Trachypeplus wapi, Guilbert, Eric, 2007

Guilbert, Eric, 2007, Tingidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) from Laos: new species and new records, Zootaxa 1442, pp. 1-18 : 12-13

Trachypeplus wapi sp. n.

(figs. 14, 15)

Material examined: 1 Ψ, Laos, Wapikhamthong prov., Khong Sedone, Wapi , 30.VIII.1967, native coll., Bishop.

Description: body shiny, yellowish to brownish, a transverse band across hemelytra at posterior third of discoidal area level, spot at apex of costal area, top of median carina darker; legs and body beneath brown; hind tarsi darker. Body length, 3.17; width, 1.20.

Head pilose on top, armed with five long, slender, erect spines; antennae slender, first two segments stouter, antennal segment measurements: I, 0.13; II, 0.10; III, 0.73; IV missing; bucculae broad, triseriate, closed in front; rostral sulcus straight, narrow, open behind; laminae broad, foliate, its areolae rather large; rostrum reaching middle of metasternum.

Pronotum long, gibbose, tricarinate, carinae parallel; median carina raised, uniseriate posteriorly, biseriate anteriorly, its areolae small; lateral carinae raised, uniseriate, less high than median carina; collar broad, three to four areolae wide, raised on top to form a hood, narrow, arced, five areolae long, produced forwards, less high than median carina but higher than top of pronotum; paranota four areolae wide, reflexed, partly resting on pronotum, not in contact with pronotum at opposite humeri, but raised and divided into two convex parts, separated by a transversal crest, the three outer rows also separated from inner row by a longitudinal crest. Carinae, hood, and paranota crests and margins armed with a row of spines regularly spaced.

Hemelytra long, as wide as pronotum, boundary veins raised, areolae almost of same size in all areas; costal area biseriate; subcostal area as wide as costal area, biseriate; discoidal area longer than half hemelytra, eight areolae wide at widest part; sutural area eight areolae wide at widest part; boundary veins RM and Cu between subcostal and discoidal areas; discoidal and sutural areas regularly armed with spines regularly spaced.

Etymology: The name refers to the type locality.

Comments: Although this description is based on a single specimen, it does not correspond to any other Trachypeplus species. It is close to T. malloti Drake & Poor but differs by the spines present on the body while short, the longer cephalic spines, the median carina biseriate on its anterior part, and the presence of a longitudinal ridge on the paranota. It is also close to Pseudurentius borneensis (Péricart) by the form of paranota and the median carina; but it differs by the discoidal area, sutural area, and the paranota being narrower, and the shorter spines on the hemelytra and pronotum.

Comments: Trachypeplus is close to Pseudurentius Péricart. Pseudurentius was raised on the basis of the large pronotal and hemelytral spines ( Péricart 1992). However, the variation of the size of the spines within Pseudurentius and Trachypeplus makes the difference between these two genera difficult and blurred.