Aristotelesia medialis, Henry & Carpintero, 2012

Henry, Thomas J. & Carpintero, Diego L., 2012, Review of the jumping tree bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Isometopinae) of Argentina and nearby areas of Brazil and Paraguay, with descriptions of nine new species, Zootaxa 3545, pp. 41-58 : 44-46

Aristotelesia medialis , n. sp.

( Figs. 6–10)

Aristotelesia carioca: Carpintero 1996: 160 (distr.).

Diagnosis. This species is distinguished by the bluish-black dorsum ( Fig. 6) and the orange head (except for the black median line) ( Fig. 10), antennae, and femora; both A. carioca and A. fuscata have uniformly black heads.

Description. Female (n= 1; holotype in parentheses): Length 2.95 mm, (2.90 mm) maximum width 1.62 mm (1.82 mm). Head: Length 0.59 mm (0.60 mm), width across eye 1.27 mm (1.31 mm), interocular width 0.72 mm (0.80 mm). Antennae: Segment I length 0.11 mm (0.17 mm), II 0.44 mm (0.47 mm), III 0.15 mm (0.22 mm), IV missing (missing). Pronotum: Length 0.77 mm (0.80 mm), basal width 1.37 mm (1.37 mm).

COLORATION: Head: Eyes red to reddish brown; ocelli red; most of head, including narrow posterior margin of eyes, bright orange, with clypeus, narrow median area of frons, and broadened interocular area between ocelli dark brown. Labium: Yellow to orange brown, with basal halves of segments II and III darker brown. Antenna: Segment I dark brown, yellow or orange at base; segments II–IV uniformly pale yellow. Pronotum: Uniformly bluish black. Scutellum: Uniformly bluish black. Hemelytron: Uniformly bluish black; membrane dusky brown, dark brown inside and between areoles, veins fuscous. Ventral surface: Thorax bluish black, proacetabula orange; abdomen dark brown to fuscous laterally, becoming more reddish brown ventrally, ovipositor pale yellow. Ostiolar evaporative area: Uniformly fuscous to black, dorsal knob on auricle reddish. Legs: Coxae brownish orange; femora orange; tibiae, tarsi, and claws pale yellow.

STRUCTURE, TEXTURE, AND VESTITURE: Head: Broad; evenly punctate; eyes widely separated, triangular in lateral view; ocelli small, separated from inner margin of eye by slightly more than diameter of an ocellus, widely separated from each other by slightly less than two times diameter of an eye; interocular area 2.6 times diameter of an eye; with scattered, relatively long, recumbent setae. Labium: Extending to about bases of hind coxae. Antenna: Segment I short, length about two times diameter; segment II long, gradually thickening to apex, with a few erect setae subequal to about half the diameter of segment; segments III short, subequal to length of segment I; IV obscured in glue. Pronotum: Convex, evenly punctate; calli indistinct; lateral margins straight, posterior margin evenly convex; with evenly spaced, semierect setae. Scutellum: Evenly punctate; with evenly spaced, semierect setae. Hemelytron: Convex laterally, embolium not delimited; cuneus transverse, very short, subequal to distal diameter of antennal segment II; evenly punctate; thickly set with relatively long, semierect setae.

Male: Unknown.

Etymology. This new species is named medialis to denote the dark brown to fuscous median line contrasting with the orange head.

Distribution. This species was reported from Misiones, Argentina, by Carpintero (1996) as A. carioca Carvalho. Closer study of the original description of A. carioca has convinced us that the specimen from Misiones and another female from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil, represent a new species.

Type material. Holotype: ♀, Argentina, Misiones , Iguazu Falls, Nov. 1990, [D. J.] Carpintero ( MACN) . Paratype: 1 ♀, Brazil, [Rio Grande do Sul], Porto Alegre , Feb. 1958, col. MCN, L4.225 ( SMCN) .