Rhodiginus monteithi, Malipatil, 2020

Malipatil, M. B., 2020, A new species of Rhodiginus Distant from Australia (Hemiptera: Heteroptera Rhyparochromidae), Zootaxa 4858 (2), pp. 285-291 : 286-290

Rhodiginus monteithi sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–5, 7–13 )

Type specimens: Holotype female, AUSTRALIA, Queensland: Crystal Cascades, Cairns , 30.xii.1963, G. Monteith, in Queensland Museum, Brisbane ( QM) . Paratypes: AUSTRALIA, Queensland: 1 male, Pandanus Ck, Cathu SF, 22.iv.1979, G.B. Monteith, in QM ; 3 male, 1 female, Iron Range, Cape York Pen., 27.iv–4.v.1973, G.B. Monteith, in QM .

Description. Body above and below generally dark or black, densely covered with short dusty greyish pubescence, pattern of which on head, pronotum, scutellum and corium is shown in Figs. 1, 2 . Hemelytra with corium fuscous variegated with dark and pale areas, with inner areas and outer angles broadly fuscous as in Fig. 2 ; membrane with indistinct fuscous patches. Legs almost uniformly whitish testaceous ( Fig. 2 ). Antennae with 1 st segment fuscous except broad apical 1/3 pale; 2 nd, 3 rd and 4 th light brown except extreme bases and apices slightly lighter ( Fig. 2 ). Labium with 1 st segment slightly darker than remaining segments. Abdomen below uniformly dark with sericeous decumbent hairs or setae all over.

Body rather short and robust, and punctate as in Figs. 1, 2 .

Measurements are of holotype female, followed by paratype male in parentheses.

Body length including wings 2.99 (3.00); maximum width across abdomen 1.28 (1.20).

Head above convex, almost parallel-sided in front of eyes and before antennifers, juga not reaching tip of tylus; bucculae produced anteriorly from level of antennifers, but posterior to antennifers gradually lowered to head surface and roundly joined at about ½ head length; head length 0.46 (0.50); width across eyes 0.92 (0.92); interocular space 0.50 (0.50); interocellar space 0.29 (0.28); eye-ocellar space 0.09 (0.07); eye length 0.21 (0.20); eye width 0.20 (0.20). Antennae with 1 st segment exceeding head by about ½, 2 nd and 3 rd segments thinner than other segments, length of segments: I, 0.28 (0.29); II, 0.37 (0.41); III, 0.35 (0.37); IV, 0.42 (0.46). Labium with first segment almost reaching base of head; length of segments: I, 0.34 (0.36); II, 0.34 (0.34); III, 0.23 (0.23); IV, 0.23 (0.29).

Thorax: Pronotum faintly carinate on lateral margin, constriction distinct dorsally, more so in lateral view ( Figs. 3 , 5 ); median length 0.71 (0.73); width at anterior margin 0.65 (0.62); width at posterior margin 1.15 (1.17). Scutellum equilateral, median T-elevation distinct dorsally, broad ( Figs. 2, 3 ); length 0.57 (0.59); width 0.55 (0.52). Legs with fore femora slightly more incrassate and shorter than mid and hind femora ( Fig. 5 ). Hemelytra macropterous, well exceeding abdomen; lateral margin of corium slightly concave at about 1/3 length from base, rows of punctures on corium as in Figs 2, 3 ; length of hemelytra 1.93 (1.97); length of corium 1.38 (1.38); claval commissure 0.14, 0.13; width membrane 0.82 (0.70).

Abdomen: Abdominal terga excluding tergite II and outer-laterotergites uniformly and densely covered with pale elongate-ovate punctures on contrastingly black tergum ( Fig. 7 ), punctures hirsute each with a long bristle. Abdominal sterna also very finely and densely punctate all over similar to terga ( Fig. 5 ).

Male genitalia: Sternite VII in male medially bilobed on posterior margin.

Pygophore small and generally pale in colour; surface of posterior 1/ 3 in particular covered with fine pale pubescence; lower surface strongly produced posteriorly, narrowed to a plate-like median process with almost truncate margin, and both lateral angles produced into long acute spines ( Fig. 8 , arrowed). Paramere sickle-shaped, ventral lobe slightly more produced than dorsal lobe, blade broad and shallowly curved, apex slightly truncately produced ( Fig. 9 ).

Aedeagus as in Fig. 10 with basal apparatus moderately sclerotized, phallotheca lightly sclerotized ( Fig. 10 ); endosoma slightly more heavily sclerotized than phallotheca, without distinctly separated conjunctiva and vesica, with membranous lobes, ejaculatory reservoir well-developed and sclerotized, with distinct body and pair of wings; helicoid process with gonoporal process thick, short, heavily sclerotized, twisted about 1–2 times, secondary gonopore slightly flared at apex.

Female genitalia: Both terga and sterna mostly as in male. Sternite VII in female not bilobed in middle. Ovipositor as in Figs. 11, 12 ; first ramus traversing to about 2/3 length of elongate and apically pointed first gonapophysis ( Fig. 11 ); second gonapophysis bladelike, slightly broadly spatulate in apical ¼ area ( Fig. 12 ). Spermatheca ( Fig. 13 ) lightly sclerotized, bulb spherical, no distinct flange; duct of moderate length, basal part broad and saccoid, apical part (i.e., part below apical bulb) thin and tubular ( Fig. 13 ).

Etymology. The species is named after my Heteropterist colleague Dr Geoff Monteith (Queensland Museum), collector of the type specimens.

Distribution. Northern Queensland, Australia.

Notes. Rhodiginus monteithi sp. nov. differs from the type-species, R. ceylonicus (junior synonym Ophthalmicus dispar Walker , Fig. 6 ) by having the entire pronotum uniformly coloured fuscous (in R. ceylonicus anterior lobe black, posterior lobe ochraceous); the 1 st segment of antennae fuscous over basal 2/3–3/4, and contrastingly pale testaceous in apical area (1 st and 4 th segments more or less uniformly castaneous). The new species differs from the remaining species of the genus from the Philippines, R. pullatus Bergroth, 1918 , in having the1 st segment of antennae coloured as above (in R. pullatus entire 1 st segment and apex of 2nd whitish); the 3 rd segment slightly longer than 1 st segment (3 rd segment as long as 1 st); and both lobes of pronotum almost similarly densely punctate (posterior lobe slightly less densely punctate than anterior lobe).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Rhodiginus monteithi sp. nov. 1, Paratype male, dorsal view of body, scale line = 1 mm. 2, Holotype female, habitus dorsal. 3, same, close up anterior part of body, dorsal. 4, same, head, antero-ventral view.

FIGURES 5–8. 5, 7, 8. Rhodiginus monteithi sp. nov.: 5, Paratype female, body and appendages, lateral view. 7, Paratype male, abdominal tergum. 8, same, posterior part of pygophore showing lateral spines. 6, Ophthalmicus dispar Walker, Holotype male, habitus dorsal. III–VI, abdominal tergites.

FIGURES 9–13. Rhodiginus monteithi sp. nov. 9, 10, Paratype male: 9, left paramere. 10, aedeagus, lateral view. 11–13, Paratype female: 11, 12, ovipositor. 13, spermatheca.Abbreviations: b, body; bb, bulb; c, conjunctiva; dt, duct; Ga, gonangulum; gp, gonoporal process; 1Gpo, 2Gpo, first and second gonapophysis; 1Gx, 2Gx, first and second gonocoxa; ph, phallotheca; pt VIII, paratergite VIII; 1r, 2r, first and second ramus; sp 8, spiracle 8; w, wing.