Valdasus cerdai, Chérot & Wolski & Carpintero, 2023

Chérot, Frédéric, Wolski, Andrzej & Carpintero, Diego Leonardo, 2023, The Cylapinae of French Guiana: an illustrated catalogue with the description of a new species (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae), Zootaxa 5230 (3), pp. 351-366 : 357-358

11) Valdasus cerdai , new species

( Figs 3A–G , 4A–C )

Diagnosis: Relatively small Valdasus (total length between 4.1 and 5.4 mm), with evenly black head and pronotum in dorsal view, the exocorium devoid of clear medial patch and the first antennal segment uniformly yellow-brown and devoid of annulation.

Type specimens: HOLOTYPE (♁): French Guiana, KOurOu, SOumOurOu track, malaise trap, ix.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n° 5894x) ( MNHN, ex AMPF) . PARATYPES. 1♁, 1?: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, ii. 2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5922, 5944) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Crique Serpent track, P.K. 19.1, malaise trap, vi. 2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5953) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, 26.xi.2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5920) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, 03.xii.2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5916) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, 20.xii.2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5914) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, 31.xii.2001, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5950-5951) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 17.i.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5925) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 35, 19.i.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5923) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Kaw , P.K. 37.5, malaise trap, i.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5935, 5937) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, 13.iii.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5902) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, KOurOu, SOumOurOu track, 17.ii tO 17.iii.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n° 5903, 5919); 1 ♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 18.iii.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5949) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, KOurOu, SOumOurOu track, 25 tO 29.iii.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n°s 5897–5898) ( ISNB, ex AMPF); 4♁♁ : French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 01.iv.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5915, 5918, 5921, 5941) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 03.iv.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5938–5939) ( AMPF) ; 6♁♁: French Guiana, KOurOu, SOumOurOu track, 02 tO 19.iv.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n°s 5900–5901, 5907-5910) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, KOurOu, SOumOurOu track, 23.iv tO 03.v.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n°s 5911–5912); 1 ♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 03.v.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5948) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 37, malaise trap, 22.vi.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n° 5917) ( AMPF) ; 4♁♁: French Guiana, Kourou , Soumourou track, malaise trap, 13.vi to 20.vii.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n°s 5896, 5904–5906) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 35, 28.viii.2002, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5913, 5950b) ( AMPF) ; 1♁: French Guiana, Kourou , Soumourou track, 22 to 29.viii.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n° 5924) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Kourou , Soumourou track, malaise trap, ix.2002, Favre D. leg. (FC n°s 5894x, 5899, 5940) ( AMPF) ; 2♁♁: French Guiana, Patawa , P.K. 35, 05.i.2003, Cerda J. leg. (FC n°s 5945–5946) ( AMPF) .

Other specimen examined for comparison: Valdasoides bahiensis Carvalho, 1989 : HOLOTYPE (♁): Brazil, Estrada Rio-Bahia , km 965, Motel da Divisa, 960 m., xi. 1972, Seabra & Roppa leg. ( MNRJ) (now destroyed) ( Fig. 5 ).

Description. Male. Measurements (mm). HOLOTYPE: Total length in lateral view (from tylus to apex of abdomen): 4.2, total width in middle of hemelytral: 1.5, width of vertex in dorsal view: 0.3, width of head across eyes in dorsal view: 1.0, length of first antennal segment: 0.5, length of second antennal segment: 1.4, length of third antennal segment: 1.6, length of the fourth antennal segment: - (broken), length of pronotum (including the collar): 0.6, posterior width of pronotum (between humeral angles): 1.5, length of scutellum (including mesoscutum): 0.8, anterior width of scutellum: 0.6, length of cuneus: 0.6, width of cuneus: 0.4.

