Isometopus gharaati, Akingbohungbe, 2012

Akingbohungbe, A. E., 2012, Two new species of Isometopus Fieber (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Isometopinae) and a key to all known species of the genus in Europe and the Middle-East, Zootaxa 3175 (1), pp. 45-53 : 46-48

Isometopus gharaati sp. nov.

Description. Male. Length 2.28. Maximum width 1.04. Head width across vertex 0.48: dorsal length 0.16; facial length 0.46; facial width 0.62. Anterior inter-ocular space 0.18; posterior space 0.46. Dorsal width of eye 0.14; maximum width 0.27; height 0.28. Height of gena 0.18. Ocellus width 0.05; interocellar space 0.08. Maximum width of pronotum 1.08; median length 0.34. Scutellum length 0.66; width 0.48. Cuneus length 0.44; width 0.36. Rostrum 1.12. Antennae I 0.10; II 0.60; III 0.34; IV missing.

Elongate oval. Head from above sub-rectangular to semi-lunar in outline, about 3x as broad as long; in front more or less quadrangular, about 1.35x as broad as high. Vertex dark reddish; rather large inverted bell-shaped blotch comprising apex of frons and tylus, dark-red to black; somewhat distinct crescentic-shaped, marking at base of bell-shaped blotch reddish. Gena high, about 0.57x as high as eye, dark-red to black and excavate at base, pale at apex. Lora strongly compressed, dark reddish-brown.

Head disk otherwise yellow-brown hyaline, generally shiny and impunctate; pubescent with short erect pale hairs. Eyes dark-red, glabrous. Ocelli together with surrounding annuli dark-red, distinctly raised; about 1.6x width of each apart. Antennae with segment I yellow-brown, glabrous; obconical, about 0.8x as broad as long. II and III yellow-brown with rather distinct dull reddish-brown lateral bands. II pubescent with erect yellow-brown hairs about as long as segment is thick; gradually thickened from base to apex, there about 0.8x as thick as I. III subfusiform, clothed with reclining yellow-brown hairs about as long as segment is thick.

Pronotum subcampanulate, about 3.18x as broad as long; lateral margins finely explanate, hyaline; posterior margin broadly bisinuate. Disk tumid convex, dark-red to blackish, transversely rugose punctuate, pubescent with recumbent and reclining reddish-brown medium-sized hairs. Calli prominent, confluent, distinctly punctuate. Broad lateral bands plus posterior angles ochraceous, rather obscurely pubescent. Mesoscutum dark-red to black, impunctate, pubescent with reddish-brown reclining hairs. Scutellum with disk tumidly raised; apical third pale hyaline, impunctate; otherwise dark-red to black, transversely rugose punctuate.

Hemelytra yellow-brown glassy-hyaline; broad apical more or less triangular blotch on corium suffused with reddish-brown, cuneus with mesal marginal band dark-red. Generally distinctly pubescent with short to mediumsized semi-reclining to semi-erect golden hairs. Clavus coarsely punctuate, corium finely sparsely punctuate, embolium and cuneus impunctate.

Venter generally dark-red to black; lateral extremeties of metapleura and abdominal segment II ivory-white.; median blotch on abdominal sternites VII and VIII rather pale whitish. Propleura rugose, impunctate. Legs with fore-coxae pale yellow; mid and hind coxae broadly dark-red to blackish with tips and trochanters pale. Hind femur with basal annulus and broad sub-apical band dark-red to blackish, otherwise pale yellow; hind tibia ivory-whitish with narrow basal dark-red band, hind tarsi dark reddish-brown. Other leg units missing. Rostrum largely dark reddish-brown to blackish, apical half or so of segment I pale yellow to whitish; reaching apparently as far back as 4 th abdominal segment.

Genitalia illustrated in figures 3–5 .

Female. Length 2.50(2.40–2.60); maximum width across hemelytra 1.34(1.30–1.40). Head width across vertex 0.47(0.46–0.48); dorsal length 0.20 (0.18–0.22). Facial length 0.54; facial width 0.67(0.64–0.68). Anterior interocular space 0.17(0.18–0.20); posterior space 0.52(0.50–0.54). Dorsal width of eye 0.14; maximum width 0.26(0.24–0.26); height 0.31(0.30–0.32). Height of gena 0.10(0.10–0.12). Ocellus width 0.04; interocellar space 0.09(0.08–0.10). Maximum width of pronotum 1.18(1.16–1.20); median length 0.36(0.34–0.38). Scutellum length 0.72(0.72–0.74); width 0.60(0.58–0.64). Cuneus length 0.46; width 0.33(0.32–0.34).Rostrum 1.29. Antennae I 0.12; II 0.55(0.54–0.56); III 0.35(0.34–0.36); IV 0.23(0.22–0.24).

