Malagasotingis, Lis, Barbara, 2009

Lis, Barbara, 2009, Malagasotingis ursulae gen. et sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Tingidae: Tinginae: Litadeini) from Madagascar, with new tribal assignment of the Oriental genus Tanytingis Drake, 1939, Zootaxa 2310, pp. 64-68 : 64-66

Malagasotingis n. gen.

Type species: Malagasotingis ursulae sp. nov.

Diagnosis: The new genus can be recognized by the presence of five cephalic spines; relatively short pronotum; narrow, uniseriate paranota; greatly expanded and very broad costal area of hemelytron; and the elevated, tumidly swollen discoidal area. A short pronotum with a triangular process incompletely developed is present in several genera of Tinginae , for instance in Therontingis Duarte Rodrigues, 2002 and Tanytingis Drake, 1939 ; but the new genus differs from both by a tumidly swollen discoidal area and the presence of five cephalic spines (there are two spines, namely only the frontals in Therotingis; and four spines – the frontals and occipitals in Tanytingis ); moreover, the reduced clavi differentiates Malagasotingis from the former, and the absence of the strongly costate margin of costal area differs it from the latter. The new genus resembles also two other genera, i.e., Aristobyrsa Drake and Poor, 1937 and Cephalidiosus Guilbert, 1998 , by its very broad costal area of hemelytron. Malagasotingis shares with Aristobyrsa an elevated, tumidly swollen discoidal area, but differs from it by a narrower paranota (in Aristobyrsa the paranota are composed of three rows of cells), and the absence of long hairs on antennae (such hairs are present in Aristobyrsa ). The discoidal area in Cephalidiosus is normally developed (with distinct vein R+M), and this feature differentiates it from the newly described genus.

Description: Head relatively short, armed with five cephalic spines, first antennal segment about twice as long as the second one; pronotum short, its triangular process incompletely developed; collar slightly swollen; paranota uniseriate; hemelytra very broad; costal area folded downwards in its basal part; discoidal area tumidly swollen, its boundaries hardly visible; peritreme present.

Etymology: Malagasotingis (feminine). Malagaso- (derived from the name of the “Repoblika Demokratika Malagasy ”), plus -tingis (generic name of the typical lace bug genus, of no special application to this group of bugs).