Ranatra biroi Lundblad, 1933

Tran, A. D. & Zettel, H., 2021, Taxonomy of the Ranatra biroi group sensu Lansbury, 1972 (Nepomorpha: Nepidae), with descriptions of two new species, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 69, pp. 507-521 : 510

Ranatra biroi Lundblad, 1933

( Fig. 1B )

Ranatra biroi Lundblad, 1933: 38–40 (type locality: New Guinea); Lansbury, 1972: 329–331 (redescription).

Material examined. INDONESIA: 4 males, 10 females, Irian Jaya, Fak Fak distr., Lake Yamur , 80 m, April 1998, coll. M. Balke ( NHMW) . Country uncertain : 1 male, “ Brunner / India / 1868”, with label showing “ Ranatra biroi Lundbl. , det. O. Lundblad ” ( NHMW) ; 1 female, “ Bruñer [= Brunner] / India / 1868” ( NHMW) .

Diagnosis. Body length: males 21.0–22.0, females 22.0–27.0 (also based on description by Lansbury, 1972); siphon length ca. 0.8–1.0× body length; lorum lower than clypeus; vertex usually lower than eye, thus not visible in lateral view, and without tubercle; eye width ca. 1.3× interocular width; space between middle coxae about 0.5× space between hind coxae; posterior margin of metasternum straight; basal part of fore femur about 1.2× as wide as distal part; hind femur, when folded back parallel to body, reaching mid-length or sometimes posterior quarter of operculum (in both sexes); paramere constricted in distal part, apical hook short, tip of hook expanded, inner margin of hook with pointed tooth.

Remarks. Lansbury (1972) noted that in typical specimens, the vertex was usually lower than the eye in lateral view, but could be more developed in some specimens. The specimens examined in this study have the vertex slightly higher than the eye, and thus the vertex is visible in lateral view. These specimens also present a few minor variations when compared with the description of the species by Lansbury (1972): the hind femur sometimes reaches up to the posterior quarter of the operculum (in Lansbury, 1972, it only reaches just over halfway), and the operculum of the female sometimes reaches the apex of the connexivum (in Lansbury, 1972, it does not reach the apex of the connexivum). Other characters agree well with the description of R. biroi .

Distribution. New Guinea ( Lansbury, 1972).

Figures

Fig. 1. Parameres of Ranatra species. A, Ranatra digitata, from Sri Lanka (ZRC_ENT00013064); B, R. biroi, from Irian Jaya, Indonesia; C, R. rafflesi, holotype; D, R. rafflesi, from West Kalimantan, intermediate form (ZRC_ENT00013018); E,R.rafflesi, from West Kalimantan, slender form (ZRC_ENT00013054). C, D, E same scale.