Ptilomera tennaserim Vitheepradit & Sites

Raruanysong, Sajeemat, Vitheepradit, Akekawat & Sites, Robert W., 2014, Key to the species of Ptilomerinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Gerridae) of Thailand and review of the fauna of the Tennaserim Mountain Range, Zootaxa 3852 (1), pp. 101-117 : 108

Ptilomera tennaserim Vitheepradit & Sites

Figs. 20, 21 , 34, 35

Ptilomera tennaserim Vitheepradit & Sites 2007 : Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 144–145.

Diagnosis. Ptilomera tennaserim males can be recognized by the pygophore with a narrowly digitate apical projection ( Fig. 21 ) and females by abdominal segment VII reflexed upward from segment VI at a 75º angle ( Fig. 35 ). More specifically, males of P. tennaserim can be distinguished by the median lobe of the proctiger surpassing the posterior tips of the lateral wings of the pygophore ( Fig. 20 ), whereas the median lobe is more or less even with the posterior tips of the lateral wings in P. tigrina ( Fig. 22 ). Males of P. tennaserim can be distinguished by the pygophore with a digitate apex ( Fig. 21 ), which is broadly-rounded in P. j a r i y ae ( Fig. 17 ).

Females of P. tennaserim can be distinguished by a well-developed ventrolateral lobe of abdominal segment VII ( Fig. 35 ) which is obsolescent in P. j a r i y a e ( Fig. 31 ), and by connexival spines that are strongly curved and crossing ( Fig. 34 ), whereas they are straight and convergent in P. tigrina ( Fig. 36 ).

Discussion. This species was previously found in a shaded, gravel-bottomed stream which flowed from the mountains into a reservoir in the Tennaserim Range in Kanchanaburi Province ( Vitheepradit & Sites 2007). Although collecting during the present intensive survey was conducted repeatedly at the type locality and adjacent streams, additional specimens of this species were not collected. This may indicate the rarity of this species in the Thai fauna.

Material examined. THAILAND: Kanchanaburi Province: Amphur Sangkhla Buri, Heuy Li Jia, 15º04'N 98º33'E, 169 m, 26-V-2004, Vitheepradit and Prommi, L-718 (1 male, 2 females); same locality, 12-V-2003, AV, Prommi and Ferro, L-526 (1 female).

Figures

FIGURES 10 – 23. Terminal abdominal segments of male Ptilomera. P. fang in (10) dorsal and (11) ventral view; P. hemmingseni in (12) dorsal and (13) ventral view; P. hylactor in (14) dorsal and (15) ventral view; P. jariyae in (16) dorsal and (17) ventral view; P. k r a in (18) dorsal and (19) ventral view; P. tennaserim in (20) dorsal and (21) ventral view; P. tigrina in (22) dorsal and (23) ventral view. Figs. 20 – 21 are of holotype prior to extraction of genitalia.

FIGURES 24 – 37. Terminal abdominal segments of female Ptilomera. P. fang in (24) dorsal and (25) lateral view; P. hemmingseni in (26) dorsal and (27) lateral view; P. hylactor in (28) dorsal and (29) lateral view; P. j ar i y ae in (30) dorsal and (31) lateral view; P. k r a in (32) dorsal and (33) lateral view; P. tennaserim in (34) dorsal and (35) lateral view; P. tigrina in (36) dorsal and (37) lateral view.