Myrmoplasta Gerstäcker, 1892

Stehlík, Jaroslav L. & Kment, Petr, 2008, Myrmoplastoides subgen. nov. of the genus Myrmoplasta (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pyrrhocoridae) from the Oriental region, Zootaxa 1782 (1), pp. 61-64 : 61

Myrmoplasta Gerstäcker, 1892

( Fig. 1 )

Myrmoplasta Gerstäcker, 1892: 51 .

Type species. Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892 ; by monotypy.

Diagnosis. Brachypterous, rarely macropterous, body distinctly myrmecomorphic ( Fig. 1 ). Head wider (male 1.84– 2.08 mm, female 2.05–2.35 mm), frons less convex. Pronotal lobe gradually widening laterally towards base, its lateral margins neither gibbous nor strongly produced; posterior margin of pronotal lobe not elevated above scutellum. Abdomen strongly constricted basally, and strongly widened medially; mesotergites gibbous, bearing setae. Hemelytra of brachypterous morph considerably reduced, not surpassing base of tergite II, each corium posteriorly separately rounded, lacking membrane. Fore femur of male with three remote teeth and long stout black setae on its ventral surface; female fore femur toothless. For description of male genitalia see Stehlík (2007).

Included species. Myrmoplasta mira Gerstäcker, 1892 , M. vittiventris Carlini, 1894 , and M. kmenti Stehlík, 2007 .

Distribution. East, Central, and South Africa from Ethiopia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa ( Stehlík 2007).

Note. Stehlík (2007) did not succeed in locating the type specimen of Myrmoplasta mira . According to Weidner (1972), this holotype is deposited in the collection os Zoologisches Museum, Universität von Hamburg, Germany.

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Habitus of Myrmoplasta species. 1—Myrmoplasta (Myrmoplasta) vittiventris Carlini, 1894 (male, 5.89 mm; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu province); 2—M. (Myrmoplastoides subgen. nov.) longipennis Blöte, 1933 (male, 6.37 mm; paratype); M. (Myrmoplastoides subgen. nov.) biguttata Blöte, 1933 (female, 6.26 mm; holotype).