Neurostigma thorntoni, González-Obando & Carrejo-Gironza & Mendivil-Nieto & Aldrete, 2021

González-Obando, Ranulfo, Carrejo-Gironza, Nancy, Mendivil-Nieto, Julián & Aldrete, Alfonso Neri García, 2021, Neurostigma (Psocodea: Psocomorpha: Epipsocidae) from Colombia: new species and an identification key, Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 61 (1), pp. 83-98 : 88-91

Neurostigma thorntoni sp. nov.

( Figs 19–24 )

Type material. Hඈඅඈඍඒඉൾ:J, COLOMBIA: Putumayo, Puerto Asís, El Horizonte, 0°22′58.37″N, 76°31′31.62″W, 264 m, 3–4.iii.2014, J. Panche leg. (MUSENUV, slide no.29874).Pൺඋൺඍඒඉൾ:1 J, same data as holotype (MUSENUV, slide no. 29875).

Description. Measurements (male holotype, in μm). FW: 3350, HW: 2425, F: 625, T: 825, t1: 330, t2: 150, ctt1: 13, f1: 400, f2: 300, Mx4: 270, IO: 460, D: 300, d: 230, IO/d: 2.0, PO: 0.77, H/MxW: 1.40, H/D: 3.18, IO/MxW: 0.70, Mx4/Mx2: 1.67, FW/W: 2.48. lp/wp: 3.29, al/ah: 2.27, HW/w: 2.96.

Color. Body creamy, with brown spots. Head ( Fig. 21 ): vertex creamy; frons, postclypeus, anteclypeus, genae and labrum light brown; postgenae creamy; compound eyes black, ocelli hyaline, with ochre centripetal crescents; labral sclerites brown.Antennae pale brown. Maxillary palps pale brown to creamy. Tergal lobes of mesothorax creamy; tergal lobes of metathorax brown; thoracic pleura creamy. Legs: fore and mid-coxae and trochanters pale brown; fore and mid-femora creamy, with oval blackish spots dorsally; fore and mid-tibiae creamy; fore and mid-tarsomeres 1 creamy to brown; fore and mid-tarsomeres 2 pale brown; hind legs missing in the material examined. Forewing membrane hyaline, brown basally, with small, oval brown spot near point of separation of CuA and M ( Fig. 19 ); pterostigma crossveins dark brown; Rs, M and areola postica dark brown, other veins pale brown. Hindwing membrane hyaline, with large brown spot proximally ( Fig. 20 ); veins brown. Abdomen creamy, tergum with irregular blackish spots. Hypandrium hyaline. Phallosome pale brown, radular sclerites pale brown. Epiproct and paraprocts missing.

Morphology. Head with abundant macrosetae, mainly on vertex ( Fig. 21 ), vertex convex, bilobed, clearly above upper border of compound eyes. Outer cusp of lacinial tips broad, with 7–8 denticles. Labrum with five distal sensilla: central placoid one, flanked by pair of trichoid– placoid ones. Forewings ( Fig. 19 ): pterostigma long, wider distally, with five crossveins; R

2+3

sinuous, R

4+5

less than three times the length of Rs section proximal to transverse r–m; M with three branches, strongly concave distal to r–m; areola postica tall, slanted posteriorly, rounded apically, separated from CuA 2 by about 0.3× its own length. Hindwings elongate ( Fig. 20 ): M unbranched; Rs+M almost as long as or longer than Rs section proximal to r–m. Legs: trochanters with two long setae dorsally; fore tarsi without ctenidobotria; hind legs missing in the material examined. Hypandrium membranous ( Fig. 23 ) with abundant setae, posterior border rounded. Abdomen: tergum with tubercles. Phallosome ( Fig. 24 ) open basally; side struts curved outwards; aedeagal arch robust, posterior process robust, rounded apically, with sides converging to apex; external parameres absent; radula with two groups of small sclerotized teeth. Paraprocts ( Fig. 22 ) oval, with setae and macrosetae distally, sensory fields large, with 33 trichobothria on basal rosettes. Epiproct ( Fig. 22 ) broad basally, posterior margin broadly rounded, with microsetae and setae distally. Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Neurostigma thorntoni sp. nov. is similar to N. lienhardi sp. nov. in the head, wings and radular sclerites. It differs from the latter in the following characters: posterior process of aedeagus distally rounded, with sides converging to the apex; two groups of sclerotized teeth of radula separated by a smooth membranous area ( Fig. 24 ); hindwing Rs, proximal to M interception, basally inclined towards the wing apex ( Fig. 20 ).

Etymology. This species is dedicated to Dr. Ian W. B. Thornton (1926–2002), professor of Zoology at the La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. He greatly contributed to the knowledge of Psocoptera of Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. His work on Krakatau provided seminal insights into the recolonization of islands.

Distribution. Colombia (Putumayo).

Figures

Figs 19–24. Neurostigma thorntoni sp. nov., male. 19 – forewing; 20 – hindwing; 21 – head, frontal view; 22 – epiproct and right paraproct; 23 – hypandrium; 24 – phallosome. Values for scale bars in mm.