Paravelia nieseri, Moreira & Barbosa, 2012

Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo & Barbosa, Julianna Freires, 2012, Two new species of Paravelia Breddin, 1898 and distributional notes concerning the Veliidae from Minas Gerais State, Brazil (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerromorpha), Zootaxa 3354 (1), pp. 58-68 : 61-63

Paravelia nieseri sp. nov.

Macropterous male (Fig. 10). BL—6,25–6,35; HL—0,88–0,98; HW—1,08–1,09; ANT I—1,03, ANT II—0,83, ANT III—lost, ANT IV—lost; INT—0,51–0,53; EYE—0,28–0,30; PL—2,74–2,96; PW—2,06–2,16; FORELEG: FEM—1,74, TIB—1,75–1,76, TAR I—0,11, TAR II—0,26, TAR III—0,48; MIDLEG: FEM—2,23–2,26, TIB—2,14–2,19, TAR I—0,11–0,13, TAR II—0,65–0,69, TAR III—0,60–0,61; HINDLEG: FEM—2,74–2,78, TIB—3,06, TAR I—0,13, TAR II—0,60, TAR III—0,60.

Head orange brown, with longitudinal midline impressed and shining. Clypeus, antenniferous tubercles, bucculae, and jugum brown. Antennomere I brown, except for dark brown apex; II dark brown; III–IV lost. Articles I–III of rostrum yellowish brown; IV shining black. Pronotum black, except for lateral margins after humeri and posterior angle, orange to orange brown (Fig. 10). Sides of thorax dark brown to black. Proepisternum dark brown. Prosternum and inner portion of pro- and mesoacetabulum orange brown. Outer portions of pro- and mesoacetabulum, all metacetabulum, mesosternum, and metasternum dark brown to black. Exposed area of abdominal connexives dark brown. Abdominal sternite I centrally brown, dark brown laterally. Remaining sternites orange brown centrally, brown laterally. Genital segments brown. Wings dark brown, with veins slightly lighter. Forewings, when closed, with pair of small white maculae on sides of pronotum and an ovate white macula near apex, but not touching it (Fig. 10). Fore and midcoxae yellowish brown; hind coxa brown. Trochanters brown, darker dorsally. Femora brown; dark brown on lateral surfaces and apex. Tibiae and tarsi dark brown.

Head declined anteriorly, with longitudinal midline impressed and two deep punctuations on base, near eyes. Middle section of head anterior to eyes with several black denticles; other denticles present near anterior eye margin, on bucculae, jugum, gula, and adjacent portion of proepisternum. Antennomere I thicker than II, bowed outside; II cylindrical; III–IV lost. Rostrum reaching beyond middle of mesosternum.

Pronotum subpentagonal, long, with central longitudinal carina well defined on posterior lobe, humeri slightly elevated, without black denticles. One row of circular punctuations adjacent to anterior margin of pronotum; another row dividing anterior and posterior lobes. Posterior lobe of pronotum with several deep circular punctuations, larger towards apex. Lateral margins of pronotum after humeri elongated and irregular; posterior angle sharp (Fig. 10). Sides of prothorax with few rows of punctuations. Intersegmental region between meso- and metasternum with two central pairs of tubercles.

PLATE II. Paravelia nieseri sp. nov. 10. Macropterous male, dorsal view. 11. Apex of male body, dorsal view. 12. Apex of male body, lateral view. 13. Apex of male body, ventral view. 14. Male genital segment I, dorsal view. 15. Male genital segments, lateral view, parameres omitted. 16. Male paramere. 17. Male hind leg. 18. Macropterous female, dorsal view. [Scale bar = 1.00 mm; CON = apex of connexive; DEN = black denticles; PRJ = projection; ROW = main spine row; SPI = larger curved spines]

Abdominal connexives elevated, without black denticles, with margins exposed on sides of wings, sharply projected at apex (Fig. 11) almost to middle of genital segments. Abdominal sternite I centrally carinate. Center of abdominal sternite I and sides of remaining sternites with few black denticles similar to those of head. Last abdominal sternite with pair of acute posterior projections (Fig. 12–13). Posterolateral margins of last abdominal segment surrounding genital cavity without robust black denticles. Genital segments large, well-exposed beyond apex of wings. Genital segment I dorsally wide (Fig. 14), without projections on venter, with black denticles on lateral areas. Proctiger with a large central projection (Fig. 15). Parameres symmetrical, wide, flat, and curved (Fig. 16).

