Longinischus, Brailovsky, Harry, 2009

Brailovsky, Harry, 2009, Longinischus ornatus, a new genus and new species of Ozophorini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea: Rhyparochromidae: Rhyparochrominae) from Guatemala, Zootaxa 2292, pp. 65-68 : 65-66

Longinischus gen. nov.

( Figs 1–2 )

Type species: Longinischus ornatus sp. nov.

Description. Body elongate oval, coleopteroid, non flattened, without stridulitrum and plectrum; dorsally and ventrally uniformly shining and polished. Head pentagonal, dorsally flat, wider than long, longer than entire pronotal length, and slightly declivent anteriorly. Clypeus unarmed, apically globose, raised, extending anteriorly to and laterally higher than juga and antenniferous tubercle, and almost reaching distal end of antennal segment I; postclypeal sulcus absent. Antenniferous tubercle unarmed, set below middle third of eye; antennal segment I robust, becoming wider from base toward apex, curved; segments II and III slender, nearly cylindrical, IV broadly fusiform; antennal segment IV stouter and longer than other segments, III the shortest, II longer than I. Ocelli absent; eyes sessile, dorso-ventrally elongate, removed from anterolateral margins of pronotum; dorsal border of eye not raised above vertex. Buccula narrow, evanescent, raised at anterior third, posteriorly closed. Labium reaching anterior border of metasternum; segment I stoutest, short, not extending beyond middle third of head. Pronotum wider than long, nearly quadrate (lateral margins slightly convex), not separated into anterior and posterior lobes; in lateral view convex; no collar apparent on anterior margin; anterolateral margin not emarginated; frontal angles not exposed; humeral angles rounded, not exposed; posterior margin straight. Metathoracic scent gland auricle elongate, finger-like, curving posteriorly; evaporative area reduced, truncated at outer margin, barely extending laterally beyond auricle. Scutellum triangular, slightly longer than wide; lateral margins not emarginated; apex subacute; disk lacking a median elevation. Hemelytra convexly rounded, resembling a beetle-like structure in which the fused clavus and corium form a single coriaceous wing cover that meets the opposite cover and reaching posterior margin of abdominal segment VI; costal margin emarginated; hemelytral membrane reduced to a small flap. Legs unarmed; fore femora incrassate, similar in width to succeeding femora; tibia straight; second tarsal segment of each leg much smaller than segments I and III. Abdomen with trichobothrial arrangement on segment V one anterior and two posterior to the spiracle, suture IV–V slightly curved anteriorly; abdominal spiracles ventral, located below sternal shelf; no inner laterotergites present. Pilosity: Dorsal surface clothed with widely separated upstanding golden setae, enlarged at apices to appear as a series of tiny pins projecting from body surface. Abdominal sterna clothed with finer golden semierect setae. Setae on antennal segments I to IV upstanding and longer than diameter of the segment. Femora clothed with elongate, suberect golden setae, scarcely shorter than diameter of the segment; tibiae densely clothed with suberect golden setae, shorter or nearly equal to the diameter of the segment. Punctation: Head, scutellum, dorsal abdominal segments, and abdominal sterna impunctate; calli with few scattered punctures; posterior pronotal lobe with two or three irregular and deep punctures; anterior margin of pronotal disk with two rows of deep punctures. Claval area with two rows of deep punctures, one following scutellar margin, the other indicating where the now fused claval/corial margin would have been; corium with few deep punctures at basal third. Posterior margin of propleura with one row of irregular, deep punctures; mesopleura with scattered deep punctures; metapleura with a row of deep punctures near posterior margin.

Male. Unknown.

Diagnosis. Longinischus gen. nov. is distinguished from Icacoris Slater (1985) by the flat vertex, smaller eyes, and longer pronotum with disk less convexly elevated. Longinischus is distinguished from Brailovskyocoris ( Slater 1993) by the unarmed fore femora, and absence of a hemelytral membrane.

Comments. The systematic position of Longinischus here described is complicated by the modification of various morphological features associated with coleoptery. As noted by Slater (1985, 1993) such extreme coleoptery is usually accompanied by the loss of, or extreme reduction of, the hind wing and often by a partially desclerotized abdominal tergum. Such lygaeids appear to occur primarily, if not exclusively, in two habitats: in xeric habitats of prolonged ecological stability or at high elevations in mountains.

Despite a similar forewing modification, Longinischus , Brailovskyocoris Slater (1993) and Icacoris Slater (1985) are not closely related.

Longinischus , Brailovskyocoris and Icacoris have in common: Absence of ocelli; eyes small, set slightly away from anterolateral margin of pronotum; antennal segment IV the longest; collar poorly differentiated to absent; humeral angles rounded; posterior margin of pronotal disk straight; pronotum not separated into anterior and posterior lobe; scutellum lacking a median carina; and hemelytra coleopteroid with clavus and corium fused.

In Brailovskyocoris , recorded from Mexico, the head is declivent, vertex is tumidly convex, antennal segment I is the shortest, anterolateral margin of pronotum is carinate, calli are swollen, hemelytral membrane is absent, and fore femora are armed. In Longinischus recorded from Guatemala, the head is weakly declivent anteriorly, the vertex is flat, the antennal segment III is the shortest, the anterolateral margin of pronotum are not carinate, the calli are flat, not convex, the hemelytral membrane is reduced to a small flap and the fore femur are unarmed.

In Icacoris, recorded from Colombia, the eyes are large and slightly protuberant, the vertex is strongly convex, antennal segment I is the shortest and II and III equal in length, the pronotum is extremely short, broad, rectangular, the anterolateral margin of the pronotum is broadly explanate, the pronotal disk strongly convex, the scutellum punctate and the hemelytral membrane extends posteriorly to the anterior margin of tergum VII. In Longinischus the eyes are smaller, barely protuberant, the vertex is flat, the antennal segment III is the shortest, and II is longer than I, the pronotum is nearly quadrate, the anterolateral margin of pronotum is not expanded, the pronotal disk is slightly convex, the scutellum is impunctate and the hemelytral membrane reaching the posterior margin of tergum VI.

Etymology. Named for John Longino, distinguished American Hymenopterist.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Longinischus ornatus sp. nov. (female). 1, dorsal view; 2, lateral view.