Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892

Stehlík, Jaroslav L., 2007, On the Afrotropical species of Myrmoplasta (Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 47, pp. 93-108 : 98-101

Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892

( Figs. 8-10 )

Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892: 51 . HOLOTYPE: ♁, Tanzania, Rosako , Usaramo, August [18]88 (depository unknown – see Note).

Myrmoplasta mira: ROBERTSON (2004) : 21 (catalogue).

Myrmoplasta pseudomira Ahmad & Zaidi, 1987: 47-49 , syn. nov. HOLOTYPE: ♀, Malvern, 22-1-19, 215 (BMNH).

Type material examined. Myrmoplasta pseudomira . HOLOTYPE: ♀, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: KWAZULU-NATAL, Malvern , 22-1-19, 215 ( BMNH).

Additional material examined. TANZANIA: ZANZIBAR, no further data, 1 ♁ (brachypterous) ( BMNH). REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: KWAZULU- NATAL, Ngongoni Veld , 12.ii.1975, 1 ♀ (brachypterous), P. E. Reavell lgt. ( BMNH) ; Port Shepstone , no further data, 1 ♁ (brachypterous) ( BMNH) . SWAZILAND: Eranchi , xii.1957, 1 ♁ (macropterous), A. L. Capener leg. ( AMNH) .

Description of macropterous morph (♁, Swaziland: Eranchi). Body black, slightly more than basal two thirds of pronotal lobe pale yellow; pale yellow spot anterior of apical angle of corium (on costal margin) wide, nearly triangularly narrowed towards the inner margin of corium, covering almost one quarter of total length of corium; laterotergites IV-V yellowish.

Head large, vertex strongly convex ( Fig. 8 ). Antennae long, antennomere 1 1.32 times as long as interocular distance, antennomere 3 as long as the interocular distance; antennomere 1 more strongly widened towards apex, antennomere 2 more slightly widened, antennomere 3 distinctly widened towards apex (but not spindel-shaped). Bucculae large and high.

Pronotal collar (in lateral view, Fig. 9 ) distinctly lowered below callar lobe; pronotal lobe strongly convex above the level of callar lobe, strongly widened laterad (in dorsal view) and slighly lowered next to humeral humps, at base 1.56 times as wide as callar lobe (including lateral margins), 1.18 times as long as callar lobe (without pronotal collar). Base of pronotum 1.58 times as wide as pronotum long. Lateral margins of pronotum only slightly narrowing towards base. Scutellum large. Hemelytra with clavus and membrana well-developed; costal margin of corium more strongly arched outwards, its distal margin rounded towards apex. Delimitation of corium and membrane less apparent, especially in distal angle; clavus and corium roughly and hardly regularly punctured. Hind wings ( Fig. 10 ) fully developed, slightly surpassing base of tergite VII; hamus not developed. Veins R, M, and Cu protruding in regular distances, with closed cell formed by R and Cu (only remigium of the wing preserved, other parts missing). Mesosternum strongly developed, pleuron I strongly gibbous, posterior pleural flange quite wide.

Abdominal tergites with long, nearly erect setae, the latter developed even if covered with hemelytra.

Measurements. Body length 7.45 mm. Head: width (including eyes) – 2.00 mm, interocular width – 1.19 mm; antenna: lenght of antennomeres 1 – 1.57 mm, 2 – 1.62 mm, 3 – 1.19 mm, 4 – 1.78 mm; pronotum: total length – 1.40 mm, collar lenght – 0.11 mm, callar lobe: length – 0.59 mm, width (including margins) – 1.42 mm, pronotal lobe: length – 0.70 mm, width – 2.21 mm; scutellum: length – 1.19 mm, width – 1.19 mm; corium: length – 2.70 mm, width – 1.19 mm.

Variability. Measurements of brachypterous morph. Males (from Zanzibar / Natal, Port Shepstone). Body length 7.40 mm / 7.18 mm. Head: width (including eyes) – 2.05 mm / 2.08 mm, interocular width – 1.30 mm / 1.24 mm; antenna: lenght of antennomeres 1 – 1.62 mm / 1.57 mm, 2 – 1.57 mm / 1.51 mm, 3 – 1.24 mm / 1.08 mm, 4 – 1.94 mm / 1.84 mm; pronotum: total length – 1.35 mm / 1.19 mm, width of base – 1.35 mm / 1.30 mm, callar lobe width – 1.54 mm / 1.46 mm; scutellum: length – 0.92 mm / 0.92 mm, width – 0.78 mm / 0.81 mm; hemelytron: length – 1.30 mm / 1.19 mm, width – 0.65 mm / 0.59 mm.

