Amazopothea, Gil-Santana & Oliveira & Bérenger, 2020

Gil-Santana, Helcio R., Oliveira, Jader & Berenger, Jean-Michel, 2020, A new genus and a new species of Ectrichodiinae from French Guiana and an updated key to the genera of the New World (Hemiptera, Reduviidae), ZooKeys 968, pp. 85-109 : 85

Amazopothea gen. nov.

Type species:

Amazopothea guilberti sp. nov., by present designation.

Diagnosis.

Amazopothea gen. nov. can be separated from other genera of Ectrichodiinae by the combination of characters presented in the key below. Amazopothea and Pothea Amyot & Serville, 1843 have a common characteristic which distinguishes them from all the other New World Ectrichodinae , i.e., the first (visible) labial segment elongated, longer than the second and the third (visible) together, while in the other genera this segment is shorter or at most subequal to the others together. However, Amazopothea can be promptly separated from Pothea by the presence of numerous large, rounded, deep punctations present all over sternites III-VII, while in the latter genus the integument of the sternites is generally smooth, at most with minute sparse shallow small punctations in some segments portions.

Description.

Body integument mostly shiny. Head elongated, almost as long as pronotum (including neck); anteocular portion approximately twice longer than postocular portion (excluding neck); ratio between the total length (including neck) and maximum width across the eyes of the head around 1.6. Clypeus elongated, slightly wider at basal portion. Antennifers adjacent to the anterior margin of the eyes, their integument with moderately deep transverse subparallel sulci, more numerous and deeper on the basal half; eyes prominent, rounded in dorsal view, reniform in lateral view; transverse sulcus well marked, transverse, reaching inner posterior angle of the eye; anteriorly, a pair of longitudinal sulci running from transverse sulcus, where they are close but diverging until the level of the anterior margin of the eye, where they become slightly convergent to end near the inner side of the apex of antennifers; between them, integument presenting several parallel transverse incomplete impressions, which become more numerous and deeper anteriorly, forming sulci, similar to those on antennifers. Vertex not elevated. Ocellar tubercle prominent, large, undivided, ocelli rounded, the distance between them subequal or larger than the diameter of each ocelli; antenna inserted proximal to midpoint between anterior margin of the eyes and apex of the head; scape surpassing the apex of the head by its distal half to distal two thirds, somewhat curved and enlarged towards apex, shorter than pedicel; the latter slightly curved; flagellum slender, divided in pseudosegments, two basiflagellomeres and four distiflagellomeres; basiflagellomeres thinner than pedicel, the first basiflagellomere slightly longer than the second; distiflagellomeres somewhat thinner than basiflagellomeres, subequal in length. Labium moderately thick, segment II (first visible) straight, approximately twice longer than the segment III, also longer than the others together, by approximately 1.4 to 1.5 times, its apex approximately at level or distal to the posterior margin of the eyes; segment III somewhat thinner towards apex; segment IV, shorter, tapering, reaching stridulatory sulcus approximately at its anterior fourth. Ventral surface of head with some shallow transverse linear impressions medially. Constriction between postocular portion and neck distinct. Thorax: integument shiny; collar thin; anterolateral angles rounded and small; fore lobe rounded on anterior and lateral margins, shorter and narrower than hind lobe; integument slightly wrinkled, mid-longitudinal furrow on fore lobe represented by a deep median longitudinal depression, variable in deepness and size on approximately midportion of posterior half, besides that, in some specimens, from anterior margin to the depression, a shallow and flattened sulcus is present too; at median portion of transverse furrow, a large fovea, variable in size, but always prominent, below which the mid-longitudinal furrow is represented by some large and deep punctations, progressively smaller towards posterior margin, shortly exceeding the distal half of the hind lobe or extending to the anterior portion of distal third of hind lobe; sometimes the punctations are fused to each other, resulting in larger and less numerous ones; transverse furrow distinct, carinulate, interrupted at median portion, distant from the median fovea by a distance subequal to the transverse diameter of the latter; the portions between the fovea and each transverse furrow are elevated, forming a pair of short ridges beside the central fovea. The transverse furrow continues on propleura, ending at short distance above the base of the propleural posteroventral process described below. Posterolateral furrows of pronotum distinct, their basal portion almost contiguous or somewhat distal to the transverse furrow, formed by a series of shallow punctations, which are somewhat larger, deeper and converge to the direction of scutellum base at distal portion; humeral angles rounded. Scutellum with irregular borders and a shallow, relatively small median depression; prongs widely separated at the base and parallel or subparallel towards their