Planicapitus brunneus Taszakowski & Kim, 2025

Taszakowski, Artur, Kim, Junggon & Jindra, Zdeněk, 2025, Further records of the tribe Gigantometopini (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae, Isometopinae) with descriptions of three new genera and five new species, Zootaxa 5725 (4), pp. 451-474 : 457-459

Planicapitus brunneus Taszakowski & Kim , sp. nov.

( Fig. 4 )

Diagnosis. Distinguished from P. luteus by the following combination of characters: The bottom half of the head brown, except for a pale spot in the middle ( Fig 4G ); gena yellowish brown; pedicel shorter than combined lengths of flagellomeres; corium entirely dark brown; posterior part of cuneus brown; right paramere 0.77x as long as left one, apical process forms an angle of 130° with the basal process.

Description. Male. Body oval, length 3.59 ( Fig. 4A, B ). Coloration. Yellowish brown ( Fig. 4A, B, G ). Head: vertex reddish; the area around the ocelli red; compound eyes pale; frons whitish, with two dark brown spots ventrally extending into large, V-shaped brown macula ( Fig. 4G ); gena yellowish brown; scape and pedicel yellowish, basiflagellomere brown ( Fig. 4A, B ); labium yellowish, apical part of fourth segment brown. Thorax: pronotum mostly brown, anterior and lateral parts yellowish brown, central and posterior parts brown; exposed part of mesoscutum pale brown; scutellum reddish brown, with apex whitish and lateral angles narrowly pale yellowish; thoracic pleura brown; ostiolar peritreme yellowish, evaporative area pale brown; hemelytra generally brown ( Fig. 4A, B ); corium entirely brown; embolium pale brown, semitransparent; hypocostal lamina brown except yellowish anterior part; cuneus pale brown, with pale spot in basal inner corner; membrane brown; coxae pale, femora and tibiae yellowish brown with brown spots, tarsi yellowish. Abdomen: brown. Surface and Vestiture. Body shiny, unevenly punctate, covered with scattered, pale, long setae ( Fig. 4A, B, I ); head impunctate but wrinkled, frons and vertex with tiny scattered setae, posterior margin with long, reclining setae ( Fig. 4H, I ); antennae with erect setae; pronotal collar with row of setae; pronotum, distinctly and densely punctate, covered with setae, calli slightly punctate; mesoscutum punctate and almost glabrous; scutellum punctate in medial part, in lateral part impunctate but covered with setae; thoracic pleura deeply, unevenly punctate, and covered in places with scattered setae ( Fig. 4I ); hemelytra shallowly and unevenly punctate, covered with setae; legs with short, adherent, pale-brown setae; abdomen covered with pale-brown setae. Structure. Head: flattened, hypognathous, distinctly higher than width across eyes, dorsally extending to level of highest point of pronotum; vertex convex, protruding above eye level; compound eyes 0.5x as high as head high; vertex wide, 0.45x as head width; ocelli small, spaced apart, touching compound eyes ( Fig. 4G–I ); fovea antennalis positioned at middle of the ventral margin of compound eye and apex of clypeus; scape short, as thick as pedicel; pedicel slightly arcuate, flagellomeres linear, thin; proportion of scape to distiflagellomere 0.12:0.64:0.80:missing; labium reaching third abdominal segment. Thorax: pronotum trapeziform, midline length almost equal to 1/2 posterior width; pronotal collar thin; calli slightly marked, separated by shallow fossa, disc relatively flat, lateral margin carinate, posterior margin weakly sinuate with a small backwards-pointing process in the middle, posterior angles weakly angled; mesoscutum long; scutellum tumid, large, 0.8x as long as pronotal length, baso-medially clearly depressed; scent gland evaporative area triangular; ostiolar peritreme small, strongly swollen, directed upward and anteriorly; hemelytron lateral margin slightly rounded; hypocostal lamina wide, cuneus broad, inner margin straight; membrane with two cells; tarsi two-segmented; claws without a subapical tooth. Abdomen: elongate, not reaching apex of cuneus. Genitalia: aedeagus delicate, endosoma sacciform and membranous, weakly sclerotized inside, outer subapical and apical part more sclerotic, clothed with dense spinules ( Fig. 4C, D ); left paramere scythe-shaped, with long apical process and slightly developed sensory lobe, apical process vertically curved, sensory lobe with few setae ( Fig. 4E ); right paramere 0.77x as long as left one, with knee-shaped sensory lobe, apical process long, slightly curved at apex; apical process forms an angle of 130° with the basal process ( Fig. 4F ).

