Macrophysoderes monticola ( 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 : 56-58

Macrophysoderes monticola ( Miller, 1940) comb. nov. Figs 7–12 ; Appendix

Physoderes monticola Miller, 1940: 545 , fig. 89.

Physoderes dimidiata Miller, 1940: 556 , fig. 92. New synonymy.

Physoderes luiana Miller, 1940: 552 , fig. 90. New synonymy.

Diagnosis

This species is recognized among species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov. by the elongate conical head, the rounded maxillary plate, the anteocular lobe being almost level with the postocular lobe, the truncate antero-lateral pronotal projections, the rounded parascutellar lobes being skewed towards the median, the dark brown hind femur with a single basal straw-colored annulation, the apex of the scutellar process being straw-colored, the connexivum undulating, and the plate-like and angular flap-like prolongations of the phallosoma. It is similar to M. modesta comb. nov. and M. histrionica comb. nov., but can be differentiated by the color of the legs, scutellar spine and connexiva, the shape of the margin of the posterior opening of the pygophore and cup-like sclerite, and the shape of the plate-like prolongations of the phallosoma.

Material examined

Holotype

MALAYSIA: ♂, Perak, Taiping Co., Larut Hills , 5.00° N, 100.88333° E, 1372 m, 21 Feb. 1932, H.M. Pendlebury leg. ( UCR_ENT 00018534 ) ( BMNH).

Paratypes

MALAYSIA: 1 ♀, Perak, Batang Padang Co., Jor Camp, 4.89972° N, 100.79055° E, 549 m, 31 May 1923, H.M. Pendlebury leg. ( UCR _ENT 00069389) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, Perak, Batang Padang Co., Jor Camp, 4.89972° N, 100.79055° E, 610 m, 25 Aug. 1922, E. Seimund leg. ( UCR _ENT 00069387) ( BMNH).

Other material

MALAYSIA: 1 ♀, Perak, Batang Padang Co., Jor Camp, 4.89972° N, 100.79055° E, 610 m, 30 Aug. 1922, E. Seimund leg. ( UCR _ENT 00069388) ( BMNH); 1 ♂, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, 17 th mile Kanching, 3.13888° N, 101.68666° E, 22 Oct. 1922, H.M. Pendlebury leg., holotype of P. dimidiata (junior synonym) ( UCR _ENT 00018521) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, same collection data as preceding, paratype of P.dimidiata (junior synonym) ( UCR _ENT 00018509) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, Sungei Lui,Ulu Langat, 3.03805° N, 101.70583° E, 86 m, 13 Aug. 1933, N.C.E. Miller leg., holotype of P. luiana (junior synonym) ( UCR _ ENT 00018514) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, Kuala Sleh, 3.02472° N, 101.71638° E, 17 May 1936, H.M. Pendlebury leg., paratype of P. dimidiata (junior synonym) ( UCR _ENT 00018508) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, Dusun Tua, 3.14555° N, 101.83888° E, 12 Jan. 1930, H.M. Pendlebury leg. ( UCR _ENT 00069390) ( BMNH); 1 ♂, Gombak Valley, 3.13027° N, 101.65777° E, 12 Oct. 1921, H.M. Pendlebury leg. ( UCR _ENT 00069391) ( BMNH); 1 ♀, Kepong, in forest, 3.2325° N, 101.6275° E, Aug. 1949, Army Scrub Typhus Unit leg. ( UCR _ENT 00025941) ( USNM).

Redescription

Male

BODY LENGTH. Large, total length 10.34 mm.

COLORATION ( Figs 7 , 10–11 ). Dark brown. Head dark brown. Scape of antenna brown, straw brown basally, pedicel brown, basi- and distiflagellomere brown. Labium brown. Pronotum dark brown, scutellum dark brown, pleuron dark brown, sternum dark brown. Corium of hemelytron dark brown, membrane black to dark brown. Fore and mid legs dark brown, hind femur dark brown, hind tibia dark brown with straw-colored apex, hind tarsus and claw straw-colored. Abdomen dorsally orange-brown, ventrally light brown with reddish-brown or dark brown suffusion, anterior two-thirds of connexivum dark brown, posterior third straw-colored.

