Sephina effrena, Brailovsky & Barrera, 2021

Brailovsky, Harry & Barrera, Ernesto, 2021, Illustrated key to the species in the genus Sephina (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae: Coreinae: Spartocerini), with descriptions of three new species and new distributional records, Zootaxa 5048 (1), pp. 77-98 : 87-90

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.11646/zootaxa.5048.1.4
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:428143CD-ACF3-491A-8474-4813D0051FFB
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/2E1787F4-0116-FFDA-FF67-5B83FE4DED2F
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Sephina effrena
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Sephina effrena , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 , 32‒33 View FIGURES 29‒33 , 45 View FIGURES 37‒46. 37‒38 )

Type locality. Colombia, Choco .

Description. Holotype male. Dorsal coloration. Shiny orange to reddish orange, with tylus, antenniferous tubercles, ocellar tubercle, postocular tubercle, and antennal segments I‒IV black; pronotum shiny red with a wide black discoidal spot at midline; scutellum black; clavus with posterior half black and anterior half, including the total upper border of clavus and claval commissure, shiny red; corium shiny red with following areas black: large irregular spot near apical margin, apical border and apex of apical angles; hemelytral membrane dark brown; connexival segments III‒VII shiny red; dorsal abdominal segments shiny red, with scars IV‒V and V‒VI dark brown. Ventral coloration. Head shiny red with buccula and rostral segments I‒IV black; pro-, meso-, and metasternum shiny red; acetabulae shiny red; propleuron shiny red, with a large black discoidal spot at midline; mesopleuron shiny red, with two large black elongate and irregular stripes; metapleuron shiny red with one large black irregular spot near midline; anterior and posterior lobes of metathoracic peritreme dark reddish brown; coxae black with inner face shiny orange; trochanters, femora, tibiae and tarsi black; abdominal sterna III–VII shiny red, with an irregular, wide, black stripe at each side of midline; rim of abdominal spiracles red; pleural abdominal margins shiny red; genital capsule black with posteroventral edge shiny red. Structure. Body large sized, robust, with the greatest width across abdominal segments IV‒V. Head. Ocellar tubercle slightly raised, not protuberant; anterior margin of each ocellus just reaching the posterior border of each eye; rostrum reaching the posterior border of mesosternum; rostral segment I stouter, reaching posterior border of head. Thorax. Pronotum campanuliform; anterior third of pronotal disc sloping, mesally split, forming two large and conspicuous humps; in lateral view the humps are distinctly raised ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ); humeral angles rounded, obtuse, not exposed ( Figs. 18–19 View FIGURES 17‒22 ); posterior border of metapleuron straight. Genitalia. Posteroventral edge of genital capsule slightly convex. Parameres. Elongate, apically broad, and gently curved ( Fig. 45 View FIGURES 37‒46. 37‒38 ). Integument. Dorsal surface with head, pronotal disc, scutellar disc, clavus and corium densely clothed with elongate, erect and conspicuous, silver and golden setae; antennal segments I‒ III thickly with rather long silver and black setae, IV with short, and depressed setae. Pronotum densely and deeply punctate; clavus, corium, acetabulae and propleuron faintly punctate; head, scutellum, connexivum, pro-, meso-, and metasternum, meso-, and metapleura, abdominal sterna, genital capsule, and female genital plates impunctate.

Female. Dorsal coloration. Head including antennal segments I‒IV black; space near each eye shiny red; pro- notum black with a wide arched fringe running from the raised areas of the anterior lobe of the disc to posterolateral borders and covering the humeral angles; anterior margin shiny red with midline black; calli black; anterolateral and posterolateral margins shiny red; scutellum black; clavus black with basal third and inner border shiny red; corium black with exocorium, including the costal margin, shiny red; hemelytral membrane dark brown; connexival segments III‒IX shiny red; dorsal abdominal segments III‒IX black with outer margin shiny red. Ventral coloration. Similar to the male holotype. Valvulae VIII black with outer margin shiny red; laterotergite VIII shiny red, with rim of abdominal spiracle black; laterotergite IX shiny red.

Variation. 1—Head dorsally orange to reddish orange with antenniferous tubercles, tylus, ocellar tubercle, and postocular area black or head dorsally black, with interocellar space and space between the eye and ocelli orange to reddish orange. 2—Clavus with basal half shiny red and apical half black or clavus black with only the basal third shiny red. 3—Corium black with costal border and exocorium shiny red or corium shiny red with an only irregular black spot near apical margin and covering the borders of apical margin and apical angle.

Measurements. Male. Body length 23.45; head length 1.73; head width across eyes 2.35; interocular distance 1.36; interocellar distance 0.55; length antennal segments I 4.03, II 4.52, III 3.84, IV 5.02; pronotum total length 4.58, maximum width across humeral angles 7.25; scutellum length 2.66, width 2.66.

Female. Body length 23.54; head length 1.80; head width across eyes 2.54; interocular distance 1.44; interocellar distance 0.62; length antennal segments I 4.21, II 4.71, III 3.84, IV 4.89; pronotum total length 5.70, maximum width across humeral angles 8.18; scutellum length 2.85, width 2.72.

Type material. HOLOTYPE male: COLOMBIA: Choco , Rio Sucio, La Balsa, 65 m, 7˚2’26’’N–77˚20’16’’W, (without date), F. Fernandez ( UNDC) . PARATYPES: COLOMBIA: Choco, Rio Sucio, La Balsa , 65 m, 7˚2’26’’N– 77˚20’16’’W, (without date), F. Fernandez ( UNDC 1 female, UNAM 1 female) .

Etymology. From the Latin “ effrena ” (unrestrained) referring to the absence of a yellow longitudinal stripe across the midline of the scutellar disc.

Discussion. Differential diagnosis. This new species exhibits a great chromatic variation on the dorsum of the head, pronotum, clavus, and corium, but always the connexival segments III‒IX, pleural abdominal margins III‒VII and abdominal segments III‒IX are always shiny red (scars of abdominal segments IV‒V and V‒VI always pale brown). In S. pubera ( Figs. 29‒30 View FIGURES 29‒33 ), that is the most similar species from Guyana and Venezuela, the connexival segments and pleural abdominal margins III‒VI are bicolorous, with anterior half shiny reddish orange and the posterior half black, and dorsal abdominal segments III–IV shiny red, V‒VI pale brown and VII pale brown with posterior margin shiny red. Sephina indierae ( Fig. 31 View FIGURES 29‒33 ), recorded from Puerto Rico, has the connexival segments and pleural margins III‒VII bicolorous with the anterior half of each shiny red, and posterior half of each black, dorsal abdominal segments III‒VI pale orange, scattered with pale brown spots, and VII pale brown with the posterior margin orange; the parameres elongate, with apex comparative thin and curved ( Figs. 43‒44 View FIGURES 37‒46. 37‒38 ). In S. effrena sp. nov. ( Figs. 32‒33 View FIGURES 29‒33 , 45 View FIGURES 37‒46. 37‒38 ), described from Colombia, the rim of abdominal spiracles is shiny black, and the anterior lobe of the pronotal disc has two large conspicuous humps at each side of midline, distinctly raised in lateral view ( Fig. 1 View FIGURES 1–4 ). In the other two species, the rims of abdominal spiracles are orange, and the anterior pronotal disc has two small humps, slightly raised in lateral view (like fig. 4). In S. indierae and S. pubera , the anterior margin of each ocellus is placed far from the posterior border of each eye; in S. effrena the anterior margin of each ocellus reaches the posterior border of each eye.