Felisacus madagascariensis Poppius, 1912

Namyatova, Anna A. & Cassis, Gerasimos, 2016, Revision And Phylogeny Of The Fern-Inhabiting Genus Felisacus Distant (Insecta: Heteroptera: Miridae: Bryocorinae) Anna A. Namyatova And Gerasimos Cassis, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2016 (403), pp. 1-169 : 116-117

Felisacus madagascariensis Poppius

Figures 5 , 21

Felisacus madagascariensis Poppius, 1912: 182 (original description).

DIAGNOSIS: Recognized by the following combination of characters: marking along inner margin of corium yellow, not reaching R+M anteriorly and posteriorly (fig. 5); transverse depression delimiting occipital region present only dorsally; antennal segment I cylindrical (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 8A), ca. 1.7× as long as head width, reddish brown; pronotum mostly brown to dark brown with yellow longitudinal stripe medially on posterior part; labium reaching posterior margin of mesosternum; dorsal surface of labial segment II elongate posteriorly (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 6D).

REDESCRIPTION: Male. Unknown. Female. Total length 4.0. COLORATION (fig. 5): Head: Pale brown dorsally and anteriorly with reddish tinge, lateral and ventral surfaces yellow; longi- tudinal sulcus on dorsal surface of head pale brown; buccula, mandibular and maxillary plates yellow; clypeus pale brown, brown apically; tubercle around antennal fossa yellow with red markings. Eyes white. Labium: Whitish yellow, segment IV slightly darker than other segments. Antenna: Segments I–II reddish brown. Thorax: Anterior part of pronotum brown anteriorly, and yellow with reddish tinge posteriorly, posterior part of pronotum dark brown with yellow longitudinal stripe medially; mesoscutum pale brown, scutellum yellow with anterior angles pale brown; thoracic pleura and scent gland evaporative area yellow. Hemelytron: Mostly opaque; inner part of clavus pale brown with reddish tinge, outer part of clavus whitish yellow, pale brown apically; corium whitish yellow, marking along inner margin of corium yellow, short and narrow, not reaching R+M; embolium whitish yellow, with reddish margins; cuneus whitish yellow, with reddish outer and posterior margins; membrane translucent, pale brown with pale brown tinge. Legs: Coxa whitish yellow. SURFACE AND VESTITURE: Corium smooth, with very shallow punctures. STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENTS: Body 4.2× as long as pronotum width. Head: Depression delimiting occipital region present only dorsally; distance from depression to pronotum distinctly shorter than eye diameter; longitudinal sulcus on dorsal surface longer than eye diameter; distance from eye to pronotum slightly longer than eye diameter, not swollen laterally; vertex ca. 2.1× as wide as eye, upraised (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 6D). Labium: Reaching posterior margin of mesosternum; segments I and II strongly reduced, combined length subequal to half of segment III; segment I shorter than wide; segment II slightly longer than width, its dorsal surface elongate posteriorly; segment IV ca. 1.5× as long as segment III. Antenna: Segment I cylindrical (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 8A), 1.7× as long as head width, 1.0× as long as pronotum width. Thorax: Anterior part shorter than posterior part; collar not delimited; posterior part slightly upraised; posterior margin concave, pronotum ca. 1.4× as wide as long and ca. 1.7× as wide as head; mesoscutum exposed. Hemelytron: Area along inner margin of corium almost flat; inner margin of corium convex (as in Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 13E), outer margin of corium almost ca. 3× as long as base. Genitalia: Dorsal labiate plate wider than distance between apodemes of second valvulae; with semicircular sclerite and distinct sclerotized rings laterally (similar to Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 23F); dorsal labiate plate with distinct tubercles (similar to Namyatova et al., 2016: fig. 23G).

DISTRIBUTION: Madagascar (fig. 21).

HOST PLANTS: Unknown.

DISCUSSION: Antennal segments III–IV, femora, tibiae, and tarsi are lost. The abdomen is in a vial attached to the specimen. Vestiture of the holotype has been lost. Some characters of the female genitalia were not recorded, including striation of the dorsal labiate plate, position of the lateral oviducts, spermathecal gland, and presence of the membranous lobe of the posterior wall.

Poppius (1912) described Felisacus madagascariensis from a single specimen, and he noted that it was a male. We examined the type species, housed in the MZH, which is a female, suggesting that Poppius’ recording on the sex of the specimen was incorrect. Felisacus madagascariensis is similar to F. vitilevu and F. gressitti in coloration and structure (figs. 5, 7). Felisacus vitilevu can be separated from F. madagascarensis by the labium reaching the posterior margin of the metasternum, the anterior part of the pronotum is yellow, antennal segment I is mostly pale brown or reddish, ca. 1.3–1.6× as long as the head width. Felisacus gressitti differs from F. madagascariensis in the anterior part of the pronotum is yellow and the labium reaches abdominal segment II.

MATERIAL EXAMINED: Holotype: MADAGAS- CAR: [Madagascar], 1700, A.E. Hildebrand, 1♀ (00018976) ( MZH).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Habitus of Felisacus species.

FIGURE 21. Distribution of F. bradi.