Ochterus nicobarensis, Chandra & Jehamalar, 2012

Chandra, Kailash & Jehamalar, E. Eyarin, 2012, Ochterus nicobarensis sp. nov. from Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Ochteridae), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae (suppl.) 52 (1), pp. 23-28 : 24-26

Ochterus nicobarensis sp. nov

( Figs. 1–5 )

Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♁ (macropterous), INDIA: NICOBAR ISLANDS: Nicobar District, Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve, Campbell Bay, Govind Nagar, Ring Road, attracted to light near a pond 1½ km away from sea, 40 ft., ambient temperature 26.8°C, N 07°00.075 ′, E 093°54.594 ′, 22.xi.2010, E. Eyarin Jehamalar, Reg. No. 2506/H15 // HOLOTYPE / Ochterus / nicobarensis / sp. nov. / Ochteridae / Hemiptera / K.CHANDRA & E. E. JEHAMALAR det. 2012. [red, printed] (ZSI). PARATYPE: 1 ♀ (macropterous), INDIA: NICOBAR ISLANDS: same data as holotype, Reg. No. 2507/H15 (ZSI).

Description. Male (holotype). Body opaque and oval in shape. Body length 4.06 mm, maximum width across hemelytra 2.13 mm.

Coloration. Black, opaque and wax coated appearance; venter of the body piceous; eyes bronze colour; frontal plate of head black and shiny and vertex opaque; frontoclypeus ochraceous and shiny; first two antennal segments and legs yellowish brown; anterolateral margins of pronotum and posterior margin of pronotum yellowish and pronounced at the centrobasal region of pronotum; embolium with an elongated basal spot and three square-to-round orange spots arranged serially below the elongated spot; clavus near to scutellum and apex of claval suture yellow.

Head. Length (dorsally along midline) 0.49 mm, width (across eyes) 1.32 mm; head wider than long; ocelli found very close to the eyes; frontal plate of head with numerous oblique striae; a ridge present running along center of frons from between ocelli to apex of frontal plate; eyes protruding posterolaterally over pronotal collar; antennal segments I and II short, globose; segments III and IV long, slender; lengths of antennal segments I–IV = 0.09, 0.10, 0.18, 0.26 mm; length of rostrum not discernable due to card mount.

Thorax. Length of pronotum (along midline) 0.86 mm, maximum width (across posteropronotal angle) 2.06 mm; pronotum and scutellum both wider than long; pronotum, scutellum and hemelytra moderately punctured; calli on pronotum indistinct; collar small and separation indistinct; median yellow area of pronotum near to base of scutellum enclosing 13 piceous to black punctures; pronotum anterolaterally truncated, laterally convex, posterolateral angle less acute; posterior margin of pronotum trisinuate; pronotum above base of scutellum concave; length of scutellum 1.01 mm, width 1.53 mm.

Hemelytra. Length 2.89 mm, width (across membrane) 1.12 mm, length of clavus (along outer margin) 1.64 mm; hemelytra reaching apex of abdomen, and fully covering the abdomen laterally; membrane venation present but number of cells difficult to ascertain due to opaqueness.

Legs. Length of hind tibia 1.8 mm, lengths of hind tarsal segments I–III = 0.12, 0.17, 0.20 mm. Remaining leg segments not visible due to card mount.

Genitalia. Genital segments retracted into abdomen, head of right paramere slightly elongate, appendices of paramere long, entire (not indented) apically, both the appendices similar in size, shaft of paramere elongate and bent sub-basally, base with large anterior and small posterior processes ( Figs. 4–5 ).

Female ( Figs. 1–3 ). General structure and colouration similar to that of holotype with following exceptions: hemelytra not fully covering the abdomen posterolaterally; body length 3.9 mm, width 2.1 mm; head length 0.52 mm, width 1.3 mm; eye length 0.61 mm, width 0.38 mm; length of antennal segments I–IV = 0.09, 0.13, 0.25, 0.28 mm; pronotal length 0.9 mm, width 2.17 mm; length of scutellum 0.82 mm, width 1.2 mm; hemelytral length 2.94 mm, width 1.23 mm; claval length along outer margin 1.56 mm; length of fore femur 1.0 mm. The apex of subgenital plate slightly concave.

Differential diagnosis. The body of Ochterus nicobarensis sp. nov. is shiny, giving a wax coated appearance, and the punctations are less prominent when compared to O. marginatus . In O. marginatus the body has a velvety appearance, and is not shiny, and the punctures are very prominent. There is also a difference on the base of the central ridge on the frontal plate of the head; in O. nicobarensis sp. nov. the base of the ridge between the ocelli is upwardly sulcate, whereas in O. marginatus this sulcus is less prominent. The head of the right paramere is rounded and the appendages are apically indented in O. marginatus ( KORMILEV 1971, RIEGER 1977, NIESER & CHEN 1999), while in O. nicobarensis sp. nov. the head is elongated and the apices of the appendages are entire.

Etymology. Ochterus nicobarensis sp. nov. is named after the type locality, the Nicobar Islands.

Bionomics. The male and female specimens were collected at a light trap set near a pond 1.5 km away from the sea on a rainy day. No other aquatic bugs were attracted to the light on that day.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality, Great Nicobar Island ( India).

Figures

Figs. 1–5. Ochterus nicobarensis sp. nov. 1 – female, dorsal view. 2 – female head, frontal aspect. 3 – female subgenital plate, ventral view. 4–5 – male, right paramere (4 – general view; 5 – detail of apical portion).