Macrophysoderes bengalensis ( Distant, 1909 ) Hwang & Weirauch, 2017

Hwang, Wei Song & Weirauch, Christiane, 2017, Uncovering hidden diversity: phylogeny and taxonomy of Physoderinae (Reduviidae, Heteroptera), with emphasis on Physoderes Westwood in the Oriental and Australasian regions, European Journal of Taxonomy 341, pp. 1-118 : 39-41

Macrophysoderes bengalensis ( Distant, 1909) comb. nov.

Figs 8–10 , 12 ; Appendix

Epirodera bengalensis Distant, 1909: 364 .

Physoderes bengalensis – Maldonado 1990: 379.

Diagnosis

This species is recognized among species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov. by the dark brown coloration, the scape reaching the apex of the clypeus, the very large eyes relative to the head, the absence of paired long setae at the posterior margin of the postocular lobe, the two rows of small setigerous tubercles on the ventral surface of the postocular lobe, the pronotum with deep paramedian carinae, the triangular pronotal paramedian lobes, the spines on the fore trochanter and the straight margin of the abdominal apex. This species is quite distinct from other members of the genus.

Material examined

Holotype

INDIA: ♂, Bengal , Pusa, 22.98666° N, 87.855° E, exact locality, date and collector unknown ( UCR_ ENT 00018528 ) ( BMNH).

Other material

INDIA: 1 ♂, Meghalaya, Khasi Hills, 25.58333° N, 91.63333° E, no date provided, collector unknown ( UCR _ ENT 00069412) ( BMNH).

Redescription

Male

BODY LENGTH. Medium size, total length 9 mm.

COLORATION ( Fig. 10 ). Brown. Head brown. Scape of antenna brown, other segments missing. First segment of labium brown, second and third straw brown. Anterior lobe of pronotum dark brown, posterior lobe brown, scutellum dark brown, pleuron brown with light brown margin along acetabulum, sternum brown. Corium of hemelytron brown with straw brown apex, membrane dark brown. Femora straw brown with sub-basal and sub-apical brown annulations, tibiae brown, basally straw brown, tarsi and claws straw brown. Abdomen dorsally straw brown, ventrally straw brown with lateral brown patterns, connexivum yellow brown with anterior indistinct brown spot, exposed part of pygophore straw-colored.

VESTITURE. Sparsely setose. Head with some flat, curved setae, ventral surface of postocular lobe with two rows of small, setigerous tubercles. Anterior lobe of thorax with irregular row of tuberculated, short, curved setae on lateral margins and short, setigerous tubercles dispersed on dorsal surface, posterior lobe with only short, sparse setae. Corium of hemelytron glabrous. Fore trochanter of legs with small process on internal surface, fore femur with two rows of spines and setigerous tubercles, fore tibiae with regular rows of tuberculated, stout, sharp setae. Connexival margin of abdomen without setae.

HEAD. Short conical; maxillary plate rounded apically; scape reaching apex of clypeus; eye about 1/5 length of head, not attaining ventral margin of head in lateral view; height of anteocular lobe shorter than postocular lobe.

THORAX. Antero-lateral paired projections acute, diverging; surface of anterior lobe with low ridges; paramedian carina strongly defined; posterior lobe medially weakly rugose; anterior pronotal lobe shorter than posterior lobe, narrower than posterior lobe, anterior lobe lower than posterior lobe in lateral view; parascutellar lobe triangular; scutellar process long, with acute apex.

HEMELYTRON. Attaining tip of abdomen.

LEGS. Same as genus description.

ABDOMEN. Elongate ovoid, with straight terminal margin; connexival margin smooth.

GENITALIA. Anterior margin of mediosternite 8 undulating, without medial apodeme; transverse bridge of pygophore extremely narrow, only consisting of margin of anterior opening of pygophore, margin of anterior opening rounded; cup-like sclerite apically rounded, with sclerotized paired latero-ventral protuberance; arms of basal plate converging; ductifer with sclerotized elongate ring; endosomal struts apically truncate, divided into two arms; shape of dorsal phallothecal sclerite subacute with lateral broad, plate-like prolongations, small acute apex and broad lateral plates with rounded margins extended laterally and curved towards apex.

Female

Unknown.

Ecology

Nothing is known about the biology of this species.

Distribution

This species is only known from two localities: Pusa, Bengal (type locality) and Khasia Hills, Assam. It appears to be restricted to areas adjoining the Indian subcontinent and Myanmar.

Remarks

This species is placed in the Macrophysoderes gen. nov. clade based on the phylogenetic analysis above. It is most closely related to M. monticola comb. nov., as both possess a scape that reaches the apex of the clypeus and lack the paired, long setae at the posterior margin of the postocular lobe. M. bengalensis comb. nov. possesses several unique characters, especially on the male genitalia.

Figures

Fig. 8. Dorsal view of the male pygophore in species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov., Macrophysoderes gen. nov., Paraphysoderes Villiers, 1962 and Physoderes Westwood, 1845. For an explanation of the colored arrows, see keys on pages 37 and 66.

Fig. 9. Dorsal view of the phallus in species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov., Macrophysoderes gen. nov., Paraphysoderes Villiers, 1962 and Physoderes Westwood, 1845 (partial). Scale bars = 0.20 mm.

Fig. 10. Dorsal habitus images for species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov. and Nanophysoderes gen. nov. For an explanation of the colored arrows, see key on page 37. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Fig. 12. Distribution map for species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov.