Isometopus maculipennis, Akingbohungbe, E., 2004

Akingbohungbe, E., 2004, A new genus and four new species of Isometopinae (Hemiptera: Miridae) from South Africa, Zootaxa 728, pp. 1-14 : 7-10

Isometopus maculipennis sp. nov.

Male. Length 2.64. Maximum width across hemelytra 1.24. Head width across vertex 0.44; dorsal length 0.14; facial length 0.54; facial width 0.66. Minimum frontal inter­ocular space 0.16; anterior space 0.16; posterior space 0.52. Dorsal width of eye 0.13; maximum width 0.28; height 0.34. Height of gena 0.12. Ocellus width 0.06; interocellar space 0.06. Maximum width of pronotum 1.20; median length 0.34. Scutellum length 0.68; width 0.66. Cuneus length 0.48; width 0.30. Antennae: I 0.08; II 0.52; III & IV missing.

FIGURES. 5–6. Isometopus maculipennis sp. nov. male, habitus; dorsal view of head.

Elongate oval (figure 5). Head from above subrectangular to semilunar in outline, about 3.14x as broad as long; in front somewhat quadrangular to subglobose (figure 6), about 1.22x as broad as high; disk tumid convex. General colouration dark­red to black; occiput, postgena narrowly exposed, whitish; broad interocular area in front of ocelli, juga and two pairs of translucent spots along midline on disk of frons, pale. Vertex at base where ocelli are borne, impunctate. Frons, tylus punctate, variously impressed, rugose and somewhat shagreened. Gena subexcavated, punctate, about 0.35x as high as eye. Lora laterally compressed, impunctate. Eyes dark reddish­brown, glabrous, distinctly emarginate mesally behind ocelli. Ocelli whitish translucent, large, moderately protuberant; each as broad as interocellar space. Antennae with segments I and II dark­red, tip and broad basal vitta on ventral surface of II pale to golden yellow. I about 0.75x as thick as long. II somewhat narrowed sub­basally, slightly tapering at tip; at its greatest thickness, as thick as I; densely clothed with pale erect hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures, these about 1.33x as long as segment is thick.. Rostral segment I dark­red to black, others missing.

Pronotum subcampanulate, inclined forwards, about 3.53x as broad as long. Disk strongly tumid; lateral margins explanate, whitish hyaline, impunctate; disk otherwise black, coarsely and transversely rugose punctate; posterior margin deeply bisinuate. Mesoscutum, scutellum similarly tumid convex; concolorous with pronotal disk except apex of scutellum pale yellow; both distinctly punctate with scutellum also rugose.

Hemelytra generally pale to whitish hyaline or translucent with slight reddish tinge; base and apex of corium, clavus excluding subapical ectal band, and mesal band on cuneus dark reddish­brown.

Dorsum generally shiny, distinctly pubescent; hairs on pronotum, mesoscutum and scutellum comprising fine semi­reclining reddish­brown hairs intermixed with somewhat sericeous pale whitish hairs; on corium and clavus, mostly semi­reclining hairs intermixed with some fine erect ones, all with colour matching background.

Venter mostly dark­red to black; apical median spot on propleuron, metasternum, basal band on mesepimeron pale to whitish. Propleura coarsely rugose punctate, distinctly pubescent with short reclining pale to reddish­brown hairs. Abdominal sterna similarly pubescent. Coxae, femora, second trochanteral segment, tarsi, basal two­thirds or so of metatibiae, all dark reddish­brown to black; legs otherwise pale with foretibiae largely smoky.

Genitalia illustrated in figures 14–16.

Female. Length 2.68. Maximum width across hemelytra 1.48. Head width across vertex 0.46; dorsal length 0.13; facial length 0.66; width 0.70. Minimum frontal inter­ocular space 0.16; anterior space 0.18; posterior space 0.56. Dorsal width of eye 0.14; maximum width 0.26; height 0.36. Height of gena 0.20. Ocellus width 0.04; interocellar space 0.08. Maximum width of pronotum 1.26; median length 0.38. Scutellum length 0.72; width 0.68. Cuneus length 0.42; width 0.32. Antennae I 0.10; II 0.58; III 0.36; IV 0.18. Rostrum 1.58.

