Saldula marianarum, Usinger, 1946

Usinger, Robert L., 1946, Hemiptera Heteroptera of Guam, Insects of Guam II, Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Bulletin 189, pp. 11-103 : 100-101

96. Saldula marianarum , new species.

Body oval in form and shining above on head and thorax, rather dull on hemelytra.

Head half again as broad across eyes as long in front view, the eyes large but less than twice as broad as narrowest portion of interocular space, 13: 8; clypeus over twice as long as broad, 9:4, broadest and rounded posteriorly; transverse lobes at base of clypeus wider than base of clypeus, 5: 4, and half as long as wide. Front shining and densely, finely punctate, pubescent, and longitudinally sulcate in front of elevated ocellar area. Ocelli much closer to each other than to eyes, the distance between ocelli being less than the diameter of an ocellus. Vertex behind ocelli narrowly shining at base of head and polished on inner emarginations of eyes, elsewhere dulled by dense granulate punctures. Rostrum reaching apices of hind coxae. Antennae about as long as head, pronotum, and scutellum as measured from above; proportion of segments one to four as 12: 16: 16: 16.

Pronotum one fifth wider across humeri than width of head across eyes, 42:35; a little over one third as long on median line as broad, 15-:42; front lobe strongly elevated, transverse, foveate at middle, not quite reaching lateral margins, surrounded by an impressed row of punctures; surface less densely pubescent on elevated area than on posterior lobe and lateral margins, these last nearly straight anteriorly, rounded posteriorly, with a distinct submarginal impression extending to middle of humeral area. Hind margin rather broadly, evenly, arcuately concave in front of scutellum.

Scutellum moderately convex, about as broad as long, a little less than two thirds as broad as pronotum, 26: 42; the surface granulate-punctate anteriorly and rugosely punctate posteriorly, pubescent, transversely arcuately impressed before middle and feebly depressed before apex.

Hemelytra complete, the membrane greatly exceeding tip of abdomen, with four complete cells, the innermost being longest but only moderately produced beyond base of second cell. Clavus and corium rather densely, evenly pubescent, the veins of corium poorly defined but visible, the inner vein forked to form a cell at apex and connected at apical third to median vein.

Under surface covered with a rather long, silky pubescence except for glabrous area on inner propleuron and front acetabulum laterally. Last two segments of hind tarsi subequal in length.

Color black on head and thorax, the clypeus, paraclypeal and basal lobes, a spot on either side of ocelli and ocelli ochraceous. Eyes ferrugineous. Clavus black with a white spot subapically and brownish apex. Corium entirely pale, ochraceous with a light brownish cast on inner half, spotted with white subbasally, at middle, and near the apex, exocorium generally whitish, slightly embrowned near middle and subapically, embolar area entirely pale, subhyaline. Membrane obscurely pale with brown veins and fuscous at base and near the middle. Pubescence golden on pronotum and scutellum and with a few golden hairs on clavi. The remaining pubescence black. Under surface of head and thorax black, of abdomen brown with lighter hind margins of segments. Labrum, tips of bucculae and rostrum ochraceous to fulvous. First two antenna! segments pale, the apical segments black. Coxae brown with the remainder of legs pale, testaceous except for brown tibial and tarsal spines, extreme apices of tibiae and apices of tarsi.

Size: length 2.65 mm.; width (hemelytra) 1.25 mm.

Holotype male, Agana Swamp, May 4, Usinger .

S. balnearum differs in its larger size, black corium with white spots and white embolium, distinct corial veins, feebly sinuate basal emargination of pronotum, broader vertex, pubescent propleura and sides of front acetabula, and longer second antenna! segment.

None of the Guam species appears to be related to the Hawaiian saldids or to saldids which are before me from the Society Islands, these mid-Pacific species having greatly reduced membranal venation.