apices. Supracoxal lobes of propleura somewhat prominent, those of meso and metapleura not; propleura with posteroventral elongated processes, directed posteromedially, just posterior to laterodistal third of fore coxa, above lateral portion of anterior margins of mesosternum. Integument of mesopleura mostly smooth; slightly rugose on posterior third and on supracoxal lobe; integument of metapleura and of the respective supracoxal lobe rugose, with several linear subparallel irregular shallow ridges, superior margin slightly thickened and curved. Prosternum wider on approximately anterior half, moderately large, prolonged between fore coxae, apex rounded and surpassing them, reaching mesosternum, with its median portion occupied by the stridulitrum. Mesosternum anteriorly to middle coxa mostly flattened and with smooth integument; its median portion, just posterior to apex of process of prosternum, depressed on anterior margin and with some transverse sulci laterally, below which a small oval depression on midline, with elevated borders; laterally to the latter, a pair of subrectangular small depressions; middle coxae bordered by elevated margins anteriorly and medially; between them, a moderately elevated area with integument marked by few shallow transverse sulci. Metasternum short; median portion nearly squared, integument smooth, posterior margin elevated. Fore coxae close, separated by a distance somewhat longer than approximately half the width of each of them; middle and hind coxae separated from each other by a distance approximately equivalent to somewhat more than twice and approximately 1.5 times the width of each of them, respectively. Fore and middle femora subequally long, the former somewhat thickened, except at basal and distal portions and the latter, slightly thickened subapically; hind femora longer, slender, somewhat thickened subapically. On middle femora, a median ventral shallow and thin crest running from basal portion to near distal portion, imperceptible in some specimens. Tibiae straight, slightly longer than the correspondent femora; fore tibiae thicker at apex, in which the anterior margin is prominent and there is a mesal comb; mid and hind tibiae only somewhat thicker at apex; tibial pad on fore and middle tibiae very small. All tarsi slender, three-segmented. Hemelytra generally dull; moderately shiny on base of dorsal surface, laterally, and on lateral portion, basally (the same portions in which the coloration is pale yellowish). Abdomen: connexivum with posterolateral angle between segments II and III somewhat prominent. Tergite I narrow; its spiracles visible dorsally somewhat far from lateral margin; anterior margin carinulate only laterally; other tergites carinulate on all extension of anterior margins. Integument of tergites II-VII and half to two-thirds of respective inner portion of dorsal connexival segments generally covered by punctations, which are larger and deeper on the tergites; those of segment VII are less prominent; outer margin of connexivum, distal margins of the tergites, more extensively in the last tergite, with smooth integument. Tergite II with its median portion somewhat lowered and bordered by longitudinal ridges. Scars of dorsal abdominal glands openings (dag) on median anterior margins of tergites V and VI, that on the latter much larger than the one on tergite V. Sternites with shiny integument; sternite II narrower than the following segments, its median portion somewhat elevated and with the integument slightly rugose; sternites II and III separated by canaliculae; other intersternite furrows more evident in median portion, as a thin line, and almost imperceptible laterally, the furrow between segments VI and VII more marked, especially in the female. Integument of sternites III-VII with numerous large, rounded, profound punctations. These punctations are distributed in two main groups in each segment: irregularly aligned below the intersternite furrows on segments IV-VII and grouped roughly as transverse irregular rows on approximately the median portion of each segment; they are absent at lateral portion of sternite III, while on sternite VII they are more randomly distributed, including the space between the proximal line of punctations and also the distal margin of the segment, portions in which, in general, there is no punctation on the other sternites. Ventral portion of connexival segments much narrower than dorsal portion; their integument entirely smooth. Male: segment VIII not visible externally, sclerotized on ventral portion, which is mostly translucent, except on darkened basal margin; the segment becomes wider towards posterior margin; both basal and distal margins curved, the former more than the latter; postero-ventral margin, narrowly elevated, except at lateral portions; dorsal portion membranous and narrower; spiracles on dorsal margin of ventral portion. Female: external genitalia with tergite X distinct.

Distribution.

French Guiana.

Etymology.

The name of the new genus was composed by the word Amazo-, from Amazon, as a tribute for this region in which this remarkable species lives and also because it holds an outstanding biodiversity that must be preserved for future generations. The second word composing the name, Pothea , refers to its apparent proximity of the new genus to this genus. The gender is feminine.