. Bucculae evenly low on all length, with a straight inferior margin, without tooth on anterior part. Rostrum reaching middle of metacoxae. Antenniferous tubercles with very small teeth. Antennae 5-segmented, basal segments pale, segments 4 and 5 dark.

Pronotum. Anterior margin of pronotum weakly concave, with thin elevation. Lateral margins of pronotum straight or very weakly convex in anterior part and slightly concave in posterior part, with thin pale rib, bearing 4-5 small denticles directed laterad and caudad. Teeth on anterior angles of pronotum large, directed anteriad and laterad. Lateral angles of pronotum in anterior part with small tooth directed laterad and widely rounded in posterior part. Anterior and posterior portions of pronotal disk nearly evenly high. Anterior portion of disk with strongly smoothed tubercle on each side and wide pale cicatrices around it. Transverse carina behind them strongly smoothed. Transverse impression of disk superficial but distinct along the whole length. Narrow smooth pale medial line without punctation situated in anterior and middle parts of pronotum. Points of punctation moderately large, superficial.

Mesothorax. Scutellum almost reaching apex of abdomen, leaving connexivum and most of corium exposed, its base slightly wider than distal part. Lateral margins of scutellum with deep notches and strongly convex distal area. Impressions in basal corners of scutellum superficial. Basal elevation of scutellum very low, with unclear contours. Calloused areas in lateral corners small, roundish. Punctation on scutellum as on pronotum. Scutellum with five longitudinal yellow lines without punctation, external ones wider, blurry, not reaching apex of scutellum; paired internal lines narrower, more separate basally, approximated and parallel elsewhere; medial line short, located between converging bases of internal lines and narrowing distad. Corium with yellow areas lacking punctation along border of exocorium. Posterior margin of mesopleurite with rather narrow strip of poriferous cuticle forming large folds.

Metathorax. Scent gland opening on small roundish tubercle, with very small tubercle near anterior edge of gland aperture. Evaporatorium large, narrowed in distal part, its surface forming rather large folds. Sterna of all segments of thorax very slightly bent, almost flat, covered with short felt-like pubescence.

Legs pale. Femora and bases of tibiae covered with small brown spots; anterior surfaces of femora before apex with two obscure brown rings divided by light area.

Abdomen. Laterotergites of connexivum pale, with blackish antero-lateral corners. Posterior angles of abdominal segments with small pale tubercles. Base of abdominal ventral surface with transverse impression but without tubercle or longitudinal impression.

Pygophore ( Figs. 14-15) wider than long. Latero-apical angles strongly protruded apicad with narrowly rounded apices. Dorsal infolding of pygophore weakly separated, bent ventrad, with deep wide notch. Lateral infoldings narrow; ventral infolding slightly bent dorsad. Ventroapical margin of pygophore with deep rounded lateral notches, slightly bent in medial part. Projections on each side of medial notch of ventral infolding very strongly elongate, equal to latero-apical angles of pygophore in size. Impression of ventral walls of pygophore deep and wide, with very distinct edge. Bridges (medial parandria) separating lateral parandria rather wide, narrowed ventrad, with bent surfaces in dorsal part. Aperture of lateral parandrium detached by these bridges small. Lateral parandria much longer than latero-apical angles of pygophore ( Fig. 16), their dorsal margins straight, without tooth at base, with notch in middle of length. Inner surface of lateral parandria with slanting impression; outer surfaces weakly convex; all surfaces, especially internal one in distal part, densely covered with raised setae. Apices of lateral parandria narrow.

Paramere ( Figs. 14-15, 17). Basal plate not large. Small stalk and body of paramere moderately narrow and long. Sensory process long and wide, rounded in apical view. Hypophysis long, smoothly bent forward, triangular in transverse section. Apex of hypophysis truncated, outer angle of its apex slightly longer than inner. Outer surface of hypophysis bearing several setae.

Aedeagus ( Figs. 18-19). Phallobase. Caudal ends of plates of phallobase not reaching half of basal part of theca. Ventral processes of phallobase very short. Dorsal connectives short. Capitate processes with distinct small stalks and large rounded plates perpendicular to the processes, each with perpendicular carina. Theca. Basal part of theca strongly sclerotized, with rather strong convex dorsal wall and straight ventral wall. Apical part of theca sclerotized more weakly than basal part; length of each nearly equal. Latero-apical angles of apical part of theca strongly oblong, narrowly rounded, extending beyond apex of conjunctiva. Dorsoapical notch of apical part of theca deep and rounded. Conjunctiva. Ventrolateral lobes of conjunctiva absent. Apeх of conjunctiva weakly convex and appearing as a low dome. Ventral lobe of conjunctiva large. Longitudinal bands of medial penal plates narrow and parallel at base; these bands smoothly converging in ventral view and expanding in lateral view. Apical processes of medial plates wide, with truncate apices. Upper angles of apical processes touching each other. Membrane of inferior wall of ventral lobe long and visible in lateral view. Vesica appearing as a very short and rather wide tube.

