Psallus thomashenryi, Carapezza, Attilio & Kment, Petr, 2018

Carapezza, Attilio & Kment, Petr, 2018, Psallusthomashenryi sp. n. and Psalluslucanicus from Turkey (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Miridae), ZooKeys 796, pp. 253-265 : 254-257

Psallus thomashenryi sp. n. Figs 1, 2-7

Type locality.

Turkey, southern Anatolia, Mersin Province, Göksu Nehri river canyon, Evkafçiftliği, 36°27'23.6"N, 33°38'12.3"E.

Type material.

Holotype: ♂, glued on a pointed cardboard with genitalia glued on the same cardboard with labels as follows: 36°27'23.6"N, 33°38'12.3"E / AS. TURKEY, İÇEL prov. / Evkafçiftliği, Göksu Nehri canyon / valley of drying brook, sweep / 5.v.2007, lgt. P. Kment [white printed label] // HOLOTYPUS / PSALLUS (PSALLUS) / THOMASHENRYI / sp. n. / det. Carapezza & Kment 2017 [red printed label]' (NMPC).

Paratype: ♀, glued on a pointed cardboard with labels as follows: 36°27'23.6"N, 33°38'12.3"E / AS. TURKEY, İÇEL prov. / Evkafçiftliği, Göksu Nehri canyon / valley of drying brook, sweep / 5.v.2007, lgt. P. Kment [white printed label] // PARATYPUS / PSALLUS (PSALLUS) / THOMASHENRYI / sp. n. / det. Carapezza & Kment 2017 [red printed label]' (NMPC).

Description.

Male. Coloration (Fig. 1). Dorsal coloration almost uniformly orange. Head orange, vertex basally with four small reddish dots arranged in line, frons with five whitish lateral arcs; apex of clypeus whitish. Antennae pale yellowish, scape with faint basal annulation and with two preapical dark dots; labium pale yellowish, apical half of last segment darkened. Pronotum orange with traces of reddish dotting in anterior half; scutellum and hemelytra orange, cuneus basally and apically whitish; membrane pale, hyaline, veins concolorous. Thoracic sterna orange with reddish tinge, legs pale yellowish, femora with irregular orange to reddish-brown dots, more numerous on hind femora; tibial spines black, arising from small dark spots; tarsi uniformly pale.

Structure. Body elongate-ovoid (Fig. 1), about 2.8 times longer than basal width of pronotum. Head moderately projecting, in dorsal view 2.1 times wider than long, in frontal view 1.5 times wider than high, in lateral view 1.5 times longer than high; ocular index (ratio vertex/eye in dorsal view) 1.6. Antennae with segment II 0.8 times as long as basal width of pronotum. Labium slightly surpassing metacoxae. Hind femora elongate, 3.6 times longer than maximum width; tibial spines long, about twice longer than tibial diameter. Genital segment ventrally unkeeled; phallotheca (Fig. 2) robust, with a preapical lateral ridge, apex rounded; left paramere (Fig. 4) broad, apical process straight and thin, sensory lobe short, apically rounded; right paramere (Fig. 3) elongate, apical process straight; vesica (Figs 5-7) short, C-shaped, provided with robust postbasal lateral spicule extending apically to middle of vesica, terminating in elongate, apically recurved blade, armed with rows of denticles along inner side, and three fingerlike, apically bent blades, almost equal in size, originating near subapical secondary gonopore.

Pubescence. Dorsum with reclining pale and semierect blackish setae; the latter few, mostly on head and lateral margins of pronotum.

Female. Coloration similar to males but paler. Structure and pubescence as in males, but body more ovoid, 2.8 times longer than basal width of pronotum; ocular index 2.2. Female genitalia could not be examined due to the imperfectly sclerotized single specimen.

Measurements

(in mm). Male. Body length: 2.29; head width: 0.61; interocular distance: 0.27; pronotum width: 0.82; length of antennal segments: I - 0.13, II - 0.63, III - 0.29, IV - 0.24; length of tarsomeres: I - 0.11, II - 0.13, III - 0.15. Female. Body length: 2.38; head width: 0.61; interocular distance: 0.32; pronotum width: 0.89; length of antennal segments: I - 0.14, II - 0.58, III and IV missing.

Differential diagnosis.

The dorsal coloration almost uniformly orange and the C-shaped vesica with elongate apical processes show clearly that the new species belongs to the subgenus Psallus s. str. Its total length, 2.3 mm in both sexes, makes it one of the smallest species in the subgenus; only a few species have a body length less than or equal to 2.5 mm, namely P. corsicus Puton, 1875 and P. jeitensis Wagner, 1963, but their coloration and male genitalia differ from those of the new species. By its habitus, Psallus thomashenryi is very close to the East-Mediterranean P. asthenicus Seidenstücker, 1966, from which, as from any other species of its genus, it can be distinguished by the char acteristic male genitalia, especially the unique apical blades of the vesica. In particular, P. asthenicus is larger (body length 2.8-3.1 mm), the postbasal lateral spicule of the vesica is membranous and its apical blades are horn-like, gradually tapering, apically pointed, and the central one is shaped like the head of a bird (see Seidenstücker 1966, figs 25a, 25b).

Etymology.

The new species is named in honor of our colleague Thomas J. Henry on his 70th birthday in recognition of his great contribution to the advancement of heteropterology and as a token of personal friendship and gratitude. The specific epithet is a noun in the genitive case.

Habitat.

The specimens were beaten from shrubs and trees growing around a small drying-up brook at the village margin. In the same habitat, the new species was collected with the following other species of Miridae : Amblytylus concolor Jakovlev, 1877, Closterotomus annulus ( Brullé, 1832), C. norwegicus (Gmelin, 1790), Globiceps (Paraglobiceps) syriacus Wagner, 1969, Heterocordylus (Bothrocranum) carbonellus Seidenstücker, 1956, Lepidargyrus syriacus (Wagner, 1956), Paredrocoris pectoralis Reuter, 1878, Phytocoris (Exophytocoris) parvulus Reuter, 1880, and Plagiognathus marivanensis Linnavuori, 2010.

Distribution.

Endemic to southern Anatolia.