Paravelia lanemeloi, Moreira & Barbosa, 2012

Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo & Barbosa, Julianna Freires, 2012, Two new species of Paravelia Breddin, 1898 and distributional notes concerning the Veliidae from Minas Gerais State, Brazil (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), Zootaxa 3354 (1), pp. 58-68 : 59-61

Paravelia lanemeloi sp. nov.

Macropterous male (Fig. 1). BL—4,95–5,10; HL—0,65–0,69; HW—0,98–1,01; ANT I—0,65–0,69, ANT II—0,50–0,54, ANT III—0,63–0,65, ANT IV—0,71–0,73; INT—0,40–0,44; EYE—0,25–0,28; PL—2,13–2,14; PW—2,03; FORELEG: FEM—1,34–1,35, TIB—1,31–1,35, TAR I—0,11, TAR II—0,24, TAR III—0,36–0,39; MIDLEG: FEM—1,61–1,63, TIB—1,58–1,63, TAR I—0,11–0,13, TAR II—0,40, TAR III—0,36–0,39; HINDLEG: FEM—1,93–1,99, TIB—2,10–2,11, TAR I—0,11–0,13, TAR II—0,44–0,45, TAR III—0,41–0,44.

Head brown, lighter on sides and venter than on dorsum. Antenna brown, with intersegmental piece between antennomeres II and III lighter. Eyes reddish brown. Rostrum with article I brown, II–III yellowish brown, IV black. Pronotum dark brown, with pair of orange marks on sides of midline of anterior lobe. Circular punctuations of pronotum margined in black, lighter internally. Sides of thorax dark brown, becoming lighter towards venter. Venter of thorax orange brown; orange on depressed areas under coxae and on intersegmental areas. Dorsum of abdomen yellow, with margins of connexives brownish. Abdominal sternites yellow, darker laterally. Genital segments yellow. Wings dark brown with lighter veins. Forewings, when closed, with pair of rounded white maculae on proximal portion and an oval white macula near apex (Fig. 1). Coxae and trochanters yellow. Femora yellow on base, becoming brown towards apex. Tibiae and tarsi brown.

Head declined anteriorly, dorsally covered by sparse short black setae, and longer thinner lighter setae. Head midline impressed and shining; head also with pair of deep depressions on base, near eyes. Black denticles absent from dorsum of head. Antenniferous tubercles well developed, shining. Buccula laterally with 4–5 circular depressions. Bucculae (Fig. 2), jugum, and adjacent portion of proepisternum with several black denticles. Rostrum reaching beyond middle of mesosternum.

Pronotum subpentagonal, with longitudinal midline weakly carinate, humeri slightly elevated, and posterior angle rounded. Pronotal surface without black denticles, covered by short black setae and longer lighter setae, scarcer on posterior half of posterior lobe, except for apex. Anterior lobe of pronotum with row of circular punctuations adjacent to anterior margin; the row briefly interrupted laterally on propleura, but reappearing on prosternum. Posterior portion of propleura with two rows of circular punctuations; one row on anterior portion of mesopleura and another on posterior portion; metapleura with scarce punctuations; pro- and mesoacetabulum with small shallow punctuations on inner surface; larger deeper punctuations on outer surface of metacetabulum. One wide deep punctuation on inner portion of pro- and mesoacetabulum. Intersegmental area between thoracic sternites and area under fore and midcoxae strongly depressed. Longitudinal midline of pro- and mesosternum forming a rostral canal. Intersegmental area between meso- and metasternum centrally with two pairs of tubercles (Fig. 3).

Abdominal connexives elevated, without black denticles, densely covered on margins by black setae. Venter of abdomen without foveae. Abdominal sternites covered by long black setae, more densely on center of sternite I and sides of remaining sternites. Center of abdominal sternites II–VI with very short black denticles, much smaller than those of head, and more numerous towards apex of body. Center of abdominal sternites III–VI with shallow circular depressions among the denticles, much smaller than punctuations of thorax. Last abdominal sternite without projections or carina, with setae packed more tightly near middle (Fig. 4). Posterolateral margins of last abdominal segment surrounding genital cavity with several robust black denticles (Fig. 4); similar denticles laterally on genital segment I (Fig. 5–6). Genital segment I wide, with dorsal posterior margin slightly projected centrally (Fig. 5), ventrally without projections or carina (Fig. 6). Proctiger without spines, and lateral margins slightly expanded (Fig. 7). Parameres symmetrical, sinuous, flat, and long (Fig. 8).

