Heza graziae, Swanson, 2021

Swanson, Daniel R., 2021, Four new species of Heza Amyot & Audinet-Serville (Heteroptera: Reduviidae Harpactorinae) from the Neotropics, Zootaxa 4958 (1), pp. 366-379 : 368-370

Heza graziae sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:02AA47E1-BD76-4AB7-9EB2-855E45FFBE03

( Figs. 1 , 5 , 9, 10 , 17 )

Type material: HOLOTYPE, ♂, ECUADOR: Galapagos Islands, on board ship, 22–27 June 2002, F. W. Stehr ( MSUC).

Etymology: The specific epithet is an eponym, selected to commemorate the many accomplishments and contributions to the entomological community by Brazilian entomologist Jocelia Grazia during her 50+ years of academic research.

Diagnosis: Separated from other species of Heza by the following combination of characters: only first connexival segment (=second tergite) armed posterolaterally with spine or tubercle; discal armature of anterior pronotal lobe short, conical, acute; margin of abdomen entire, evenly convex; and median process of pygophore tall, slender, and flared apically.

Description: Macropterous male (holotype). Coloration: Reddish-brown, except scape, pedicel, rostrum, sterna, forelegs, mid & hind legs (coxa, trochanter, apex of femur to apex of tarsus), corium laterally red. Basal twothirds of meso- and metafemur greenish-yellow. Veins of hemelytral membrane (except base) blackish.

Structure: Head. Postantennal spines medium, slender, straight, sharp, otherwise head as per description under Heza . Antennae with scape with sparse oblique short setae, setae of pedicel similar but slightly denser, flagellum with short appressed setae. Eyes, ocelli, and rostrum as per description under Heza .

Thorax. Pronotum with anterior pronotal lobe covered with short appressed pale setae but with a few, very conspicuous, glabrous channels, with collar armed with obliquely-directed, small conical tubercle, disc armed with two short, conical tubercles. Posterior pronotal lobe with carinae at anterior margin behind transverse constriction directly posterior to spines of anterior pronotal lobe obsolete, covered with short, decumbent and sparsely erect setae, disc armed with two medium, thin, essentially erect, sharp spines, humeral angle with medium, sharp spine over humerus directed laterally and somewhat dorsad, posterior margin slightly convex in front of scutellum and sinuate between humeri and posterior angles, posterior angles roundly obtuse. Scutellum with central disc depressed medially so appearing as Y-shaped raised, rounded carinae, with short appressed and longer but sparse erect setae, apex slightly prolonged. Mesopleuron with glabrous U-shaped spot near dorsal margin, plica sharp. Sterna as per description under Heza . Hemelytra with corium covered with short, dense, decumbent setae.

Legs. Forelegs with profemur straight, covered with short appressed pale setae and sparse longer erect setae on dorsal and lateral surfaces. Protibia slightly curved apically. Middle and hind legs as per description under Heza .

Abdomen. As per description under Heza .

External genitalia. Pygophore with integument smooth, covered with somewhat dense short decumbent setae and sparse longer erect setae, with posterior margin slightly swollen and setose. Median apical process erect, approximately three times as tall as apical width, lateral margins converging from base to middle and then distinctly diverging right before apex, apex barely convex, margin slightly “hooked” or folded caudad, fold not wider than apex. Parameres moderately-sized, reaching median process at rest, more or less cylindrical but slightly sinuate at middle in dorsal plane, moderately setose except setae denser on dorsal margin and near apex.

Measurements (in mm). Total length (apex of head to apex of abdomen/hemelytra): 17.3; head length: 2.0; head width (across eyes): 1.4; anteocular length: 0.8; postocular length: 0.6; neck length: 0.6; scape length: 8.2; pedicel length: 1.5; basiflagellum length: 9.5; distiflagellum length: 2.8; antennal segment ratio: approx. 1.0: 0.2: 1.2: 0.3; eye length: 0.6; eye width: 0.3; rostral segment 1 length: 1.6; rostral segment 2 length: 1.2; rostral segment 3 length: 0.6; rostral segment ratio: approx. 1.00: 0.75: 0.38; pronotum length: 3.5; pronotum width (across humeri, without spines): 3.1; pronotum width (across humeri, with spines): 4.2; anterior pronotal lobe length: 1.4; posterior pronotal lobe length: 2.1; scutellum length: 1.1; scutellum width (at base): 1.1; hemelytra length: 12.0; procoxa length: 0.9; protrochanter length: 0.8; profemur length: 7.2; protibia length: 6.2; protarsus length: 0.7; protarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.00: 2.25: 3.00; mesocoxa length: 0.8; mesotrochanter length: 0.7; mesofemur length: 5.7; mesotibia length: 6.0; mesotarsus length: 0.7; mesotarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.00: 2.25: 3.00; metacoxa length: 0.9; metatrochanter length: 0.7; metafemur length: 8.1; metatibia length: 9.2; metatarsus length: 0.8; metatarsal segment ratio: approx. 1.00: 2.25: 3.00; abdomen length: 10.1; abdomen (widest) width: 2.9.

Female: Unknown.

Distribution: Known only from an imprecise locality in Ecuador.

Remarks: The short, sharp armature of the anterior pronotal lobe results in Heza graziae sp. nov. reaching couplet # 23 in Maldonado’s (1976) key. The new species differs from Heza rubromarga Maldonado, 1976 in possessing a taller median process of the pygophore with sinuate lateral margins. The recurved apical fold also is narrower than the base in the new species. Despite being characterized as having only the first connexivum spined by Maldonado (1976), Kirby (1900) described Heza perarmata ( Kirby, 1900) as having “Abdominal segments with four small lateral spines on the basal half”; thus, I have concluded that Maldonado misidentified H. perarmata . The species identified as H. perarmata in Maldonado’s (1976, figs. 51–52) treatment still differs from H. graziae in the shape of the median process of the pygophore.

The general habitus of Heza ephippium ( Lichtenstein, 1796) and Heza similis Stål, 1859 looks similar, but the armature of the anterior pronotal lobe of those species is medium-sized and apically blunted and the short, robust, truncate median process of the pygophore differs markedly in H. similis .

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. New species of Heza, dorsal habitus: (1) Heza graziae sp. nov., male holotype; (2) Heza nebrias sp. nov., male holotype; (3) Heza phthinica sp. nov., male holotype; (C) Heza viridipes sp. nov., male holotype. Scale bar = 2 mm.

FIGURES 5–8. New species of Heza, lateral habitus: (5) Heza graziae sp. nov., male holotype; (6) Heza nebrias sp. nov., male holotype; (7) Heza phthinica sp. nov., male holotype; (8) Heza viridipes sp. nov., male holotype. All show left side, except H. phthinica reflected.

FIGURES 9–16. New species of Heza, pygophore: (9) Heza graziae sp. nov., caudal view; (10) Heza graziae sp. nov., lateral view; (11) Heza nebrias sp. nov., caudal view; (12) Heza nebrias sp. nov., lateral view; (13) Heza phthinica sp. nov., caudal view; (14) Heza phthinica sp. nov., lateral view; (15) Heza viridipes sp. nov., caudal view; (16) Heza viridipes sp. nov., lateral view.

FIGURES 17–20. New species of Heza, median process of pygophore (with line drawing): (17) Heza graziae sp. nov.; (18) Heza nebrias sp. nov.; (19) Heza phthinica sp. nov.; (20) Heza viridipes sp. nov.