Elongate oval with sides gradually curvate (figure 7). Head with base of frons broadly visible from above, about 3.54x as broad as long; in front more or less quadrate (figure 8), about 1.06x as broad as high. Generally dark reddish­brown to black; ectal rays running from apex of vertex to base of frons and abutting on each eye yellow­brown; occiput, postgena, lateral extremities of genae ivory­white; juga translucent with reddish­brown inset. Disk of frons with a pair of median impressed yellow­brown spots followed beneath by another pair of very obscure reddish­brown ones; both pairs separated by rather deep punctate groove forming blunt carina at about level of ventral eye margin. Entire head disk pubescent with short semi­reclining hairs, punctate; frons towards apex, tylus, juga strongly transversely rugose. Frons strongly tumid apico­medially, separated from base of tylus by broad shallow groove. Gena low, about 0.35x as high as eye. Eyes dark reddish, glabrous; distinctly emarginate mesally behind vertex. Ocelli whitish translucent, interocellar space twice as broad as each. Antennal segment I dark­red, glabrous, about half as broad as long. II dark­red with tip pale yellow, gradually increasing in thickness towards apex; distinctly pubescent with golden yellow reclining hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures and about as long as or less than segment thickness. III subfusiform, at its thickest, about as thick as II at base; golden yellow with slight reddish tinge, pubescent with semi­erect golden yellow hairs (apparently rubbed). IV dark­red, fusiform; pubescent with semi­erect and erect hairs mostly subequal in length to segment thickness. Rostrum darkred, extending as far back as sixth abdominal sternite.

FIGURES. 7–8. Isometopus maculipennis sp. nov. female, habitus; dorsal view of head.

Pronotum subcampanulate, about 3.32x as broad as long. Disk strongly tumid convex; lateral margins explanate, posterior margin distinctly bisinuate; concolourous black with mesoscutum and scutellum except apical fifth of scutellum contrasting pale yellow.

Hemelytra largely dark reddish­brown; embolium, broad oblique band on corium disk between radial and claval veins, adjacent ectal band on clavus abutting on claval vein, all pale yellow to whitish hyaline. Membrane glabrous, bi­areolate.

Dorsum generally strongly shiny; transversely rugose punctate, more coarsely so on pronotum and scutellum; embolium with few punctures only at base, cuneus just weakly transversely rugose. Densely pubescent with reclining and semi­reclining golden yellow hairs intermixed with erect dark­red bristles on clavus and embolium.

Venter generally dark­red to black; prosternum somewhat reddish­brown, basal band on mesepimeron contrasting pale whitish. Propleura distinctly punctate. Coxae, trochanters of fore and mid­legs dark­red, other units missing; hind legs dark­red except tip of femora slightly pale and apical third of tibiae yellow­white.

Comments

This new species shows affinities with Isometopus nigrans Akingbohungbe from Nigeria, I. slateri (Akingbohungbe) from Ghana, and I. lunaris Linnavuori from Ethiopia. Isometopus nigrans is known only in the female and can be readily distinguished from I. maculipennis by its much higher gena, which is about 0.61x as high as the eye compared to 0.35x in the new species. The head in I. nigrans is also much less appressed, being 2.25x compared to 3.54x as broad as long in I. maculipennis . In addition, the frons in I. nigrans lacks the two pairs of impressed yellow and dull reddish­brown spots separated by a deep transverse groove as described for the new species; and, unlike in the new species, the explanate lateral pronotal margins are pale hyaline while the whitish hyaline band on the clavus is much less discrete and more or less confluent with the apical whitish band on the scutellum. Isometopus slateri and I. lunaris similarly lack on their frons the two pairs of impressed yellow and dull reddish­brown spots separated by deep transverse groove as observed in the new species. The females in both species also have their heads much more appressed than in the new species, being about 4.14–4.41 x as broad as long in I. slateri , and about 4.83x in I. lunaris . Besides, their genae are quite high, being about 0.68x and 0.71x as high as the eyes respectively, compared to 0.35x in I. maculipennis . The whitish maculae on the corium and clavus in I. lunaris and I. slateri are not elongate; and together with the apical band on the scutellum, form more or less semi­lunar to transverse band across the dorsum. In both species also, the tibiae are largely yellow or whitish. Male I. slateri unlike the male of the new species, lacks the two pairs of impressed yellowish translucent spots separated by median transverse groove on the disk of its frons; the interocellar space is also almost twice as broad as the ocellus width in contrast to the new species where both are equal. Additionally, the hemelytra in I. maculipennis have a dark reddish­brown ground colouration with distinct whitish or whitish hyaline bands/maculae; whereas in I. slateri , they are mostly hyaline with slight infuscation proximally and narrow mesal marginal band on the cuneus.

HOLOTYPE: male, South Africa: N. Transvaal, Mmabolela estate, 22.40°S – 28.15°E, Mercury vapour light, 9 March 1973. Endrody –Yonga (TM).

PARATYPE: female, same data (TM).