Chelonocoris heissi, Serrano-Herrera & Espinosa-Sanchez, 2023

Serrano-Herrera, Adela & Espinosa-Sanchez, Juan Manuel, 2023, Two New Chelonocoris Species From Borneo And Sumatra (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Aradidae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 69 (4), pp. 413-421 : 418-421

Chelonocoris heissi sp. n.

http://zoobank.org/ 4CD1B046-ABEB-46DF-BB79-046AD5774981 ( Figs 3 , 13–17 )

Type material: Holotype ( HNHM), male “Padang Padjang / West Sumatra / H. Rolle, Berlin W // Chelonocoris bloetei Usinger / N. Kormilev 55”.

Description: Male. Apterous, large, body elongate subtriangular, covered by tufts and evenly distributed hairs (tomentum) and a wax-like or dirt-like material.

Colouration: Body blackish-brown, tufts and evenly distributed hairs as well as wax-like or dirt-like material rusty brown.

Head longer than wide, genae longer than clypeus, reaching about 1/7 of antennal joint I, with a narrow slit between them. Antenniferous tubercles short, laterally convex, apex blunt. Eyes small, flattened semiglobose. Postocular borders concave, narrowing posteriorly, then subparallel. Hairs and wax forming an edge posterolaterally. Vertex, clypeus and genae slightly convex until tip of genae in lateral view. Rostrum not reaching hind border of head, in a moderately wide labial groove, bordered by straight, flat ridges on both sides.

Antennae ( Figs 3 , 13, 16 ) long, first joint slightly curved, widest in basal fourth, with long, dense pubescence medially, and erect or curled hairs along the entire length. Joint II slightly, evenly widening toward apex, III very slightly curved, subcylindrical, suddenly thickening at apex, IV pyriform. Relative length of antennal joints I to IV as 89:25:58:19.

Pronotum shorter than wide, strongly widening posteriorly, hind border slightly Sshaped on both sides, collar with shallow sinuation medially. Disc medially with a narrow, slit-like furrow, bordered by almost straight longitudinal tubercle on both sides, laterad to these onecurved edge (mostly of hairs and dirt) and one rounded, inflated tubercle. Mesometanotum and abdominal terga are separated by a longitudinal inflated area, finely interrupted anteriorly between meso- and metanota and at anterior border of tergal plate, and terminating at a bowl between terga III and IV. Mesonotum medially formed scutellum-like, with 3 sublongitudinal, flat tubercles laterally on both sides. Metanotum with a pair of distorted crescent-shaped shiny area and two longitudinal tubercles laterad to these. Upscale bar refers to drawings, the 2 mm scale bar to entire antennae, Fig 17 is out of scale per end of metathoracic scent gland openings are seen anterolaterally, with widening operculum at dorsal end. Abdomen with straight lateral borders, slightly widening posteriad until segment VI. Lateral border of dltg VI with small projection at about 2/3 of its length.

Abdomen with dltgs well separated from central dorsal plate consisting of segments II– VI. Dorsal plate moderately elevated, with inflated median portion. Median glabrous areas relatively distinct. Dltgs flat, PE angles not protruding, with fine sublateral carinalike elevations on posterior segments. Median part of tergum VII elevated, with a pair of longitudinal, low tubercles, and with another, definite and elevated tubercles on both sides of large pygophore. Paratergites VIII short, bent outwards, spiracle apical. Terminal lobes long, pointing posterolaterally, narrowing posteriorly except for a short section lateral to the tip of pygophore.

Measurements: Holotype male: length of head 3.04 mm, width of head 2.04 mm, length of pronotum 2.16 mm, width of pronotum 3.28 mm, combined length of mesometanotum 2.64 mm, maximum width of abdomen 5.60 mm across segment VI, width at tip of PE angles VII 6.56, total length of body in median line 15.44 mm, total length of body with terminal lobes 16.80 mm.

Etymology: It is a great pleasure to dedicate this outstanding species to Prof. Dr. Ernst Heiss, acknowledging his outstanding contribution to our knowledge on flat bugs (and other hemipteran groups) of the Earth on one side, and his continuous, collegial help across decades on the other.

Discussion: The new species matches to the Sumatra species, and runs in the key of USINGER and MATSUDA (1959) to either Ch. bloetei or Ch. depressus Usinger, 1954, if we consider the statement “second and third antennal segments practically naked with only the finest appressed pubescence” to be true, but rather to Ch. ferrugineus Usinger, 1954 or Ch. mancinii, if we consider the statement “second and third antennal segments with fine but distinct erect or curved hairs” to be true. The diagnostic value of this feature is doubtful, since it is apparently difficult to separate “ finest appressed pubescence ” from “ variously developed fine hairs ”. MILLER’ s (1938) drawings, with short lines on the antennae, marking the presence rather than the nature of hairs, do not really help in the present case. The antennae of the three species at hand suggest that the first statement matches the condition found in Ch. heissi sp. n., since the two species from Borneo definitely bear distinct, erect or curved hairs. The holotype of Ch. heissi sp. n. is, however, clearly distinguishable from all four above named species by a set of characters.

Diagnosis: The males of the abovementioned species are mostly known except Ch. ferrugineus, and the features on the tip of abdomen are clearly different (c.f. USINGER 1954, figs 6C, 6E, 6H). The postero-exterior lobes of all of them are either shorter and/or continuously narrowing, while they are longer, first narrowing, then parallel-sided, then narrowing again in Ch. heissi sp. n. The abdomen of Ch. bloetei has slightly convex sides, this species and Ch. mancinii both have straight inner margin of the terminal lobe, while Ch. heissi sp. n. and Ch. depressus have inner margin strongly bent inwards basally. Ch. depressus has a definite tubercle on the PE corner of dltg VI, which is lacking in the new species, and parallel sides of the abdomen, which is widening posteriorly in Ch. heissi sp. n. The general character of the abdominal inflation is different in the female of Ch. ferrugineus from that in the male of Ch. heissi sp. n. in greater extent than observed in the species mentioned in the discussion of Ch. bakonyii sp. n. Antennal joint I is 2.2 times longer than the width of head in Ch. heissi sp. n., this value is 2.0 in Ch. ferrugineus; in the latter species, the head is more strongly narrowing posteriorly than in the new species.

Construction of a new key would require an examination of all other species concerned.

Figures

Figs 1–3. 1 = Chelonocoris usingeri Kormilev, 1957, female holotype; 2 = Ch. bakonyii sp. n., male holotype; 3 = Ch. heissi sp. n., male holotype

Figs 13–19. Chelonocoris heissi sp. n. male holotype (13-17), Ch. bakonyii sp. n. male holotype (18) and Ch. usingeri Kormilev, 1957 female holotype (19): 13 = dorsal habitus; 14 = body in lateral view; 15 = tip of abdomen, ventral view; 16–19 antennae, dorsal view. The 5 mm