Rhagovelia apuruaque, Motta & Moreira & Crumière & Santos & Khila, 2018

Motta, Flávia Souza Da, Moreira, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo, Crumière, Antonin Jean Johan, Santos, Maria Emília & Khila, Abderrahman, 2018, A new species of Rhagovelia Mayr, 1865 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Veliidae) from French Guiana, with new records of Gerromorpha from the country, Zootaxa 4433 (3), pp. 520-530 : 521-524

Rhagovelia apuruaque sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–8 , Table 1)

Apterous male ( Table 1). Head dorsally black, covered by greyish pubescence; longitudinal midline and a pair of oblique indentations at base impressed and shining. Venter of head black. Buccula yellow. Labium dark brown, except for sides of article II dark yellow. Eyes dark red. Antenniferous tubercles dark brown. Antennomere I yellow on slightly more than basal half; apex of I and rest of antenna dark brown. Pronotum dark orange behind vertex of head; dark brown laterally ( Fig. 1 ). Meso- and metanota black, covered by greyish pubescence. Propleuron yellow; meso- and metapleura black, covered by greyish pubescence. Pro-, meso- and metasterna black, covered by greyish pubescence. Proacetabulum yellow with central dark brown macula; this sometimes extended over its mesal portion. Meso- and metacetabula black with yellowish margins. Fore and hind coxae and trochanters yellow to yellowish brown. Mid coxa brown, yellowish on apex. Mid trochanter yellow at base, dark brown towards apex. Fore femur yellow on proximal third, then black. Mid femur dark brown to black. Hind femur dark brown to black with a small yellow macula at base; apex sometimes lighter brown. Tibiae dark brown to black. Fore tarsus black. Mid and hind tarsi dark brown. Abdominal mediotergites black, covered by greyish pubescence. Abdominal segment VIII and proctiger dorsally shining black, covered by short golden setae. Abdominal laterotergites black mesally, brown laterally, covered by greyish pubescence, with lateral margins shining black. Abdominal sterna black, covered by greyish pubescence, except for apex of VII brown. Venter of abdominal segment VIII light brown on base, darker posteriorly.

Head short, covered by short setae; frons with longer setae. Antenna covered by short dark brown setae, denser on antennomere IV; antennomere I with at least six longer, thick, dark brown setae; II with two of these setae near apex. Antennomeres I–III cylindrical; IV fusiform; I and IV at middle subequal in width; II subequal in width to III, slightly thinner than I and IV. Labium short, not reaching middle of mesosternum, with golden setae laterally on article III. Ocular setae present. Pronotum short, not covering mesonotum, covered by short golden setae, denser laterally; posterior margin sinuous. Mesonotum covered by short golden setae, denser on posterior margin; posterior margin convex centrally. Metanotum short; posterior margin straight centrally. Proepisternum with shining setae. Metasternum covered by long golden setae. Sides of thorax with long dark brown setae.

Legs covered by short setae, with rows of longer, thicker setae on femora and tibiae. Trochanters without spines. Fore tibia slightly curved distally, with weak preapical depression; grasping comb extending slightly beyond apex ( Fig. 3 ). Hind femur slightly wider than mid femur, with posterior margin sinuous; distal half with a row of 7–10 spines decreasing in size towards apex; first spine of the row distinctly longer than the others. Hind tibia straight, basally with 10–12 short subequal spines, with straight apical spur ( Fig. 4 ).

Abdominal mediotergites subrectangular. Laterotergites elevated, but not vertical, with short golden setae. Abdominal sterna without black denticles or carina, covered by short golden setae. Proctiger with lateral margins sinuous; basal lobes weak, curved; apex rounded, densely covered by setae ( Fig. 7 ). Paramere short, covered by thick setae on distal half; apex rounded ( Fig. 8 ).

Apterous female ( Table 1). Similar to the apterous male in color and structure ( Figs. 2, 5 ), except for: eyes black with reddish edges; proacetabulum yellow with brown center; meso- and metacetabula black with yellowish margins; abdominal laterotergites black mesally, laterally orange with dark brown margins; abdominal sterna orange laterally; metanotum without long golden setae; hind femur with a row of 8–9 spines decreasing in size towards apex; hind tibia basally with 10–11 short subequal spines, without apical spur ( Fig. 6 ); abdominal laterotergites vertical to slightly reflected over the abdomen, covering part of mediotergites V–VII ( Fig. 2 ); abdominal sterna with few short silvery setae, denser on center of segments V–VI.

Type-material. FRENCH GUIANA: Cayenne —Régina, small streams next to Approuague reachable by pirogue, N 0 4.33549, W 0 52.11855, 08.III.2014, (A. Khila; M. E. Santos; A. J. J. Crumière): 1 apterous male [HOLOTYPE] (CEIOC 27915), 21 apterous males, 21 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27923), 35 apterous males, 33 apterous female [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27924), 28 apterous males, 19 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27921), 15 apterous males, 5 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27919), 4 apterous males [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27917). Régina, small streams next to Approuague reachable by pirogue, N 0 4.34235, W 0 52.10730, 0 8.III.2014, (A. Khila; M. E. Santos; A. J. J. Crumière): 5 apterous males, 4 apretous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27916), 13 apterous males, 6 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27918). Régina, Crique Tapiare, N 0 4.30746, W 0 52.13557, 0 7.III.2014, (A. Khila; M. E. Santos; A. J. J. Crumière): 13 apterous males, 19 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27920), 4 apterous males, 25 apterous females [PARATYPES] (CEIOC 27922).

Etymology. The species is named after the type locality, the Approuague River (= Apuruaque in Tupi) watershed in Cayenne, French Guiana ( Figs. 9–10).

Comments. Males of R. apuruaque sp. nov. and those of R. mangle are the smallest of the salina group, with body lengths of 2.37 to 2.59 mm and 2.18 to 2.24 mm, respectively. Females of the new species are also distinctly small, ranging from 2.84 to 2.97 mm long, whereas those of R. mangle are 3.26 to 3.33 mm long. Like R. mangle and R. ephydros , males of R. apuruaque sp. nov. bear 7–10 spines on the posterior surface of the hind femur ( Fig. 4 ; Drake & Van Doesburg, 1966; Moreira et al. 2010). However, they differ from the first two species by the absence of longitudinal dark stripes on antennomere I and the femora, and by the fore tibia not strongly curved and with a shorter grasping comb ( Figs. 1, 3–4 ). Furthermore, males of the new species have no spines on the basal portion of the hind femur ( Fig. 4 ), differing from those of R. arcuata , R. aguaclara and R. colombiana , in which there are about six basal spines ( Polhemus & Manzano 1992, Padilla-Gil 2010). Finally, males of R. apuruaque sp. nov. have 10–12 basal spines on the hind tibia ( Fig. 4 ), which are absent in R. plumbea , R. rosarensis , and R. salina (Bacon 1965, Padilla-Gil 2010).

Figures

FIGURES 1–8. Rhagovelia apuruaque sp. nov. 1. Apterous male, dorsal view. 2. Apterous female, dorsal view. 3. Male, fore leg, ventral view. 4. Male, hind leg, ventral view. 5. Female, fore leg, ventral view. 6. Female, hind leg, ventral view. 7. Male proctiger, dorsal view. 8. Male paramere, lateral view.