Sarju Ghauri, 1977

Salini, S., Rabbani, M. K. & Singh, Sudhir, 2021, Taxonomic notes on Sarju Ghauri, 1977 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) with description of a new species from India, Zootaxa 4951 (2), pp. 283-303 : 284-285

Sarju Ghauri, 1977

Sarju Ghauri, 1977: 10–11 ;

Type species: Halys obscura Westwood, 1837 , by original designation.

Sarju Rider, 2006: 311 (Palearctic catalog).

Redescription. Structure. Head ( Figs 3, 4 , 22 , 39 ) nearly parallel to body axis, usually longer than wide (sometimes as long as wide); lateral margins with one or two pairs of teeth, first pair subapical to mandibular plates, always present, rounded or quadrangular and the second pair in front of compound eyes, sometimes indistinct or absent. Mandibular plates variable, straight or obliquely bend downwards at apex, meeting or not meeting in front of clypeus, sometimes partly covering apex of clypeus, apex of mandibular plates rounded or acuminate, longer than clypeus, sometimes nearly equal to clypeus, but not shorter; clypeus open or closed apically; dorsal surface of head usually more or less flattened, sometimes apical region bend downwards. Compound eyes rounded and protruding out. Antennae five segmented, slender with second segment usually bowed and thickened at apex, sometimes thin and straight. Anterior apex of bacculae blunt, quadrangular, not rounded; length of labium variable, reaching meta coxae to middle of fourth abdominal segment.

Pronotum ( Figs 6 , 23 , 40 ). Anterior pronotal margin concave, anterolateral angles with small tooth, anterolateral margins concave (or bisinuate by Ghauri 1977). Humeri variable, mostly short blunt or nodulose.

Scutellum ( Figs 1 , 18, 20 ) subtriangular, longer than wide at base, abruptly narrowing in posterior third, apex rounded; apex of scutellum much shorter than anterodistal angles of corium; disc of scutellum more or less flat.

Hemelytra. Clavus narrowly triangular, corium much surpassing apex of scutellum. Membrane translucent, broadly rounded apically, usually exceeding apex of abdomen, without reticulate venation.

Thoracic pleurites and sternum. External scent efferent system typical of Halyini type ( Salini 2019, Fig. 91); peritreme spout-shaped (crescent-shaped) usually reaching middle of metapleuron with well developed evaporatorium ( Figs 7 , 24 , 41 ). Metathoracic spiracle long, narrow and distinctly visible in ventral view.

Legs. Slender. Femora unarmed, sparsely pubescent, cylindrical, rounded in cross section. All tibiae slender than respective femora. All tibiae pubescent, dorsally with narrow, median, longitudinal groove. All tarsal segments dorsally regularly rounded, not grooved.

Pregenital abdomen. Narrower than pronotum across humeri. Connexivum broad and exposed most of its width. Posterolateral angles of each ventrite angulate or with minute spinous process. Abdominal venter convex medially, with median longitudinal groove, shallow, sometimes absent. Ventrite III without spine or tubercle, usually with slight groove medially.

Male genitalia. Genital capsule quadrangular dorsal rim variable ( Figs 8 , 25 , 42 ); dorsal sclerite lacking; ventral rim with deep or shallow median excavation cup-shaped or broad U-shaped ( Fig. 9 ) or V-shaped or arcuate with ( Figs 26 , 43 ) or without sinuate margin; caudal angles rounded or broad and truncate, produced or not produced medially. Paramere ( Figs 11–13 , 28–29 , 45–46 ) with broad and thick crown, parameral crown with transverse narrow ridge, inner lobe variable, produced into elongate finger-like process or rounded apex or abruptly narrow or gradually narrowed towards apex; stem short. A short process bearing setae (‘setose process’ by Ghauri, 1977) near posterior end on inner side, small, thumb-shaped or conical or apically rounded. Phallus with phallotheca sclerotized and constricted towards base (proximal end), a short angular process (ventral tubercle, vt) just before proximal end of phallotheca ventromedially ( Figs 17 , 33 , 50 ); three pairs of conjunctival processes-dorsal pair of conjunctival processes (dcp) short, membranous or semi sclerotised, median conjunctival processes (mcp) membranous, trilobate or with three lobes, ventral pair (vcp) and processes of aedeagus (=penial lobes) (pa) semisclerotised or sclerotised; aedeagus (ae) moderately elongate, tubular, usually shorter than processes of aedeagus.

Female genitalia. Terminalia ( Figs 34 , 51 ). Shape of Valvifers VIII variable, sometimes posteriorly produced in to finger-like process ( Figs 51, 54 ), triangulin sometimes exposed externally. Spermatheca ( Figs 35 , 52 ) with median dilation elongate; apical receptacle with three narrow finger-like processes (except in S. lata Ghauri according to Ghauri 1977).