Forewing with four closed cells. Trochanter without spines. Fore femur slightly thicker than others. Fore tibia with grasping comb occupying almost half of its length. Proximal 2/3 of hind femur with an increasing row of spines, followed distally by two large curved spines, ventrally removed from the main row (Fig. 17). Macropterous female (Fig. 18). BL—6,10; HL—0,85; HW—1,10; ANT I—1,00, ANT II—0,81, ANT III—lost, ANT IV—lost; INT—0,53; EYE—0,28; PL—2,82; PW—2,06; FORELEG: FEM—1,73, TIB—1,74, TAR I—0,11, TAR II—0,28, TAR III—0,49; MIDLEG: FEM—2,13, TIB—2,11, TAR I—0,11, TAR II—0,65, TAR III—0,56; HINDLEG: FEM—2,44, TIB—2,90, TAR I—0,13, TAR II—0,59, TAR III—0,60.

Coloration and general body structure as in male. Fore femur narrower. Fore tibia with shorter grasping comb, restricted to apex of segment. Hind femur without spines. Abdominal connexives more vertical, less projected posteriorly. Venter of abdomen without projections, with denticles less evident. Genital segments slightly angulated dorsally.

Type-material. BRAZIL: Minas Gerais – Serra da Caraça , 1.380 m a.s.l., XI.1961 (Kloss, Lenko, Martins & Silva): 1 macropterous male [HOLOTYPE], 2 macropterous males [PARATYPES] ( MZSP) . Serra da Caraça ( Engenho ), 800 m a.s.l., XI.1961, (Kloss, Lenko, Martins & Silva): 1 macropterous female [PARATYPE] ( MZSP) .

Distribution. The precise location of the type-locality is not known because of the lack of details on the labels. Serra da Caraça is a mountain range located approximately 50 km southeast of Belo Horizonte, including areas of the municipalities of Santa Bárbara and Catas Altas.

Etymology. Named in honor of Prof. Nico Nieser, for his contributions to the knowledge of the aquatic Heteroptera of Minas Gerais.

Discussion. Paravelia nieseri sp. nov. can be distinguished from other species of the genus by the following combination of features: body length slightly longer than 6 mm; dorsum of head with black denticles; buccula, gula, jugum, and adjacent portion of proepisternum, and sides of male genital segment I (Fig. 14) with several black denticles; pronotum and margins of connexives without denticles; pronotum acuminate posteriorly, black with posterior area orange to orange brown (Fig. 10); venter of abdomen without deep foveae; and posterior margin of last abdominal sternite with a pair of projections (Fig. 12–13). The large dorsal process of male proctiger (Fig. 15) and the shape of male paramere (Fig. 16) are also diagnostic characteristics.

Paravelia nieseri sp. nov. resembles the species of the genus which have conspicuous projections on the last abdominal sternite of male, including P. basalis , P. confusa (Hungerford, 1930) , and P. williamsi (Hungerford, 1930) . The projections of P. nieseri are more similar to those of P. basalis and P. williamsi , which project laterally from a posterior tumescent area of the last abdominal sternite. The projections of P. confusa , on the other hand, are united on the base, forming a posteriorly bifurcated structure. The new species can be easily distinguished from P. williamsi by having spines on the male’s hind femur, which are absent in the latter. In relation to P. basalis , both species can be separated by the orange or orange brown coloration on the posterior portion of the pronotum of P. nieseri sp. nov., and by the conspicuous yellow maculae on the forewings of P. basalis .