Wings slightly passing apex of abdomen; exposing margins of connexives laterally. Legs without spines, densely covered by brown setae; femora and tibiae also with rows of longer thinner setae. Fore tibia with grasping comb well developed, occupying 1/3 of its length. Hind femur slightly thicker than others. Macropterous female (Fig. 9). BL—5,15; HL—0,71–0,75; HW—1,00–1,01; ANT I—0,63–0,65, ANT II—0,45–0,48, ANT III—0,61–0,64, ANT IV—0,73; INT—0,41–0,44; EYE—0,25; PL—2,01–2,05; PW—2,04–2,05; FORELEG: FEM—1,25–1,29, TIB—1,19–1,28, TAR I—0,11–0,13, TAR II—0,24, TAR III—0,39; MIDLEG: FEM—1,54–1,61, TIB—1,5, TAR I—0,13, TAR II—0,40, TAR III—0,40; HINDLEG: FEM—1,94–1,98, TIB—1,99–2,00, TAR I—0,13, TAR II—0,45, TAR III—0,44–0,47.

PLATE I. Paravelia lanemeloi sp. nov. 1. Macropterous male, dorsal view. 2. Head and part of thorax, lateral view. 3. Part of thorax, ventral view. 4. Apex of body, ventral view. 5. Male genital segment I, dorsal view. 6. Male genital segment I, ventral view. 7. Male proctiger. 8. Male paramere. 9. Macropterous female, dorsal view. [Scale bar = 1.00 mm; DEN = black denticles; SET = area of tightly grouped setae; TUB = tubercles].

Coloration, general body structure, and distribution of head and thorax denticles and punctuations as in male. Minute denticles and punctuations of abdomen less evident than in male. Robust black denticles on posterolateral region of last abdominal segment and posterior margin of gonocoxae, but less numerous than in male. Grasping comb shorter than in male, occupying 1/10 of tibial length.

Type-material. BRAZIL: Minas Gerais – Santana do Riacho, Alto do Palácio , temporary pool, 1.300–1.400 m a.s.l., 17.I.2009 (D. Takiya): 1 macropterous male [HOLOTYPE], 1 macropterous male, 2 macropterous females [PARATYPES] ( DZRJ) .

Distribution. So far known only from the type-locality, a temporary pool in an area of relatively high altitude on the Serra do Cipó mountain range.

Etymology. Named in honor of Prof. Alan Lane de Melo, for his contributions to the knowledge of the aquatic Heteroptera of Minas Gerais.

Discussion. Paravelia lanemeloi sp. nov. is distinguished from other species of the genus by the following combination of characters: body length about 5 mm; dorsum of head, pronotum, and margins of connexives without black denticles; bucculae, jugum and adjacent portion of proepisternum, posterolateral margins of last abdominal segment, and sides of male genital segment I with several black denticles (Fig. 5–6); pronotum without evident modifications; abdomen without deep foveae; last abdominal sternite without projections or carina (Fig. 4); shape of male proctiger and paramere (Fig. 7–8); and legs without spines.

Based on original descriptions and existing redescriptions, the species of the genus most similar to P. lanemeloi sp. nov. is P. rotundanotata . Both species can be differentiated by the following features, found only in P. rotundanotata : body length about 4 mm; head, thorax and margins of connexives with black denticles, more notable on humeri; and pronotum with longitudinal midline pale. Paramere shape is also different in the two species, but both share the absence of projections on the last abdominal sternite of male, which bears black denticles laterally.

The venter of P. lanemeloi sp. nov. does not display deep foveae like those found in P. anta Mazzucconi, 2000 or P. hungerfordi (Drake & Harris, 1933) . However, under higher magnifications, it is possible to see minute black denticles and cuticular depressions, structures not yet described for other species of the genus, perhaps because of the difficulty of observation.