Breviphysoderes decora ( Miller, 1940 ) Hwang & Weirauch, 2017

Hwang, Wei Song & Weirauch, Christiane, 2017, Uncovering hidden diversity: phylogeny and taxonomy of Physoderinae (Reduviidae, Heteroptera), with emphasis on Physoderes Westwood in the Oriental and Australasian regions, European Journal of Taxonomy 341, pp. 1-118 : 17-20

Breviphysoderes decora ( Miller, 1940) comb. nov.

Figs 4 – 7 ; Appendix

Physoderes decora Miller, 1940: 551 , fig. 91.

Physoderes ostenta Miller, 1941: 780 , fig. 6. New synonymy.

Diagnosis

Recognized among other species in the genus by the scape almost reaching or reaching clypeus apex, the dorsal surface of the anterior pronotal lobe tuberculated, the color pattern on the anterior pronotal lobe, the small and semicircular parascutellar lobes, the short and apically straw-colored scutellar process, the hemelytron attaining the apex of the abdomen, and the anterior half of the connexivum brown and the posterior half straw-colored. It most closely resembles B. mjoebergi ( Miller 1940) comb. nov., but can be differentiated by the scape not extending beyond the clypeal apex and the shorter scutellar process for B. mjoebergi comb. nov.

Material examined

Holotype

MALAYSIA: ♀, Sarawak, Mt. Poi ( Mt. Pueh ), 1.8° N, 109.68305° E, 61 m, no date, E. Mjöberg leg. ( UCR_ENT 00018513 ) ( BMNH).

Paratype

MALAYSIA: 1 ♀, Sabah, N Borneo, Bettotan, nr. Sandakan, 5.28222° N, 117.59305° E, 6 Aug. 1927, C. Boden Kloss and H. M. Pendlebury leg. ( UCR _ENT 00018510) ( BMNH).

Other material

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM: 1 ♀, Temburong District, Kuala Belalong Field Studies Center, 4.54716° N, 115.15825° E, 82 m, 26 Jun. 2010, C. Weirauch and W. Hwang leg. ( UCR _ENT 00052186) ( UCR).

MALAYSIA: Perak: 1 ♀, Batang Padang, Jor Camp, 3.52972° N, 101.55277° E, 549 m, 4 Jun. 1923, H. M. Pendlebury leg., holotype of P. ostenta (junior synonym) ( UCR _ENT 00018522) ( BMNH). – Sabah: 1 ♀, Mile 50 Lungmanis, 5.42027° N, 116.79638° E, 9 Aug. 1967, F.E. leg. ( UCR _ENT 00014058) ( RMNH); 3 ♀♀, Sandakan, 5.8333° N, 118.1167° E, 4 m, no date, Baker leg. ( UCR _ENT 00031391– UCR _ENT 00031393) ( USNM).

Redescription

Female

BODY LENGTH. Medium, total length 9.19 mm, SD ± 0.33 (Appendix).

COLORATION ( Figs 4–5 , 7 ). Straw-colored and brown. Head brown with straw-colored suffusion. Scape of antenna straw-colored with brown apex, pedicel brown with straw brown apex, basi-flagellomere brown, distiflagellomere brown with straw brown apex. Labium light brown. Anterior lobe of pronotum dark brown with straw-colored patterns, posterior lobe straw brown, scutellum dark brown with straw-colored apex, pleuron brown with straw brown suffusion, sternum brown. Corium and membrane of hemelytron brown to dark brown. Femora of legs straw-colored with medial and apical brown annulations, tibiae brown with sub-basal and apical straw-colored annulations, tarsus and claw light brown. Abdomen dorsally straw brown with orange suffusion, ventrally light brown with brown suffusion, anterior half of connexivum brown, posterior half straw brown.

VESTITURE. Sparsely setose. Head with widespread curved, setigerous tubercles, ventral surface of postocular lobe with sparse, setigerous tubercles, without pair of long, straight setae on postocular lobe posterior to ocelli. Anterior lobe of thorax with tuberculated, short, curved setae on lateral margins and along dorsal ridges, posterior lobe with short, curved, setigerous tubercles along lateral margins and sparsely distributed on dorsal surface. Corium of hemelytron with short, curved setae. Legs with two rows of spines and setigerous tubercles, tibia with regular rows of tuberculated, stout, sharp setae. Posterior margin of connexivum with short, curved setae.

HEAD. Scape reaching apex of clypeus; eye hemispherical in dorsal view, less than 1/5 length of head, not attaining ventral margin of head in lateral view.

THORAX. Antero-lateral paired projections acute, diverging; median pronotal depression contiguous with transverse sulcus; paramedian carina weakly defined; scutellar process short, apex subacute; mesosternite with setigerous tubercles but no protrusion.

HEMELYTRON. Attaining tip of abdomen.

LEGS. Same as genus description.

ABDOMEN. Elongate ovoid, with rounded terminal margin; connexival margin slightly undulating, posterior margin not elevated.

GENITALIA. Not dissected.

Male

Unknown.

Ecology

Little known, specimens collected from altitude of 82 m to 549 m (1800 ft). Coloration of specimens differs slightly, but it is unclear whether this is due to natural variation or preservation history.

Distribution

Found across Northern Borneo from east (Bettotan, Sandakan) to west (Mt. Poi), and also one specimen from Peninsular Malaysia (Perak, Jor Camp).

Remarks

Physoderes ostenta is synonymized with B. decora comb. nov. as it shares the same diagnostic features, including scape almost reaching or reaching clypeal apex, short scutellar process and straw brown apex, hemelytron attaining the abdominal apex, anterior half of the connexivum brown, and posterior half straw brown. No other specimen of P. ostenta exists besides the holotype. Breviphysoderes decora comb. nov. is removed from Physoderes and transferred to Breviphysoderes gen. nov. because it possesses the synapomorphies of the new genus (parascutellar lobes are semicircular and have prominent setigerous tubercles on the dorsal ridges of the anterior pronotal lobe).One specimen originally designated as a P.hobbyi paratype (UCR_ENT00018511)isconsideredtobemisidentifiedbyMillerandisheretreatedasbelongingto B. decora comb. nov. This species is known only from female specimens. Currently there are no males that can be associated with these females and hence the redescription is based on females only.

Figures

Fig. 4. Dorsal habitus images for species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov. For an explanation of the colored arrows, see key on page 17. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Fig. 5. Ventral habitus images for species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Fig. 6. Distribution map for species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov.

Fig. 7. Dorsal habitus images for junior synonym holotypes of species in Breviphysoderes gen. nov. and Macrophysoderes gen. nov. Scale bars = 2 mm.