Measurements. Body. Length, clypeus-apex of membrane: 2.59; width 1.20. Head. Length: 0.24; width, including compound eyes: 0.56; vertex width: 0.25; eye dorsal width: 0.16; height in frontal view: 0.81. Antenna. Length of scape: 0.12, pedicel: 0.64, flagellomere I: 0.80, flagellomere II: –. Labium. Total length: 1.18; length of segment I: 0.30; II: 0.32; III: 0.25; IV: 0.37. Pronotum. Mesal length: 0.54; posterior maximal width (straight): 1.13. Mesoscutum. Mesal length: 0.13. Scutellum. Anterior width: 0.53; mesal length: 0.43. Hemelytron. Length: 1.98; claval commissure length: 0.27; outer embolial margin length (straight): 1.23; outer cuneal margin length (straight): 0.24; cuneus width: 0.35. Metatarsus. Total length: 0.23; length of tarsomeres I:II: 0.09:0.18.

Etymology. From Late Latin brűnus (‘brown’).

Type material. Holotype ( ♂): ’ THAILAND,pr. Trang \ Ton Pan waterfall \ W of Ban Nawong \\ 26. XI. 2003., No. 27 \ leg. A. Orosz et \ Gy. Sziráki’ ( HNHM).

Distribution. South Thailand, Malay Peninsula ( Fig. 3J ).

Biology. Unknown.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution of Gigantometopini (updated from Taszakowski et al. 2020). Yellow arrows and letters – described species, white arrows and numbers – unknown or undescribed Gigantometopini. Astroscopometopus gryllocephalus (Miyamoto, Yasunaga & Hayashi, 1996) (A); A. gryllocephalus and Kohnometopus fraxini Yasunaga, 2005 (B); Astroscopometopus formosanus (Lin, 2004) and Isometopidea lieweni Poppius, 1913 nec (C); Kohnometopus yangi (Lin, 2005) (D); A. formosanus (E); Gigantometopus coronobtectus Kim, Taszakowski & Jung, 2021 (F); I. lieweni (I); Astroscopometopus hesaraghattaensis Yeshwanth, Chérot & Henry, 2021 (G); Isometopidea viraktamathi Yeshwanth, Chérot & Henry, 2021 (H); Planicapitus brunneus sp. nov. (J); Gigantometopus rossi Schwartz & Schuh, 1990 (K); Malaymetopidea maculata gen. et sp. nov. (L); Kohnometopus yasunagai Taszakowski, Kim & Masłowski, 2022 (M); Gigantometopus schuhi Akingbohungbe, 2012 (N); Bruneimetopus simulans Taszakowski, Kim & Herczek, 2020 (N); Megalofaciatus gibbosus Taszakowski, Kim & Herczek, 2021 (N); Planicapitus luteus Taszakowski, Kim & Herczek, 2020 (N, P); Megalofaciatus foliotibialis Taszakowski, Kim & Herczek, 2021 (O); Sulawesimetopus henryi Herczek, Gorczyca & Taszakowski, 2018 (R); Utarametopus linuspitti sp. nov. (R); Utarametopus striatus sp. nov. (R); Wallacemetopus anteriotenebrosus gen. et sp. nov. (R). Kohnometopus sp. (1); Isometopidea sp. (2); Unknown Gigantometopini (3–5); Gigantometopus spp. (5).

FIGURE 4. Planicapitus brunneus Taszakowski & Kim, sp. nov., holotype, male. Dorsal (A) and lateral (B) view; aedeagus (C, D), left paramere (E); right paramere (F); head in frontal view (G, H); head and pronotum in antero-lateral view (I). ap = apical process; app = sclerotized appendage; bp = basal process; sl = sensory lobe; sp = spinules.