Pachybrachius chinai

Usinger, Robert L., 1946, Hemiptera Heteroptera of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 189, pp. 11-103 : 30-31

26. Pachybrachius chinai , new species.

Elongate with sides subparallel, pronotum strongly constricted behind middle and rostrum relatively long, reaching to middle of metasternum. Head as long as broad across eyes, finely granulate-punctate above except surrounding ocelli, with subappressed white pubescence anteriorly and laterally in front of eyes and posteriorly surrounding ocelli. With several erect, very long trichobothria-like hairs on vertex and adjacent to eyes and several shorter, erect hairs on surface of eyes. Interocular space over twice as wide as an eye, 16: 7, and anteocular portion of head one fourth longer than an eye, 15: 12. Rostrum relatively long, reaching to middle of metasternum, the first segment not reaching base of head, second segment reaching front coxae; proportion of segments 25: 25: 18: 14; all segments beset with scattered, relatively short but erect hairs. Antennae about 2.5 times as long as width of pronotum across humeri, 115: 45, first segment exceeding apex of head by slightly less than half its length, proportion of segments one to four as 16: 36: 28: 35.

Pronotum one fifth longer than head on median line, one fourth broader across humeri than long, the disk sparsely clothed with subappressed pale hairs with a few erect long hairs. Postmedian transverse constriction relatively strong, the width at constriction only one fifth greater than width across anterior collar. Anterior lobe half again as broad as long, impunctate. Posterior lobe three times as broad as long, sparsely but distinctly punctate. Scutellum longer than broad, 29:23, elevated at base and subflattened apically. Hemelytra as in ventralis China. Thoracic pleura relatively coarsely, distinctly punctate. Legs and coloration of body and appendages as in ventralis China.

Size: male, length 4.4 mm., width (hemelytra) 1.2 mm.; female, length 4.7 mm., width (hemelytra) 1.3 mm.

Holotype male, allotype female, and 44 paratypes, Agana Swamp, May 4, sucking fruits of " Panama cherry", Usinger ; three paratypes, same data but May 15 , and one paratype, Umatac, May 14, on Pemphis, Usinger ; one paratype, Inarajan, May 7, Usinger ; one specimen, Talofofo, April 1, Bryan .

P. chinai is very close to the Samoan ventralis China, of which I have a relatively small (4.4 mm.) topotype from Fagasa. P. ventralis differs in its distinctly shorter rostrum, reaching only to middle of mesosternum, and in its relatively broader and less strongly constricted anterior pronotal lobe. P. ventralis was collected on Tahiti, Society Islands, and on Raivavai and Tubuai, Austral Islands, by Zimmerman.

Dedicated to W. E. China, whose Hemiptera fascicle of "Insects of Samoa " is one of the best contributions to our knowledge of the Hemiptera of Oceania.