Females (holotype of M. pseudomira from Malvern / specimen from Natal, N Gongony Veld). Body length 8.26 mm / 9.18 mm. Head: width (including eyes) – 2.32 mm / 2.32 mm, interocular width – 1.51 mm / 1.51 mm; antenna: lenght of antennomeres 1 – 1.73 mm / 1.73 mm, 2 – 1.62 mm / 1.84 mm, 3 – 1.24 mm / 1.35 mm, 4 – missing / 1.94 mm; pronotum: total length – 1.35 mm / 1.54 mm, width of base – 1.51 mm / 1.46 mm, callar lobe width – 1.67 mm / 1.78 mm; scutellum: length – 0.81 mm / 0.86 mm, width – 0.81 mm / 0.92 mm; hemelytron: length – 0.86 mm / 0.97 mm, width – 0.59 mm / 0.59 mm.

Antennomeres 1 and 2 are subequal in length, and antennomere 1 is sometimes slightly longer than antennomere 2.

Comparative note. This species was previously known only in the brachypterous morph. The macropterous morph of M. mira resembles the macropterous morph of M. vittiventris Carlini, 1894 , from which it is easily separated by the coloration of abdominal venter (in M. mira entirely black, in M. vittiventris black with yellow spots), pronotal lobe (in M. mira only ca. basal 2/3 yellow, in M. vittiventris entirely yellow), and dorsal tergites (in M. mira black, in M. vittiventris yellow).

Taxonomy. Revision of the type material of M. pseudomira revealed that it is merely a junior synonym of M. mira . The original description of M. pseudomira by AHMAD & ZAIDI (1987) is not very precise. The following points should be noted: i) antennomeres 1 and 2 are not equally long, but antennomere 1 is slightly longer than antennomere 2 (see measurements of the holotype) as in M. mira ( GERSTÄCKER (1892): ‘articulo primo secundo parum longiore’ [= first segment only slightly longer than second]); ii) base of hind femur is not black but whitish as in M. mira ; iii) in the habitus figure of female by AHMAD & ZAIDI (1987), the fore femora are very slender, although stout fore femora with a ridge on the dorsal margin of the depression are a general character of the genus Myrmoplasta (see below); the fore femora of male are not edentate but possess three stout, distant teeth on a ridge; iv) the figure of female outer genitalia in AHMAD & ZAIDI (1987) is apparently incorrect, showing artificial structures. Moreover, the numbers of all figures in AHMAD & ZAIDI (1987) do not correspond with the figure captions.

Distribution. Republic of South Africa (Kwazulu-Natal) ( AHMAD & ZAIDI 1987); Swaziland (new record); Tanzania ( GERSTÄCKER 1892), including Zanzibar (new record).

AHMAD & ZAIDI (1987) described M. pseudomira from Malvern, which they placed in eastern Africa. However, this locality is in fact situated in the province of Kwazulu-Natal in the Republic of South Africa. Myrmoplasta pseudomira was omitted in the catalogue of Afrotropical Pyrrhocoroidea by ROBERTSON (2004).

ROBERTSON (2004) listed M. mira also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia. However, the records from the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( SCHOUTEDEN 1957) belong to M. kmenti sp. nov., and records from Ethiopia ( SCHMIDT 1932) belong to M. vittiventris .

Note. According to HORN (1926, 1929), the Gerstäcker’s collection should be deposited in ZMBH and the Zoological Museum of Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität (Greifswald, Germany). Jürgen Deckert (ZMBH, pers. comm.) informed me that the holotype is not housed in ZMBH. Unfortunately, I did not recieve any response from Greifswald, and the type depository thus remains uncertain.

Figures

Figs. 8-10. Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892, macropterous male. 8 – anterior part of body; 9 – thorax, lateral view; 10 – remigium (rest of the wing absent).