Hebrus franzi ( Wagner, 1957 )

Cianferoni, Fabio, Buzzetti, Filippo Maria & Zettel, Herbert, 2016, The “ Italian hebrid ”, Hebrus franzi (Wagner, 1957): disentangling a half-century dilemma (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), Zootaxa 4132 (1), pp. 127-134 : 129-131

Hebrus franzi ( Wagner, 1957)

( Figs. 1–10 )

Neogaeus [sic] franzi Wagner 1957: 201 (genus: incorrect spelling for Naeogeus Laporte, 1833 ).

Hebrus (Neogaeus) Franzi Servadei 1959: 24 .

Hebrus franzi Servadei 1967: 34 ; Tamanini 1979: 23; Cianferoni 2015: 26.

Hebrus (Hebrusella) franzi Andersen 1995: 81 ; Faraci & Rizzotti Vlach 1995: 7; Lanza 1996: 21; Bacchi & Rizzotti Vlach 2005: CD-ROM, 2007: CD-ROM.

Type material examined (all specimens apterous): Holotypus: male, “Alpi Apuane / Umg.Stazzema [Lucca province, surroundings of Stazzema, H. Franz leg.; printed—white label] // HOLOTYPUS [printed] / Neogaeus / franzi n.sp [handwritten] / E. Wagner [printed—red label]”. Paratypi: male, “Alpi Apuane / Umg.Stazzema [Lucca province, surroundings of Stazzema, H. Franz leg.; printed—white label] // PARATYPOID [printed] / Neogaeus / franzi n.sp [handwritten] / E Wagner [printed—pink label]”; female (“allotypus”), “Castelnuovo de [sic] Garfagnana” [Lucca province, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, H. Franz leg.] / “Toscana / lg.H.Franz” [printed—white label] // ALLOTYPOID [printed] / Neogaeus / franzi n.sp [handwritten] / E Wagner det. [printed—red label]”.

Additional material examined (all specimens apterous): Tuscany: “Alpi Apuane / Umg.Stazzema // SP. 305 [handwritten on the back of the label]” [Lucca province, surroundings of Stazzema, H. Franz leg.], 33 males, 14 females ( NHMW), 3 males, 3 females (CFC); “ Mag. 1686 / Toscana: Fiume Vezza 2-3 km / a monte di Seravezza (LU) (120 m a.s.l.) / posatura alluvionale 9.IV.1995 / legit S. Cianfanelli & M. Calcagno” [Lucca province, Seravezza, between Ruosina and Pontestazzemese, Torrente (= stream) Vezza (river debris), 120 m a.s.l., 44.0000° N 10.2770° E (un = 1500 m), 9.IV.1995, S. Cianfanelli & M. Calcagno leg.], 1 female ( MZUF); “Loro CiuffennaAR-Papi R / 15-XI-02 m. 450 slm / lavaggio sabbie argini / tor. Ciuff. ceduo castanea” [Arezzo province, Loro Ciuffenna, Borro [= small stream] del Cigno, ab. 430 m a.s.l., 43.6109° N 11.6390° E (un = 25 m), 15.XI.2002, R. Papi leg.], 2 females ( CRP), 1 male (CFC); “Tosc-AR- Pian di / Scò catena di Gastra / 18-V- 012 muschi / con stillicidio / Papi R. leg.” [Arezzo province, Pian di Scò, Torrente [= stream] Resco, wet mosses from a vertical rock, ab. 500 m a.s.l., 43.6609° N 11.5679° E (un = 100 m), 18.V.2012, R. Papi leg.], 1 male ( CRP). Emilia-Romagna: “Emilia-Romagna / Sasso Marconi - P.zzo Rossi / Bologna: 29.III.2010 / leg. Colacurcio L.” [Bologna province, Sasso Marconi, Palazzo Rossi, ab. 80 m a.s.l., 44.4099° N 11.2700° E (un = 300 m), 29.III.2010, L. Colacurcio leg.], 1 female (CCS); “Emilia-Romagna / Sasso Marconi - P.zzo Rossi / Bologna: 07.IV.2010 / leg. Colacurcio L.” [idem, 07.IV.2010, L. Colacurcio leg.], 1 male (CCS); “Emilia-Romagna / Sasso Marconi - P.zzo Rossi / Bologna: 17.IV.2010 / leg. Colacurcio L.” [idem, 17.IV.2010, L. Colacurcio leg.], 1 male (CCS); “Emilia-Romagna / Sasso Marconi - Rio Conco / Bologna: 27.XI.2011 / leg. Colacurcio L.” [Bologna province, Sasso Marconi, Rio (= stream) Conco, ab. 160 m a.s.l., 44.4161° N 11.2846° E (un = 100 m), 27.XI.2011, L. Colacurcio leg.], 20 males, 20 females (CFC), 3 males, 3 females ( NHMW), 2 males, 2 females ( FMB).