Paratypes: Total length in lateral view (from tylus to apex of abdomen): 4.1–5.4 (n = 10), total width in middle of hemelytral: 1.6–1.8 (n =10), width of vertex in dorsal view: 0.4 (n = 10), width of head across eyes in dorsal view: 1.0–1.5 (n = 10), length of first antennal segment: 0.4–0.6 (n = 10), length of second antennal segment: 1.4–2.3 (n = 10), length of third antennal segment: 1.5–2.8 (n = 9), length of the fourth antennal segment: 2.2–2.6 (n = 6), length of pronotum (including the collar): 0.7–0.9 (n = 10), posterior width of pronotum (between humeral angles): 1.5–1.9 (n = 10), length of scutellum (including mesoscutum): 0.6–1.0 (n = 10), anterior width of scutellum: 0.7–0.9 (n = 10), length of cuneus: 0.6–0.8, width of cuneus: 0.3–0.5.

Head vertically oriented, elongate in frontal view and short in dorsal view, shining dark brown to black. Frons glabrous, medially transversally and longitudinally sulcate. Jugae and lorae reduced, very dark, almost black, with some sparse erect white setae. Vertex sulcate medially between the eyes, glabrous, shining dark reddish brown laterally, fuscous medially. Eyes reddish, ommatidia black, pedicel dark reddish brown to fuscous. First antennal segment relatively elongate, curved, equal or slightly longer than vertex width, yellowish-brown. Second antennal segment reddish-brown to fuscous apically, longer than first, slightly thickened apically, with erect, brown setae. Third and fourth antennal segments thinner, dark brown, elongate, third almost equal to or slightly longer than second, fourth longer, but frequently lost or strongly damaged, particularly at apex. Neck reddish-brown with wide yellowish spot medially. Labium thick, reaching metacoxae, dark-brown. Pronotum black, shining. Pronotal collar dull, thin, dark brown, with semi-erect to erect, white setae. Pronotal callosities shinning black, transversally elongate, narrowly punctate, practically glabrous, each with lateral swelling. Pronotal disk black, surface widely and relatively deeply punctate, bearing numerous erect to suberect, elongate, setae. Humeral angles rounded, lateral margins of pronotal disk devoid of carina, posterior margin slightly concave laterally. Mesoscutum exposed, dull, with lateral fossae. Scutellum almost flat in dorsal view but weakly swollen in lateral view, dark brown with yellowish apex, widely and relatively deeply punctate, bearing some erect to suberect, elongated, white setae. Legs. Coxae and trochanters yellowish. Femora, tibiae and tarsi yellowish-brown, elongate, tibiae with brown setae. Meso- and metapleura black, the scent gland efferent system pale yellow. Hemelytra dark brown with yellowish areas at apex of clavus and corium, widely and relatively deeply punctate, with numerous, suberect brown setae. Cuneus uniformly brown, yellowish basally. Membrane including the veins brown. Abdomen ventrally and laterally fuscous, with elongate setae, dorsally yellowish tinged with red. Genitalia. Left paramere ( Fig. 4A ) relatively narrow, elongate as the right paramere ( Fig. 4B ). Endophallus ( Fig. 4C ) lacking a spiculum, secondary gonopore reduced, ductus seminis convoluted.

Female unknown.

Etymology: The new species is dedicated to M. Jean-Aimé Cerda , collector of numerous plant bugs from French Guiana preserved in AMPF and MNHN and specialist of the moth subfamily Arctiinae working mainly on the subtribes Euchromiina and Ctenuchina ( Lepidoptera : Noctuoidea, Erebidae ).

Discussion: V. cerdai n. sp. presents the main character states of the genus Valdasus as diagnosed in Wolski’s (2017) key of Cylapini genera and by Wolski et al. (2020). Male specimens of V. cerdai are macropterous. The dorsal surface (pronotum, scutellum, hemelytra) of this species is deeply and densely punctate, covered with long, erect, dense setae, the vertex is deeply sulcate medially, the mesepimeron is punctate, the tarsomere I is shorter than the II and III measured together, the mesoscutum is exposed and the hemelytra are fuscous with a patch medially (reduced, at apex of clavus). The anterior margin of cuneus is yellowish.

