Ectomocoris spinosus Malipatil & Liu, 2023

Malipatil, M. B., Liu, Yingqi & Cai, Wanzhi, 2023, Revision of Australian Ectomocoris with the description of nine new species (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), Zootaxa 5263 (4), pp. 451-504 : 494-496

Ectomocoris spinosus Malipatil & Liu , sp. nov.

( Figs. 30 , 31 )

Type specimen. Holotype, macropterous male, Australia, Western Australia, 60 mls S. Halls Creek , NS Expedition IV, 6.xii.1971, D. Williams ( WAM).

Description.

Macropterous male ( Fig. 30 )

Colouration ( Fig. 30 ): Black, with yellow, irregular, almost complete transverse patch near apical area of corium and base of membrane and almost anterior half of connexiva of all abdominal segments. All femora-tibial joints and apical area of membrane pale brown.

Structure ( Figs. 30 , 31 ): Body small-medium.

Head: elongate, wholly covered with short whitish pilosity and sparse longer bristly setae prominent on mandibular plates, between eyes and on dorsal aspect of first labial segment. Dorsally integument covered with irregular granules.Anteocular region elongate triangular, dorsally basal half distinctly depressed with conspicuously raised median carina covering clypeus elevated above mandibular plates. Interocular region with arcuate convex sulcus at posterior border of eyes and with a short median pit between eyes. Postocular region gradually rounded to neck. Neck with lateral tubercles slightly obvious. Ventral surface of head tumid before eyes. Antennae with all segments cylindrical, with short whitish pilosity and sparse longer setae. Scape thickest, pedicel thinner, then basi- and distiflagellum thinnest. Eyes conspicuously large, reniform, almost reaching ventral margin in lateral view. Ocelli very large, highly raised, separated from each other by less than diameter of single ocellus, separated from eye by about the same distance. Labium with second visible segment tumid narrowing distally, second and third sparsely covered with longish setae.

Thorax: Anterior lobe of pronotum with collar armed with very prominent rounded tubercles at lateral ends, integument smooth, sulci indistinct, except moderately deep middle short sulcus in basal half. Posterior pronotal lobe arcuately quadrate, integument finely rugulose, with short pilosity, humeri rounded, posterior margin almost smoothly rounded, posterior angles not developed. Scutellum triangular, disc deeply depressed, sides carinate, integument pilose and irregularly granulose, armed with pointed, laterally compressed and slightly twisted apex. Propleuron with integument sparsely minutely granulose, smoothly pilose, set off from dorsal surface by a carina. Mesopleuron integument sparsely minutely granulate, sparsely pilose and unarmed. Metapleuron with integument appearing densely and finely granulose, metapleural sulcus moderately bicarinate and curved, pilose with silvery dense hairs posteriorly. All sternites more or less smooth, moderately pilose. Pronotum densely pilose laterad of labial groove. Mesosternum with disc raised, metasternum with disc more or less tumid. Macropterous hemelytra well exceeding abdomen, exposing connexiva.

Legs: Fore leg with coxa contiguous, with whitish pilosity; trochanter unarmed, pilose; femur strongly fusiform, greatly incrassate near base narrowing distally, much thicker than other femora, armed below with rows of fine bristly setae, in addition sparsely pilose laterally and above; tibia cylindrical, more or less straight but apex slightly reflexed, fossula spongiosa occupying about half of tibial length. Mid leg with coxa globular, femur only slightly thickened, with row of bristles, tibia with short whitish pilosity for whole length, with fossula spongiosa about one third length. Hind leg with femur cylindrical, not at all thickened, tibia with brush of seta, denser at apex, all else as middle leg.

Abdomen: In male sternum strongly carinate medially, carina ending in a strongly bifurcated spined process at end of sternite VII ( Fig. 31 ), smooth and with long pale bristles directed posteriorly, intersegmental sutures strongly curved anteromedially, all sterna appearing narrower medially except VII enlarged, extragenital structure absent on sternite VII ( Fig. 31 ). Connexivum with golden pilosity as elsewhere on sternum, abdominal sterna and terga entire. Spiracles situated near connexival suture, about halfway between anterior and posterior margin of each segment. Each spiracle postero-ventrally with small rather circular shiny impressed spot, also a smaller irregular shaped impressed spot close to anterior margin of each sternum. These spots present on corresponding segments on dorsum also but are covered by hemelytra.

Male genitalia: Median pygophore process slender and twisted apically to right of body. Right paramere triangular, broader than left. Phallus not dissected.

Measurements: [of holotype male macropterous]. Body length 12.48; maximum width of abdomen 3.80; length of head 2.16; length of anteocular region 0.95; length of postocular region 0.34; width of head across eyes 1.63; width of interocellar space 0.19; length of eye in dorsal view 0.83; width of eye in dorsal view 0.57; lengths of antennal segments I–IV 0.95 / 2.47 / 2.66 / 2.20; lengths of visible labial segments I–III 0.68 / 1.15 / 0.64; length of pronotum 3.04; length of anterior pronotal lobe 1.82; length of posterior pronotal lobe 1.14; length of scutellum 1.44; maximum width of scutellum 1.70; length of hemelytra 8.58; length of fore tibia 2.35; length of fossula spongiosa on fore tibia 1.25.

Distribution. Australia (Western Australia).

Etymology. The species epithet is the Latin adjective spinosus , in allusion to the bifurcated spine-like process at the end of the median carina on sternite VII.

Notes. This species has some unique morphological characters compared to other species of the genus Ectomocoris from Australia: the anteocular part of the head rather markedly depressed and concave on either side of the median carina, the very large and bulging eyes and ocelli that are very closely placed, the almost complete transverse narrow yellow patch on the hemelytra ( Fig. 30A ), and a median carina on the abdominal venter ending in a bifurcate spine-like process on the posterior margin of sternum VII ( Fig. 31 ).

Figures

FIGURE 30. Ectomocoris spinosus Malipatil & Liu,sp. nov., holotype, male, habitus.A, dorsal view; B, lateral view; C, ventralview.

FIGURE 31. Ectomocoris spinosus Malipatil & Liu, sp. nov., male abdomen.A, B, ventral view of posterior segments. Orange arrow indicates median carina on abdomen; blue arrow indicates bifurcated spined process at end of sternite VII.