Isometopus mirus, 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 : 4-6

Isometopus mirus sp. nov.

Male. Length 2.76. Maximum width across hemelytra 1.68. Head width across vertex 0.50; dorsal length 0.13; facial length 0.54; facial width 0.69. Minimum frontal inter­ocular space 0.20; anterior space 0.22; posterior space 0.40. Dorsal width of eye 0.14; maximum width 0.28; height 0.34. Height of gena 0.06. Ocellus width 0.06; inter­ocellar space 0.10. Maximum width of pronotum 1.42; median length 0.42. Scutellum length 0.80; width 0.76. Cuneus length 0.58; width 0.46. Rostrum 1.50. Antennae I 0.10; II 0.62; III 0.40; IV 0.22.

FIGURES. 3–4. Isometopus mirus sp. nov. male, habitus; dorsal view of head.

Ovate (figure 3). Head from above sub­rectangular to semi­lunar in outline, about 3.58x as broad as long; in front somewhat triangular with sides arcuate (figure 4), about 1.28x as broad as high; disk tumidly convex. General colouration yellow; frons suffused with brown shading to dark reddish­brown towards apex; tylus, genae, lora dark­red, sub­apical spot on tylus contrasting whitish. Vertex and frons impunctate; disk of frons with two pairs of more or less equal­sized impressed spots plus a third much larger pre­apical pair, darkred. Apical frontal margin distinctly carinate and convex, strongly raised above juga and tylus; these deflexed ventrad. Gena low, about 0.18x as high as eye. Eyes deep red, glabrous, broadly exposing occiput and postgenae laterally; emarginate mesally behind ocelli. Ocelli dark­red, protuberant, separated by about 1.67x width of each. Entire head disk pubescent with golden yellow hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures. Antenna segment I dark­red, glabrous, cylindrical; about 0.6x as thick as long. II weakly clavate, as thick as I at basal extremity, about 1.33x as thick thereafter; dark reddish­brown with broad basal lateral bands pale; densely microsculptured and pubescent with semi­erect golden yellow hairs shorter than segment is thick. III and IV reddish brown; fusiform and equal in thickness, at their thickest about half as thick as II; pubescent with pale yellow to whitish semi­erect hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures. Rostrum dark reddishbrown with ventral surface of segment I, tip of II, base, apex and ventral surface of III and base of IV, all yellow; extending as far back as fifth abdominal sternite.

Pronotum inclined forwards, about 3.38x as broad as long; lateral margins distinctly explanate, impunctate with sides arcuate; posterior margin bisinuate; calli raised, confluent, impunctate; remainder of disk coarsely rugose punctured. Colour dark reddish­brown, explanate lateral margins together with posterior humeral angles pale hyaline to ivorywhite; median vitta on posterior margin obscurely pale. Mesoscutum tumid convex, darkred, punctate. Scutellum similarly raised, dark­red, transversely rugose punctate; apical band impunctate and contrasting yellow.

Hemelytra dark golden to reddish­brown; broad median blotch on corium, base of clavus somewhat paler; embolium at base and apical lateral extremity pale yellow to ivorywhitish; cuneus with distinct whitish spot towards caudomesal angle. Corium, clavus distinctly punctate; embolium, cuneus impunctate. Membrane strongly declivous, dark golden to reddish­brown; densely microhairy, distinctly biareolate.

Entire dorsum strongly shiny, densely pubescent with semi­erect reddish­brown hairs arising from fine aciculate punctures; these intermixed with erect dark­red bristles.

Venter generally dark reddish­brown; prosternum, mesepimeron, metasternum pale. Propleura transversely rugose, sparsely punctate. Coxae largely dark reddish­brown; tips of forecoxae, broad apical bands along dorsal surface of mid and hind coxae, trochanters, basal and apical bands on femora, all pale yellow to whitish hyaline. Mesotibiae, metatibiae at base infuscate to dark reddish­brown; tibiae, tarsi otherwise pale.

Genitalia illustrated in figures 11–13.

Female. Unknown.

Comments

This new species shows affinities with Isometopus insperatus Akingbohungbe and I. turneri (Slater and Schuh) . The latter lacks the series of dark­red impressed spots on the frons and its interocellar space is narrower than each ocellus. Besides, the colouration of the antennal segments and the cuneus differ. From I. insperatus , the new species differs in having the vertex behind ocelli yellow rather than being dark­red, its second antennal segment is mostly dark reddish­brown rather than mostly yellow. The head in front is also much broader than high, being 1.28x as broad as high rather than 1.18x as in I. insperatus ; and the pronotum is narrower. Besides, the cuneus is dark golden to reddish­brown with a distinct whitish spot along the caudomesal angle whereas in I. insperatus , it is largely pale with a dark mesal marginal band.

HOLOTYPE: male, South Africa, Port St. Johns, Cape Province, June 1957, J.A.J. Meester (TM).