VESTITURE. Glabrous. Head with some flat, curved setae, 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 irregular row of tuberculated, short, curved setae on lateral margins and fine, adpressed setae on dorsal surface, posterior lobe with short, curved setae on humeral angle and sparsely distributed along dorsal surface. Corium of hemelytron with short, sparse, adpressed setae. Legs with two rows of spines and setigerous tubercles, tibia with regular rows of tuberculated, stout, sharp setae. Connexival margin of abdomen with a few clubbed setae on each segment.

HEAD. Elongate conical; maxillary plate rounded apically; scape not reaching apex of clypeus; eye distinctly projecting in dorsal view, less than 1/5 length of head, not reaching ventral margin of head in lateral view; height of anteocular lobe level with postocular lobe.

THORAX. Antero-lateral paired projections truncate; surface of anterior lobe smooth, ridges almost obsolete; median pronotal depression contiguous with transverse sulcus; paramedian carina weakly defined; posterior lobe medially rugose; anterior pronotal lobe shorter than posterior lobe, narrower than posterior lobe, anterior lobe lower than posterior lobe in lateral view; parascutellar lobe rounded, skewed towards median; scutellar process long, with subacute apex; mesosternite with median irregular tuberculated protrusion between fore and mid coxae.

HEMELYTRON. Attaining tip of abdomen.

LEGS. Same as genus description.

ABDOMEN. Elongate ovoid, with rounded terminal margin; connexival margin undulating.

GENITALIA. Anterior margin of mediosternite 8 undulating, without medial apodeme; transverse bridge of pygophore broad, margin of anterior opening angular, apodeme present, apical margin of posterior opening smooth; cup-like sclerite apically rounded and rim ventrally sclerotized; arms of basal plate parallel to each other; ductifer membranous; endosomal struts conical, with subacute apex, basally divided into two arms; dorsal phallothecal sclerite subacute, with lateral broad, plate-like prolongations, broad plates angularly oriented towards basal plate.

Female

Similar to male in size, shape and color.

Ecology

Nothing is known about the biology of this species.

Distribution

This species is distributed along the western area of peninsular Malaysia. Specimens from the state of Perak are larger than those from Selangor.

Remarks

Based on the phylogenetic analysis, this species forms a monophyletic clade with M. bengalensis comb. nov. as part of the Macrophysoderes gen. nov. clade. Other species closely resembling M. monticola comb. nov. are also transferred to Macrophysoderes gen. nov. based on the hypothesis that they are most closely related, namely M. modesta comb. nov. and M. histrionica comb. nov. Common characteristics shared among these three species include having an elongate conical head, truncate antero-lateral pronotal projections and a hemelytron with a dark brown membrane. Examination of the type specimens of P. dimidiata and P. luiana show no morphological differences except for size and are hereby synonymized with M. monticola comb. nov. This species and M. modesta comb. nov. are highly similar and difficult to distinguish other than based on the morphology of the male genitalia and on distribution.

Figures

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

Fig. 8. Dorsal view of the male pygophore in species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov., Macrophysoderes gen. nov., Paraphysoderes Villiers, 1962 and Physoderes Westwood, 1845. For an explanation of the colored arrows, see keys on pages 37 and 66.

Fig. 9. Dorsal view of the phallus in species of Breviphysoderes gen. nov., Macrophysoderes gen. nov., Paraphysoderes Villiers, 1962 and Physoderes Westwood, 1845 (partial). Scale bars = 0.20 mm.

Fig. 10. Dorsal habitus images for species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov. and Nanophysoderes gen. nov. For an explanation of the colored arrows, see key on page 37. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Fig. 11. Ventral habitus images for species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov. and Nanophysoderes gen. nov. Scale bars = 2 mm.

Fig. 12. Distribution map for species of Macrophysoderes gen. nov.