Differential diagnosis. The genus Sarju is quite similar to Cahara Ghauri. The distinctive character which distinguishes this genus is the absence of median lobes in the concave ventral margin of genital capsule whereas in members of Cahara , a pair of median lobes is present in concave ventral margin of genital capsule ( Ghauri 1977). The overall shape of the paramere ( Figs 11 , 29 , 46 ) and the presence of a short projection towards base of paramere (‘setose process’ by Ghauri 1977) are other diagnostics for this genus, though these characters are shared with members of Cahara . All the members of Sarju , so far reported, have the mandibular plates either as long as or longer than clypeus but not shorter than clypeus, though this character is shared with quite a few species in various related genera. The geniculate (bowed) second antennal segment with swollen apex (the degree of bending and swelling slightly variable between species) is an important distinguishing character of members of Sarju though it comprises species with normal straight second antennal segment like in other groups. Hence this character alone cannot vouch for the identity of this genus rather a set of characters mentioned above can distinguish its members.

Remarks. Members of this genus are of typical Halyine type with respect to their external colouration, the presence of gradation of variation found in structural characters (morphological plasticity) and habitat (most of them are bark dwelling). Hence the examination of male genitalia is often necessary (especially if the second antennal segment is not geniculate) in order to separate Sarju from similar genera in the Halyini . The above mentioned similarity in external colouration and morphological plasticity are applicable to various species within Sarju too. Therefore, the male genitalia are critical for accurate species determination in Sarju .

Figures

FIGURES 3–8. Sarju brevirostrata sp. nov. 3, Holotype (head–dorsal); 4, Paratype (head–dorsal); 5, Holotype—label; 6, pronotum; 7, External scent efferent system; 8, Genital capsule (dorsal). Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 22–27. Sarju farida Ghauri. 22, head (dorsal); 23, pronotum; 24, external scent efferent system; 25, Genital capsule (dorsal); 26, Genital capsule (ventral); 27, Genital capsule (caudal). Scale: 0.5 mm. Lettering: p—peritreme;tl—triangular lobelike projection.

FIGURES 39–44. Sarju nigricollis (Westwood). 39, head (dorsal); 40, pronotum; 41, external scent efferent system; 42, Genital capsule (dorsal); 43, Genital capsule (ventral); 44, Genital capsule (caudal). Scale: 0.5 mm. Lettering: p—peritreme.

FIGURES 1–2. Sarju brevirostrata sp. nov.—Habitus. 1, dorsal; 2, ventral. Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURES 18–21. 18–19. Sarju farida Ghauri—Habitus. 18, dorsal; 19, ventral. 20–21. Sarju nigricollis (Westwood)—Habitus. 20, dorsal; 21, ventral. Scale: 1 mm.

FIGURES 9–14. Sarju brevirostrata sp. nov. 9, Genital capsule (ventral); 10, Genital capsule (caudal); 11–13, paramere (different planes); 14, articulatory apparatus. Scale: 0.25 mm. Lettering: cp—capitate process; mb—mushroom shaped bodies.

FIGURES 28–33. Sarju farida Ghauri. 28–29, paramere; 30, articulatory apparatus; 31, phallus (ventral); 32, phallus (dorsal); 33, phallus (lateral). Scale: 0.25 mm. Lettering: cp—capitate process; dcp—dorsal conjunctival processes; mcp—median conjunctival processes; pa—processes of aedeagus; sp—’setose process’ by Ghauri, 1977; vcp—ventral conjunctival processes; vt—ventral tubercle.

FIGURES 45–50. Sarju nigricollis (Westwood). 45–46, paramere (different planes); 47, articulatory apparatus; 48, phallus (ventral); 49, phallus (dorsal); 50, phallus (lateral). Scale: 0.1 mm.

FIGURES 15–17. Sarju brevirostrata sp. nov. 15, phallus (ventral); 16, phallus (dorsal); 17, phallus (lateral). Scale: 0.1 mm. Lettering: ae—aedeagus; dcp—dorsal conjunctival processes; mcp—median conjunctival processes; pa—processes of aedeagus; vcp—ventral conjunctival processes; vt—ventral tubercle.

FIGURES 34–38. Sarju farida Ghauri. 34, terminalia (dorsal); 35, spermatheca; 36, apical receptacle; 37, terminalia (ventral); 38, valvifers VIII. 34–35: Scale: 0.5 mm; 36–38: Scale: 0.25 mm. Lettering: lt IX—laterotergite IX; lt VIII—laterotergite VIII; rs—ring sclerite; sso—sclerite guarding spermathecal opening; vlf VIII—valvifers VIII.

FIGURES 51–54. Sarju nigricollis (Westwood). 51, terminalia (dorsal); 52, spermatheca; 53, terminalia (ventral); 54, valvifers VIII. 51–52: Scale: 0.5 mm; 53–54: Scale: 0.25 mm. Lettering: lt IX—laterotergite IX; lt VIII—laterotergite VIII; rs—ring sclerite; sso—sclerite guarding spermathecal opening; vlf VIII—valvifers VIII.