Isometopus carinifrons, Akingbohungbe, A. E., 2006

Akingbohungbe, A. E., 2006, New species of Isometopinae (Hemiptera: Miridae) from Yemen with a new name for Isometopus longirostris Akingbohungbe from Sudan, Zootaxa 1210, pp. 27-38 : 28-30

Isometopus carinifrons sp. nov.

Description

Male. Length 2.16. Maximum width 1.28. Head width across vertex 0.48; dorsal length 0.12; facial length 0.38; facial width 0.58. Anterior inter­ocular space 0.18; posterior space 0.40. Dorsal width of eye 0.15; maximum width 0.23; height 0.27. Height of gena 0.03. Ocellus width 0.03; interocellar space 0.10. Maximum width of pronotum 1.05; median length 0.32. Scutellum length 0.60; width 0.50. Cuneus length 0.50; width 0.32. Rostrum 1.28. Antennae I 0.08; II 0.46; III 0.36; IV missing.

Elongate oval (figure 1). Head strongly vertical, from above about 4x as broad as long; in front somewhat triangular, about 1.53x as broad as high. Vertex, base of frons, lateral marginal band abutting on eyes, genae, lora, all dark­red to black; head disk otherwise pale whitish hyaline. Practically impunctate, pubescent with pale to yellow­white semi­erect and erect hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures; these dense and upturned on vertex and base of frons. Frons at base distinctly depressed; apex tumid, set with apical marginal blunt carina and another sub­apical somewhat weaker one. Eyes deep red, glabrous, emarginate behind ocelli. Ocelli whitish translucent, about 3.3x width of each apart. Occiput, postgena, broadly exposed, pale hyaline. Antennae with segment I pale yellow; II and III pale yellow on ventral surface, darkened dorsally; IV missing. I about two­thirds as thick as long, glabrous; II somewhat narrowed medially, at base and apex about 1.2x as thick as I, dense with semi­erect and erect yellow­brown hairs shorter than segment thickness; III subfusiform to linear, dense with semi­erect hairs longer than segment thickness. Rostrum yellow­brown, apical band on segment IV dark­red; reaching as far back as seventh abdominal sternite.

Pronotum about 3.28x as broad as long. Lateral margins distinctly explanate, hyaline; posterior margin bisinuate. Disk convexly raised, transversely rugose punctate except calli prominent, confluent, impunctate. Mesoscutum, scutellum strongly tumid, distinctly punctate with scutellum more coarsely so.

Hemelytra glassy hyaline; corium, clavus finely punctate; embolium, cuneus impunctate; membrane smoky reddish­brown, glabrous, biareolate.

Dorsum generally strongly shining, pale yellow hyaline; broad posterior band on pronotum dark reddish­brown; mesoscutum, basal two­thirds or so of scutellum, narrow basal and apical bands on clavus, basal extremity of corium, broad band covering apical half of corium and extending laterad to embolium, all contrasting piceous to black. Distinctly pubescent with semi­reclining to semi­erect golden yellow and reddish­brown hairs matching colour of background; these intermixed with dark reddish­brown bristles on corium, embolium and cuneus.

Venter largely piceous to black; propleura pale yellow hyaline, impunctate. Prosternum, metasternum, abdominal sternites II to IV mid­ventrally, all yellow­brown with reddish tinge. Fore and mid legs generally pale yellow hyaline, tibiae tinged with reddish shading to distinct darkening on protibiae; metacoxae similarly pale, other leg units missing.

Female. Unknown.

Comments

This new species belongs in the subgenus Jehania Distant and represents the third record of the subgenus in the Middle East; the two previously reported species being I. yemenensis Akingbohungbe and I. quadrivittatus Akingbohungbe , both from the Republic of Yemen. The new species can be readily separated from these two species by the distinctive colouration of the dorsum as described above. For example, the pronotal disk is not uniformly darkened and the cuneus lacks any dark band. Besides, the new species differs from all other known species of Jehania in having a weak blunt carina behind the usual apical marginal carina separating the frons from the base of the tylus.

HOLOTYPE: male, Yemen, Sana’a: 12km NW Manakhah, 27 March to 5 May, 2002, van Harten (LC).