Anisops pseudostali, Nieser & Chen & Yang, 2005

Nieser, Nico, Chen, Ping-ping & Yang, Chang Man, 2005, A New Subgenus And Six New Species Of Nepomorpha (Insecta: Heteroptera) From Yunnan, China, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 53 (2), pp. 189-209 : 205-206

Anisops pseudostali , new species

( Figs. 51-53 )

Material examined. – Holotype ( NCTN, to be transferred to RMNH) - macropterous male, CHINA: Yunnan Prov., 10 km NE Kunming, Jindian water reservoir, ca. 200x 750m, edges flooded grassland, 27 Aug.1989, coll. P. Chen & N. Nieser.

Paratypes: 2 macropterous females, same data as holotype ( NCTN); Yunnan Prov., Baoshan on road from Fengqing to Baoshan , 23 May.2000, coll. Y. X. Cai & H. H. Tan, THH0085, 1 male ( ZRC) .

Description. – Macropterous form, based on pinned specimens which have been stored in alcohol. A large, whitish, rather parallel-sided species with its greatest width posteriorly of the caudal apex of scutellum.

Dimensions (the holotype is the larger male). Length, male 9.00-9.48, female 9.41-9.61; width of head, male 2.12-2.13, female 2.16-2.23; humeral width of pronotum male 2.53-2.60, female 2.57-2.70; anterior width of vertex, male 0.53-0.54, female 0.59-0.60; synthlipsis, male 0.33-0.37, female 0.38- 0.40; ocular index based on vertex, male 0.67-0.68, female 0.74-0.75.

Colour. Dorsally sordid white to pale yellowish, eyes greyish brown; apex of abdomen brown, shining through the hyaline wings. Ventrally head pale yellow, fourth rostral segment black; thoracic venter yellowish with variable darker patches; abdomen blackish except for median keel and connexiva yellow. Legs pale yellow, anterior face of middle femur with a broad, longitudinal brown stripe.

Structural characteristics. In dorsal view the outline of the head is trapezoid with posterior margin V-shaped, lateral margins virtually straight and converging anteriorly, anterior margin almost straight, and vertex not or only very slightly protruding. Width of head 0.8 times the humeral width of pronotum and about four times the anterior width of vertex (3.7-4.0). Along median axis, length of head two thirds the median length of pronotum (0.59-0.63). Labrum elongate, slightly longer than its width at base (0.33/0.30), without obvious pilosity, apex obtuse. Frontal surface of third rostral segment with long procumbent hairs, more strongly developed in males than in females. Median length of pronotum 1.3-1.5 times the length of an eye; humeral width of pronotum slightly less than twice its median length (1.8- 1.9). Surface of pronotum smooth without impressions or carinae; its lateral margins diverging posteriorly, slightly over half as long as median length (0.54-0.59); posterior margin strongly sinuate. Length of leg segments as in table 1.

Male structural characteristics. Synthlipsis two thirds the anterior width of vertex (0.66). Tylus bare, with a semicircular transverse depression around a wart-like tubercle medially at base of labrum. Rostral prong ( Fig. 51 ) about half as long as third rostral segment, with base originating about halfway and apex pointed. Stridulatory comb on fore tibia ( Figs. 52, 53 ) consisting of 16 teeth of roughly the same size. Fore tarsus without small pegs on its inner surface.

Female structural characteristics. Synthlipsis two thirds the anterior width of vertex (0.63-0.68). Except for sexual characters females are identical with males.

Etymology. – The name pseudostali refers to its similarity to A. stali Kirkaldy, 1904 .

Comparative notes. – Anisops pseudostali is very similar to A. campbelli Brooks, 1951 ( India and Burma) and A. stali , a widespread species occurring from Australia through Indonesia and the Philippines to S. Japan (Okinawa) and S. China (Guangdong, Taiwan) (Nieser & Chen, 1991; Liu & Zheng, 1991). Males of A. stali have proximally on the middle tibiae a projection beset with thickly-set stout setae, this projection is lacking in males of A. pseudostali . In addition, the vertex of A. stali males has a short cephalic projection anteriorly on vertex, which is lacking in A. pseudostali . Females of A. stali lack the procumbent hairs on frontal surface of third rostral segment, which are present in females of A. pseudostali though distinctly less developed than in males. Anisops A. campbelli is smaller than A. pseudostali , length of males 7.3-8.1, length of females 8.1-8.4. In addition, the basal teeth of the stridulatory comb in A. campbelli are much smaller than the apical teeth, whereas in A. pseudostali the difference between basal and apical teeth is only slight ( Fig. 53 ).

Figures

Figs. 51-53. Anisops pseudostali, new species, holotype, male; 51, head in lateral view; 52) foreleg; 53) tibial comb; 51 and 52, Scale: 1 mm.