Alienates thomasi, Baňař, Petr, Štys, Pavel & Kolesnichenko, Yuliya, 2015

Baňař, Petr, Štys, Pavel & Kolesnichenko, Yuliya, 2015, A new species of the genus Alienates Barber (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Enicocephalidae: Alienatinae) from Venezuela, Zootaxa 4012 (2), pp. 391-395 : 392-393

Alienates thomasi sp. nov. Baňař & Štys

( Figs. 1–6 )

Material examined. Holotype, female: VENEZUELA: Ar. / Rancho Grande / July 15–21, 1967 / RW Poole, 1100m [printed] // HOLOTYPE / Alienates / thomasi sp. nov. / P. Baňař & P. Štys det. 2015 [printed red label] ( USNM). Holotype is card-mounted with the right fore leg missing.

Description. Measurements (in mm); L = length; W = width. Total body L —1.267. Head (without neck). Total L— 0.178; posterior lobe, L—0.056; posterior lobe, W—0.151. Labium. Segment I, L—0.013; segment II, L—0.031; segment III, L—0.082; segment IV, L—0.025. Antenna. Segment I, L—0.038; segment II, L—0.087; segment III, L— 0.067; segment IV, L—0.144. Pronotum. Anterior lobe, L (median)—0.047; anterior lobe, W (maximum)—0.202; posterior lobe, L (median)—0.138; posterior lobe, W (maximum)—0.256. Mesonotum. Median L—0.080; W (maximum)—0.218. Metanotum. Median L—0.053; W (maximum)—0.231. Fore leg. Femur, L—0.162; femur, maximum W—0.061; tibia, L—0.131; tibia, maximum W—0.057. Abdomen. Total L—0.649; maximum W—0.424.

Colouration. Anterior and posterior lobes of head, meso- and metathorax, and abdomen uniformly dark brown, venter of head, ‘neck’ of mesonotum, and abdominal terga III and IV ( Fig. 2 ) somewhat paler. Cephalic neck (postocciput), prothorax, legs, labium and antennae contrastingly pale, yellowish-brown ( Fig. 1 ). Whitish, shiny eye spots present on lateral faces of head.

Vestiture. All body surfaces, excluding medial part of abdominal sterna covered with yellowish, semi-erect setae, vestiture more outstanding on pronotum and dorsum of head. No conspicuous outstanding setae on head and pronotum.

Structure. Head ( Figs. 1 , 4–5 ). Short and wide, robust, posterior lobe well separated from anterior one. Antennifer short. Compound eyes missing, their sites slightly elevated, shiny but without ommatidia. Ocelli missing. Constriction between anterior and posterior lobes conspicuous, deep. Posterior lobe short, strongly transverse, ratio of length to width 0.37. Neck (= postocciput) fully externalized, strikingly massive. Antennae shorter than head and pronotum together (ratio 0.9), antennal formula (longest segment first) IV, II, III, I.

Labium short, robust. Labial formula (longest segment first) III, II, IV, I.

Thorax ( Figs. 1–5 ). Collum (‘anterior lobe’) and middle lobe (‘posterior lobe’) of pronotum well separated, collum short, strongly transverse, less wide than middle lobe, ratio of legth to its maximum width 0.23. Middle lobe wide, conspicuously convex laterally and posteriorly, ratio of median length to its maximum width 0.54. Posterior lobe absent or fully incorporated into middle lobe. Mesonotum longer than metanotum, strongly transverse, ratio of length to width 0.37, anterior part short, narrow, neck-like. Metanotum very short, posterior margin strongly sclerotized, posterolateral angles regularly rounded; ratio of length to maximum width 0.23; posterior sector of metanotum neck-like, similar to anterior sector of mesonotum.

Forelegs ( Fig. 6 ) moderately stout. Fore coxa robust and very long. Fore femora 2.66 times as long as wide, widest in the middle. Fore tibiae 2.23 times as long as wide, apex of foretibia without a conspicuous process. Apicitibial and fore tarsal armatures not studied.

Middle and hind legs. Short and robust, coxae and trochanters long, not studied in detail.

Abdomen ( Fig. 2 ) heavily sclerotized, conspicuously widening posterad, widest on the tergum VI; ratio of length to maximum width 1.53. Terga I and II fully fused, not separated from each other by a transverse apodeme. Terga I+II, III, IV and V separated by unusually deep and conspicuous constrictions ( Figs. 1, 3 ). Dorsal laterotergites I+II to VIII well developed, laterotergite VIII narrowly triangular. Anterior margin of dorsal mediotergite IV with minute persistent larval gland opening. Abdominal spiracles III–VII on lateral parts of ‘sterna’.

Etymology. Patronym, named after our colleague and friend Thomas J. Henry (Washington, D.C.).

Distribution. Northern Venezuela, Aragua Province, Rancho Grande (= Henry Pittier National Park). Collected in mountain forest about 1000 m a.s.l. It is the first record of Alienates from South America.

Differential diagnosis. Alienates thomasi sp. nov. differs from all known species of the genus except of Alienates muchmorei Wygodzinsky & Schmidt, 1991 ( U.S. Virgin Islands: St. John) by the contrastingly bicolorous body (the other species are unicolorous dark brown, with slightly lighter appendages). From A. muchmorei , A. thomasi differs by the yellowish-brown prothorax and appendages and the strongly dark brown head and abdomen (only meso- and metathorax and bands on abdominal segments IV–VI dark in A. muchmorei ).

Alienates thomasi sp. nov. also shares with females of A. muchmorei (and A. dudichi Vasárhelyi, 1982 ; Lesser Antilles: St. Lucia, and an aberrant specimen of A. maldonadoi Wygodinsky & Schmidt, 1991 , from Jamaica) abdominal spiracles III–VII situated on the lateral parts of sterna III–VIII instead of on the ventral laterotergites as in females of all other species (including most individuals of A. maldonadoi ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3. Alienates thomasi sp. nov. Baňař & Štys, female holotype, 1, dorsal habitus; 2, pterothorax and abdomen, dorsal view; 3, lateral habitus. Scale bars in mm.

FIGURES 4 – 6. Alienates thomasi sp. nov. Baňař & Štys, female holotype, 4, head and pronotum, dorsal view; 5, head and pronotum, lateral view; 6, left fore leg, posterior view. Scale bars in mm.