According to the key to species of Valdasus in Wolski et al. (2020), V. cerdai n. sp. can be separated from the majority of already described species of the genus Valdasus by the evenly black pronotum (in contrast to V. bolivianus Carvalho, 1989 where pronotal disk is lighter than callosities area), devoid of longitudinal yellow stripes (in contrast to V. flavinotum Wolski et al., 2020 ), by the total length less than 6 mm (in contrast to V. schoenherri Stål, 1860 ), by the exocorium devoid of a yellow patch medially (in contrast to V. erebeus Distant, 1883 and V. stygius Distant, 1883 ), by the shining head and by the first antennal segment uniformly yellowish-brown, lacking annulation (in contrast to V. ferrerai Wolski et al., 2020 and V. henry Wolski et al., 2020 ). V. cerdai is relatively similar to V. favrei Wolski et al., 2020 by the habitus and the endosoma devoid of sclerites, but can be recognized by its shiny fuscous head (versus yellowish to brownish and matte in V. favrei ), the narrow, yellowish area of clavus margins apex sometimes extending on endocorium (versus black in V. favrei ) and the structure of left paramere.

V. cerdai n. sp. also differs from the poorly known Valdasoides bahiensis Carvalho, 1989 by the more reduced pronotal callosities and the male genital structures. Unfortunately, the badly damaged holotype of V. bahiensis ( Fig. 5 ), originally preserved in MNRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was destroyed with all Carvalho’s specimens of this institution in the fire of September 02, 2018. Fortunately:

(a) numerous Carvalho’s types preserved in other institutions around the World (particularly at USNM, Washington D.C.) remain available still for study, but all specimens from Rio’s collection were lost .

(b) A majority of Carvalho’s types preserved in MNRJ were systematically pictured before the fire (Henry et al., in prep.)

The validity of Valdasoides as separate genus needs to be investigated in more detail, however additional specimens are required. The main character states used by Carvalho & Ferreira (1994) in their key to the South American Cylapini to separate both genera are the shape of first antennal segment (curved in Valdasoides ), the pronotal shape (narrowed anteriorly in Valdasoides ), the basal width of embolium (narrow, difficult to see in Valdasoides ), and the brightness of pronotal callosities (smooth and shiny in Valdasoides ). According to available pictures of the V. bahiensis holotype, the first antennal segment of the only (male) known specimen was relatively elongate and effectively curved, apparently similar in shape to the corresponding antennal segment of Valdasus flavinotum , V. schoenherri or V. stygius but also of V. cerdai , n. sp. The pronotum of V. bahiensis was obviously narrowed anteriorly (with weakly concave lateral margins). However, it is also the case in some Valdasus as presently defined (such as V. ferrerai ), some other species having almost straight pronotal lateral margins (such V. favrei ). The pronotal callosities are shiny in a majority of Valdasus species, but dull in V. schoenherri , and their punctation always more reduced (i.e., narrower and shallower) than pronotal disk punctation. This also apparently was the case for the holotype of V. bahiensis (contra Carvalho & Ferreira, op. cit.). Finally, the embolium is narrowed at different “places” in different Valdasus species (for example, basally in V. flavinotum , between the anterior third and the half in V. favrei ). All other character states given by Carvalho (1989) in his description of the genus Valdasoides are also known for at least some Valdasus species ( Wolski et al. 2020). Based on our preliminary evaluation, it is likely that Valdasus and Valdasoides are congeneric. However, we are reluctant to formally synonymize these genera until additional specimens are available for study.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Valdasus cerdai, n. sp. A. Habitus in dorsal view. Scale = 1 mm. B. Head in dorsal view. Scale = 0.5 mm. C. Head in frontal view. Scales = 0.5 mm. D. First antennal segment. Scale = 0.1 mm. E. Pronotum in dorsal view. F. Scutellum in dorsal view. G. Corium in dorsal view. Scales = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 4. Valdasus cerdai, n. sp. Male genital structures. A. Left paramere. B. Right paramere. C. Endophallus.

FIGURE 5. Valdasoides bahiensis Carvalho, 1989. Male holotype from MNRJ destroyed in the fire of September 02d 2018 photographied by the first author during his last stay in Rio. Scale = 1 mm (according to Carvalho, 1989).