Female genitalia. Gonocoxae 1 with large anterior parts lying under posterior margin of sternum VII in repose ( Fig. 20). Posterior margins of gonocoxae 1 convex in lateral part and bent in medial part. External surface of gonocoxae 1 along posterior margin with several strong setae, internal surface without impression near medial margin. Medial plate short, without impression, with several strong setae. Paratergites IX wide in anterior part, narrowed caudad, with straight outer margins, not extending beyond posterior margin of proctiger and not covering inner angles of paratergites VIII; the latter large, about as long as wide, with weakly convex posterior margins and without spiracles. Triangulum weakly sclerotized at base, with slightly oblong and narrowed apex. Vestiges of first gonapophyses visible as rather large membranous folds ( Fig. 21). Vestiges of second gonapophyses very small. Gynatrial sclerites ( Fig. 21). Parabasal sclerite rather large, longitudinal, with straight lateral margins, slightly extending anteriad, with convex anterior margin. Basal sclerites longitudinal, very narrow, their anterior ends connected with large round sclerites, posterior ends connected to anterior part of parabasal sclerite by thin bands. Annular sclerite roundish in anterior part and strongly extended in posterior part. Conoid sclerite brought closer to annular sclerite, longer than wide, with widely rounded apex. Spermatheca ( Fig. 22). Proximal part of spermathecal duct nearly reaching anterior margin of sternum VII. Medial part of duct reaching middle of sternum V. Proximomedial part of duct (membranous dilation) without sharp constriction proximally, distimedial part (sclerotized rod) rather wide, without dilatation before strongly narrowed posterior end. Visible distal part of spermathecal duct and spermathecal capsule as long as pump. Capsule oblong, without processes.

Comparative notes. Stysiellus gen. nov. differs from the Scotinopharina by having large pyramidal lateral parandria, a long sensory process of paramere, and the ventral infolding of pygophore not bent dorsad (or absent?). It forms its own group in the subtribe Podopina close to the Thoria -group and especially to the Amaurochrous -group. These three groups differ from Podops by a strong reduction of the ventrolateral lobes of conjunctiva ( Figs. 10-12 , 18-19), absence of the apical lobes of conjunctiva, expanded sensory process of paramere ( Figs. 1 , 15, 17), and rather short hypophysis of paramere. Stysiellus gen. nov. differs from the Amaurochrous -group by the dentate lateral margin of pronotum, absence of the tooth at the base of the dorsal margin of lateral parandria (characters developed probably independently in the Thoria -group), narrow medial penal plates divided into longitudinal bands and apical processes located in the sagittal plane in repose, absence of lateral membranous parts of the ventral lobe of conjunctiva, and longer latero-apical angles of pygophore. Stysiellus gen. nov. and the Amaurochrous- groups differ from the Thoria -group in the strongly protruded latero-apical angles of pygophore ( Fig. 14), deep notches in lateral parts of the ventro-apical margin of pygophore, weakly convex outer surfaces of lateral parandria, absence of the ventrolateral lobes of conjunctiva ( Figs. 11-12 , 18-19), tubercles on its dorsal wall, and the oblong annular gynatrial sclerite.

Etymology. This genus is dedicated to Professor Pavel Štys. The gender is masculine.

Composition. The genus is monotypic.

Figures

Fig. 13. Stysiellus dentatus (Distant, 1902), habitus.

Figs. 1-12. 1-4 – pygophores (1-3 caudal view, 4 ventral view). 1 – Podops inunctus (Fabricius, 1775); 2 – Kayesia parva Schouteden, 1903; 3 – Scotinophara mixta Linnavuori, 1970; 4 – Crollius conspersus Walker, 1867. 5 – parandria of Kayesia parva (caudal view). 6-12 – aedeagi (6 – apical view; 7-8, 12 – lateral view; 9-11 – ventral view). 6-7 – Kayesia parva; 8 – Gambiana aspera (Walker, 1867); 9 – Podops rectidens Horváth, 1883; 10 – Crollius conspersus; 11-12 – Amaurochrous cinctipes (Say, 1828). a. l – apical lobe of conjunctiva; ap. p – aperture of lateral parandrium; l. prd – lateral parandrium; m. p. p – median penal plates, m. prd – medial parandrium; prm – paramere; s. pr – sensory process of paramere; v. l – lateral membranous parts of conjunctival ventral lobe; vl. l – ventro-lateral lobe of conjunctiva.