Burmacader lativentris, Heiss & Guilbert, 2018

Heiss, Ernst & Guilbert, Eric, 2018, A new species of Tingidae from Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Hemiptera, Heteroptera), Zootaxa 4457 (2), pp. 339-345 : 341-344

Burmacader lativentris sp.nov.

( Figs. 2–9)

Type material: Holotype female in a 18x12 x 4 mm cabochon shaped piece of Burmese Amber, dorsal and ventral surface structures partly obscured by impurities and small air bubbles. This specimen is designated as holotype and is deposited in the collection of the first author ( CEHI) as BUB-TING-06.

Diagnosis. This taxon shares the following diagnostic characters of Burmacader and is therefore assigned as the second species to this fossil genus.

Macropterous. Body elongate, surface punctate and areolate, lateral margins setigerous; head short without spines; antennae short about 2.2x as long as width of head, segments III and IV longest; pronotum with anterolaterally expanded paranota, disk without longitudinal carinae; scutellum distinct; hemelytra divided into costal, subcostal and discoidal areas, subcostal one with about ten, discoidal one with three to four transverse veins, stenocostal area absent; membrane without veins.

Description. Body length 3.15 mm of oval outline, lateral margins of pronotum and hemelytra with sparse small setigerous tubercles, few erect setae also present on main hemelytral veins; head, antennae and pronotum with sparse erect pilosity.

Head. Short and truncate, 3.67 times as wide as long, apices of genae slightly exceeding apically rounded clypeus; surface punctured without distinct spines or larger tubercles, eyes large and globose; antennae slender about 2.23x as long as width of head and longer than pronotum width; antennal segment I shortest and thickest (visible from below), II+III thinner, II slightly tapering toward base, III cylindrical, IV elongate spindle-shaped; length of antennal segment I/II/III/IV = 0.15?/0.225/0.425/ 0.425mm. Labial groove delimited by lateral bucculae on anterior half of head, there semiroundly expanded ventrally with two to three rows of cells; length of rostrum obscured.

Pronotum. Surface with deep cell-like punctures, without longitudinal carinae, lateral margins rounded at humeri then converging anteriorly, anterolaterally with large rounded expanded paranota with four rows of cells on widest part, these somewhat larger than those of pronotum but of the same size as areoles of hemelytra; anterior lobe of disk constricted, produced and overlapping the head between paranota; posterior lobe strongly elevated, separated from anterior lobe by a transverse depression, posterior margin slightly sinuate without posterior projection.

Scutellum. Triangular with knob-like apex, surface rugose.

Hemelytra. Macropterous, distinctly surpassing apex of abdomen by one quarter of their length; clavus triangular with a row of cells along outer margin, irregularly punctured elsewhere, apex reaching about half of length of hemelytra; costal area with three rows of cells at middle, one row posteriorly and four to five cells at sinuate expansion anteriorly; subcostal area divided by about ten transverse veins with six to seven transverse rows of cells at its widest part; discoidal area flat with three to four partly indistinct transverse veins and seven to eight cells at the median widest area; sutural area basally bordering clavus with one row of cells, following inner margin of R+M veins with one to two cells along membrane to its posterior end; membrane without veins; a short hypocostal lamina with one row of cells on anterior half is ventrally developed along insinuation of costal area reaching to anterior apex.

Venter. Pro-, meso and metasternum with a wide median labial groove delimited by carinate lateral margins which are subparallel on meso- and metasternum and conically converging on prosternum; sternite VII with a median posteriorly directed projection (subgenital plate, Drake & Davis 1960).

Legs. Long and slender, femora not incrassate, tibiae thin and cylindrical, tarsi two-segmented, claws with a basal tooth.

Measurements. Length 3.15mm; length / width of head 0.15/ 0.55mm; pronotum length / width across anterolateral expansions 0.65/ 1.20mm; scutellum length / width 0.3/ 0.4mm; width of hemelytra 1.8mm.

Etymology. Named after its wide body from>latus<(Latin) wide and venter.

Discussion. Burmacader lativentris is distinguished from multivenosus by its larger size (3.15/ 2.80mm) the much wider habitus (width of abdomen 1.80/ 1.32mm), the shorter antennae (ratio length of antennae / width of head 2.23/2.50), the more rounded shape of anterolateral paranotal expansions and the anterior part of costal area of hemelytra showing four to five cells (three in multivenosus ).

The greatest difference seems to concern the size and shape of eyes, which are large and globular in lativentris and versus the much smaller size documented in the reconstruction of multivenosus (see Fig.4 Heiss & Guilbert 2013), where its eyes were damaged and displaced. Re-examination of the type specimen of multivenosus confirmed the wrong assumption of the eyes size and position, which are rediagnosed in Fig. 1.

As stated in Heiss & Guilbert (2013), Burmacader has a labial groove on the thoracic sternum and bucculae extending from the clypeus to the posterior margin of the head, two characters apomorphic to the Tingidae . In addition, the habitus of Burmacader is clearly the one of tingid body form with the relatively flat shape with dorsal inflations on the head, pronotum and wings that correspond with the areolae. Burmacader shares several characteristics with the Vianaidinae : the length of antennal segment II subequal to segment III, and the welldeveloped scutellum. It also shares characters with Annomatocoris bolivianus Schuh, Cassis & Guilbert and Vianagramma goldmani Golub & Popov , such as the membranous surface on the sutural area of the hemelytra. However, Burmacader and the Vianaidinae differ by the short head not surpassing first antennal segment in Burmacader , the R+M and Cu (cubital) veins are separated at the base of hemelytra (a diagnostic feature of Tinginae + Cantacaderinae ), the discoidal area with transversal veins, the broad costal area, and the small irregular areolae on hemelytra in Burmacader . For these reasons Burmacader is definitely neither a Vianaidinae nor a Tinginae or Cantacaderinae but may represent an extinct clade basal to Tinginae + Cantacaderinae .

The placement of these cretaceous amber species, which are by far older than other known Cantacaderinae fossils Cassis & Schuh (2010), Guilbert (2012), Perrichot et al. (2006), Schuh et al. (2006) still needs to be tested in the frame of phylogenetic analyses including biogeographic data. However, still few species are known from Cretaceous amber that this is a significant contribution to our knowledge of tingid evolution.

Figures

FIGURES 3–5. Burmacader lativentris sp.nov., amber inclusion. 3—holotype dorsal view; 4—dito ventral view. 5—head and pronotum.