Psallus (Psallus) eceae Çerçi & Koçak, 2024

Çerçi, Barış, Koçak, Özgür & Tezcan, Serdar, 2024, Review of the Heteroptera (Hemiptera) fauna of Turkey: perspectives for future research, European Journal of Taxonomy 937, pp. 1-127 : 48-49

Psallus (Psallus) eceae Çerçi & Koçak sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0F7CC35D-25E9-438C-B9BD-42D2FFD8AFA8

Figs 20–21

Diagnosis

The new species is diagnosed by the following features: size small, 2, 8 mm, general coloration yellowish brown with extensive small red mottling, tibial dots large and dense, frons distinctly spherical and unique shape of vesica.

DIfferentIal dIagnosIs

This new species also belongs to the P. haematodes group of species due to the shape of its vesica.Among these species, its vesica resembles that of P. flavellus the most, especially due to the long lateral process. However, the vesica of the latter is larger, has a narrow apex of vesical body, a longer and apically less strongly bent apical process and its lateral process is almost straight ( Fig. 21F ). Furthermore, P. flavellus is a larger species, its male range between 3.4–4.0 mm ( Wagner 1975). The new species can be easily distinguished from the rest of the P. haematodes group of species by the long lateral process which is distinctly falciform.

Etymology

The new species is named after Ece Elif Koçak, daughter of the second author.

Type material

Holotype TURKEY – Karaman Province • ♂; Bucakkışla; 20 May 2020; Ö. Koçak leg.; LEMT.

Description

Male

COLORATION. Yellowish brown with extensive small red mottling. Head yellowish brown with several random small dark brown dots on vertex. Antennae unicolorous yellow, last two segments missing. Pronotum yellowish brown, numerous randomly distributed small dark brown dots, a vague narrow longitudinal yellow stripe at the midline. Scutellum yellowish brown with a narrow median yellow stripe. Ground color of hemelytra yellowish brown, with dense dark red mottling, intensifying posteriorly, cuneus mostly dark red, only its base narrowly pale yellow. Membrane dark brown, veins yellow. Femora yellow with dense black dots both ventrally and dorsally, tibiae yellow with large black dots at the base of each tibial spine.

VESTITURE. Simple, adpressed, predominantly pale hairs with interspersed black setae on head, pronotum and hemelytra. Antennae with short, adpressed pale setae. Tibial spines strong and black.

STRUCTURE. Size 2.8 mm, oblong oval, 2.9× as long as the width of posterior margin of pronotum. Head short, 0.8× as long as high in lateral aspect, 0.43× as long as wide, frons distinctly spherical, eyes large, occupying the whole height of head in lateral view, ocular index 1.9. First antennal segment 0.46× as long as width of vertex, second antennal segment 5.2× as long as first one, 1.2× as long as diatone and 0.8× as long as width of posterior margin of pronotum. Pronotum trapezoid, anterior margin 0.5× as wide as posterior one, 2.2× as wide as long, lateral margins straight, posterior corners broadly rounded. Hemelytra subparallel sided, slightly widened at the middle, surpassing abdomen. Legs short, posterior femur 3.7× as long as wide.

GENITALIA. Left paramere as in Fig. 21A–C . Right paramere typical of phyline species. Vesica small, J-shaped, vesical apex enlarged at the level of secondary gonopore, apical and lateral processes wide apart, apical process slender, twisted around its longitudinal axis, apically blunt and strongly bent, decorated with a row of small teeth along its inner margin, lateral process long and thin, falciform ( Fig. 21D–E ).

Biology

Unknown.

Figures

Fig. 20. Psallus (Psallus) eceae Çerçi & Koçak sp. nov., holotype, ♂ (LEMT) with posterior leg detached. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 21. A–E. Psallus (Psallus) eceae Çerçi & Koçak sp. nov, holotype, ♂ (LEMT). A–C. Left paramere. D–E. Vesica from different views. F. Psallus (Psallus) flavellus Stichel, 1933. All figures are in scale, F is adapted from Çerçi (2020).