Ovate to elongate ovate, macropterous ( figure 1). Head from above somewhat semi-lunar to weakly triangular, about 2.18–2.56x as broad as long; in front more or less quadrangular ( figure 2), about 1.19–1.26x as broad as high. Frons at base somewhat rugose with shallow punctures; rather strongly depressed, producing somewhat broad ridge-like impressions on either side along mesal eye margins; distinctly tumid convex at apex, finely transversely rugose with impressed oval patches posteriorly on either side of disk, smooth. Colouration variable; disk in some specimens dark-reddish to black with occiput, postgenae, juga, broad arc-like lateral maginal bands on frons, all pale reddish to yellow-brown; in others, in addition base of frons extensively pale; and in yet others, vertex is similarly pale. Entire head disk generally shining, pubescent with short semi-erect yellow-brown hairs. Ocelli protuberant, dark-reddish with distinct reddish surrounding annuli; about 2.0–2.25 width of each apart. Gena subexcavated, about 0.33x as high as eye. Eyes dark-reddish, obscurely hairy, emarginate behind ocelli. Antennal segment I dark reddish-brown to black, somewhat paler at tip, and/or broadly pale at base; about as thick as II at apex. II yellow-brown with slight reddish tinge, gently recurved outwards; about 1.5x as thick towards apical fifth as remainder of segment; pubescent with golden semi-reclining hairs subequal or shorter than segment is thick. III linear, similarly coloured and about 0.5x as thick as II at base; pubescent with golden semi-erect hairs about twice as long as segment thickness. IV yellow-brown with reddish tinge, fusiform; pubescent with golden semi-reclining hairs interspersed with much longer erect hairs about 2.5x as long as segment thickness.

Pronotum subcampanulate, about 3.4x as broad as long; calli prominent, more or less confluent; lateral margins distinctly explanate, arcuate and finely upturned; posterior margin bisinuate. Calli with fine arciculate setigerous punctures only, pronotal disk otherwise strongly transversely rugose punctuate. Entire disk generally dark reddish-brown to black, paler posteriorly with distinct whitish marginal band on posterior angle. mesoscutum darkred to black, tumidly raised, finely punctuate; scutellum at basal half or so, concolorous and transversely rugose punctuate; otherwise contrasting ivory-whitish and impunctate.

Hemelytra with broad sub-basal to sub-median somewhat triangular blotch on embolium and corium together with broad median band comprising three-fifths of clavus, pale whitish hyaline; this confluent with apical whitish band on scutellum to form a rather broad transverse whitish band across the dorsum. Embolium, corium, clavus otherwise dark reddish-brown, generally finely transversely rugose punctuate. Cuneus impunctate, largely whitish hyaline; mesal margin, narrow apical band dark reddish-brown. Membrane glabrous, rippled; hyaline with reddish tinge, uniareolate.

Dorsum generally strongly shining; pubescent with reclining and semi-reclining golden hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures. Venter generally dark-red to black. Propleura finely rugose punctuate. Forecoxae dark reddishbrown at basal third, otherwise pale whitish; mid and hind coxae more extensively dark reddish-brown, pale whitish towards apex. Trochanters, narrow basal and apical bands on femora pale whitish translucent; femora otherwise dark reddish-brown. Tibiae, tarsi pale whitish translucent, tarsomere II tinged with reddish. Rostrum extending to sixth to eighth abdominal sternite; generally dark reddish-brown with lateroventral band on segment I, broad apical band on II, broad basal band on III and tip of IV, pale in some specimens.

Comments. This new species belongs in the subgenus Jehania Distant and represents the fourth known species of the subgenus in the Middle-East; the other three previously known species being Isometopus yemenensis Akingbohungbe , I. quadrivittatus Akingbohungbe , and I. carinifrons Akingbohungbe. The new species can be readily separated from these other species as indicated in the accompanying key to the species. It shows considerable variation as evident even in the few specimens examined, which may not have been sufficiently captured in the description provided above. For example, in the pronotum in one specimen the calli largely are yellow-brown with a reddish tinge and the explanate lateral margin is whitish hyaline; and in another specimen, the entire pronotal disk is dark-red to black with the marginal area on the posterior angle slightly paler. In one specimen also, all the coxae are completely darkened.

HOLOTYPE: female, Iran, Azerbaijan, Uromia. 12–14 June 2006. M. Gharaat.

PARATYPES: one male, same data , 20–27 May 2006 M. Gharaat; one female, same data as holotype ; two females, Iran, W. Azerbaijan, Village Ziveh, Uromiya , 14 June 2006 and 20 June 2006, M. Gharaat ; two females, Iran, Fars. Man jangal Fasa , 30 May 2006, M. Gharaat. Specimens from Fasa, Fars Province collected on Pisticia atlantica and specimens from Uromia collected from the bark of Salix alba .

Figures

FIGURES 3–5; 10–12. Male genitalia (3-5) Isometopus gharaati sp. nov.: (3) right paramere; (4) aedeagus; (5) left paramere, dorsolateral aspects. (10-12) Isometopus praetermissum sp. nov.: (10) right paramere, (11) aedeagus, (12) left paramere, dorsolateral aspects.