Psallops coloratus, Herczek, Aleksander, Popov, Yuri A. & Gorczyca, Jacek, 2017

Herczek, Aleksander, Popov, Yuri A. & Gorczyca, Jacek, 2017, A new species of psallopinous plant bug from the Malay Peninsula (Heteroptera, Miridae, Psallopinae), ZooKeys 679, pp. 47-53 : 47

Psallops coloratus sp. n. Figs 1-3, 4-7

Diagnosis.

Pronotum covered with long, strong, protruding black setae; corium with two types of setae: pale, long, semi erect hairs and shorter, dark and adpressed. Second and third antennal segments with long, pale setae, more than twice as segment diameter. Ratio of eye width to vertex width 2.67; ratio of head width to vertex width 6.51; ratio of corium length to cuneus length 4.55.

Description.

Male. Body elongated, 2.67 long as wide. Head 2.33 as wide as long. Eyes large and discoid, occupying nearly entire sides of head, contiguous with anterior margin of pronotum (Figs 1, 2). Vertex not very broad, at the narrowest point 0.37 times as wide as one eye. Clypeus smoothly flush with convex frons; base of clypeus located slightly lower than half eye height; mandibular plate relatively broad, nearly reaching apex of clypeus (Fig. 3). Antennal fossa situated at base of maxillary plate. Antennae four-segmented, segment I shortest, nearly 1/5 length of second; segment III 0.8 times as long as II; segments IV missing. Maxillary plate relatively broad, buccula narrow. Thorax: Pronotum without calli with collar-like, flattened anterior margin (Figs 2, 3). Pronotum 1.54 as long as head and 2.22 times wider at basal margin as long. Exposed part of mesoscutum convex, 0.52 times as long as scutellum. Length of mesoscutum and scutellum slightly longer than the length of claval commissure. Corium 4.55 as long as cuneus. Hemelytral membrane with well large developed cell, 2.16 times as long as wide. Legs: hind femur approximately 3.6 times longer than maximum width, hind tibia 3.63 times longer than tarsus length. Tarsi two-segmented, second tarsal segment 1.3 times as long as the first; Inner surface of tibia with two rows of bright spines, which length is slightly greater than diameter of tibia. Male genitalia: Aedeagus membranous with strong sclerotized dorsal part (Figs 4, 5). Endosoma with complicated, strong sclerotized structure; paramere structure Lygus -type ( Konstantinov 2003), left paramere scythe-shaped, apical process with seven small teeth. Body of paramere with several short setae. Sensory lobe convex, knee-shaped (Figs 6, 7). Right paramere missing. Head and antennae smoky-yellow with dark back vertex and fuscous clypeus. Eyes silver, labium brown. Pronotum wrinkled, dark brown. Mesoscutum rust, shiny. Apical half part of scutellum reddish, basal part yellowish with a few reddish spots. Basal part of clavus and corium, apex of clavus, external margins of corium and apical 1/2 of cuneus reddish. The remainder of corium brown (just like basal part of cuneus), slightly brighter in middle. Membrane grey dark, with clearly marked cells. Ostriolar peritreme dark-reddish with ivory edge. Median vein distinctly marked. Proepisternum, propleuron and mesoepisternum black-brown. Mesoepisternum reddish brown with ivory back. Metapleurum brown. Fore coxae brown, middle and hind pale yellow; femora brown, weakly thickened, tibia and tarsi yellowish.

Female. Uunknown.

Material examined.

Holotype: male. Singapore, Seletar Reservoir, 1°24'N, 103°48'E; 7.XI.1991. O. Martin leg., Zoologisk Museum Copenhagen.

Measurements

(in mm). Male: body length - 2.48; width - 0.93; length of head - 0.24; width - 0.56; height - 0.44; dorsal width of eye - 0.23; width of vertex - 0.09; antennal segments: I - 0.14; II - 0.64; III - 0.52, IV - missing; rostral segments: I - 0.32; II - 0.37; III - 0.34; IV - 0.11 (?); length of pronotum - 0.37; anterior width - 0.40; posterior width - 0.82; length of mesoscutum - 0.16; length of scutellum - 0.31; length of claval commissura - 0.42; length of fore femur - 0.57, width - 0.13; tibia length - 0.62, width - 0.08; tarsus length - 0.23; ( I– 0.10, II - 0.16); middle femur length - 0.65, width - 0.14 (tibia and tarsus missing); hind femur length - 0.80, width - 0.22; tibia length - 0.98, width - 0.10; tarsus length - 0.27 ( I– 0.11, II - 0.14); length of corium - 1.50; length of cuneus - 0.33; cell length - 0.41; width - 0.19

Etymology.

From the Latin coloratus (variegated), referring to the different colours of the dorsal surface.

Remarks.

The new species is distinguished from the one known from southwestern Asia by a combination of colour features and the construction of a copulatory apparatus. It is distinct in the colour of head (yellow, back of the vertex dark), the third part of the antennae (yellow), the scutellum (1/2 apical part reddish, the basal part yellowish with the reddish spots) and the colour of the legs (forecoxa brown, the middle and the hind pale yellow; femora brown, tibia and tarsus pale yellow). P. coloratus sp. n. is by colour related to Psallops formosanus Lin, but scutellum, the middle part of corium with clavus and the basal part of cuneus are different. On the other hand, the colour of pronotum is similar to that in P. nakatani , P. ponapensis and P. yaeyamanus . In turn, the colour of head shows affinities with that found in P. sakaerat , and antennal segments I, II are coloured like those in P. yaeyamanus . The colour of mesoscutum is similar to the one described in P. leeae , P. formosanus and P. yapensis .

Some metric features decisively distinguish P. coloratus from the species known from the Southeast Asia regions. These are: the ratio of the eye width to the vertex width (2.67), the head width to the vertex width (6.51), antennal segment II length to the pronotum width (1.73), and others. The construction of left paramere is also different. Although the shape of the lob sensor is reminiscent of the one observed in Psallops sakaerat Yasunaga, the paramere body and the apical process are developed differently. Additionally, a vast difference is observed in the construction of the aedeagus, which is characterised by a complex of highly sclerotized structures in the endosoma (Figs 4, 5).