Redescription (based on specimens in NHMW). Apterous male: Measurements (n = 10 / n = 1): BL 1.80–1.90 (average 1.863), HL 0.57, HW 0.48, A2L 0.16, PL 0.28, PW 0.63–0.66 (average 0.646), MtL 0.73, AW 0.82–0.86 (average 0.836). Indices: HI 119, AtI 70, EI 37, AnI 54, PHI 131, PnI 225, MMI 51, MtI 116, AbI 401. Relative lengths of antennomeres 1–4 (in % of antennomere 2 length): 103: 100: 172: 224. Relative lengths of leg segments (in % of metatibia length): profemur 61, protibia 65, protarsus 24, mesofemur 63, mesotibia 68, mesotarsus 24, metafemur 79, metatibia 100, metatarsus 24.

Colour: Head and thorax dorsally and laterally chiefly reddish to yellowish brown, ventrally (including bucculae) pale yellow; dorsum of head either without dark areas or with a variably sized brownish mark that never reaches eye margin. Pronotum infuscated anterolaterally to varying extent; in some specimens also sides of metanotum brownish. Abdomen blackish brown; middle of anterior terga reddish brown to varying extent. Legs and antennae pale yellow.

Pilosity: Body almost without scale-like hairs, recognizable only on head dorsum as a few minute gray scales. Pilosity mostly subcumbent, longest on sides of thorax and abdomen. Semi-erect, curved hairs from head dorsum to mediotergite 2, most prominent on connexiva 1 and 2. Legs without modified pilosity.

Structures: Body relatively stout, with short antennae. Head ( Figs. 3–5 ) small, distinctly longer than wide, appearing acuminate due to narrow anteclypeus and labrum, but sides from eye to antennal tubercles slightly widened. Preocular tubercles absent. Anteclypeus convex, shiny. Buccula ( Fig. 5 ) very low, with two impressions, the anterior impression narrow and inconspicuous, the posterior impression small and ovate; posteriorly terminating in a small, acute process. Antenna 4-segmented, without distinct membranous subdivision of antennomere 4. Pronotum with transverse rows of relatively deep impressions. Mesoscutellum short and relatively narrow. Metanotal elevation ( Fig. 6 ) short, posteriorly with shallow emargination. Legs and abdomen without special modifications; femora, especially profemur, relatively thick; metatibia almost straight. Hind femur almost straight and hind tibia without long setae. In dorsal aspect, abdomen ovate, posteriorly evenly rounded; tergum 1 with one pair of distinct longitudinal carinae.

Genitalia of male: Pygophore ( Fig. 7 ) subovate. Proctiger ( Fig. 8 ) with sides slightly constricted near base, and with a few short stout setae, distal part with long soft setae. Paramere ( Fig. 9 ) hook-shaped, with dorsally recurved apex, ventrally with a few long setae, dorsally with a few short setae, apical surface appearing dashed.

Apterous female: Measurements (n = 10): BL 1.94–2.06 (average 2.011), PW 0.68–0.72 (average 0.699), AW 0.87–0.96 (average 0.915).

Body slightly larger than in male, without overlapping of sizes (AW, BL, and PW; n = 20). Colour slightly darker than in males: on head often with a large blackish brown mark reaching from antennal tubercle to level of posterior eye margin, but without reaching eye. Pronotum anteriorly with a transverse dark band that is medially interrupted in some specimens; metanotum more or less infuscated. Abdomen often entirely black or dark brown, but in some specimens brown anteromedially. Pilosity as in male. Structures similar as in male. Femora more slender than in male. Gonocoxa simple, plate-like.

Comparative notes. Hebrus franzi differs from European congeners by aptery and modifications related to this morph including absence of ocelli, small pronotum and strongly reduced metanotal elevation. The bicoloured body, hind femora not curved, and hind tibiae without long setae in males set it close to H. ruficeps Thomson, 1871 . Differences which are most likely not affected by wing morph are the small eyes (EI clearly ca. 0.4 in H. franzi , but ca. 0.5 in micropterous specimens of H. ruficeps ), the shiny and convex clypeus (matt and almost flat in H. ruficeps ), the posteriorly acuminated buccula (truncated in H. ruficeps ), and the more thickened femora of males.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Hebrus franzi: Head of male, frontal view. Scale bar 0.2 mm. © NHMW Hemiptera Image Collection.

FIGURES 4 – 9. Hebrus franzi: (4) Head, frontal. (5) Head, lateral. (6) Mesoscutellum and metanotal elevation, dorsal. (7) Pygophore, ventral. (8) Proctiger, dorsal. (9) Left paramere, lateral. Pilosity partly omitted.

FIGURES 1 – 2. Hebrus franzi: (1) Habitus of male. (2) Habitus of female. Scale bar 0.5 mm. © NHMW Hemiptera Image Collection.

FIGURE 10. Records of Hebrus franzi; white circles represent the bibliographic records, and red circles the new ones. Map data: Image Landsat. Data SIO, NOAA, U. S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO. © 2016 Google.