Dushinckanus mesopotamicus, Dellapé & Melo, 2005

Dellapé, Pablo Matías & Melo, María Cecilia, 2005, Dushinckanus mesopotamicus, a new species of Myodochini from Argentina (Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea: Rhyparochromidae), Zootaxa 901 (1), pp. 1-6 : 2-4

Dushinckanus mesopotamicus n. sp. ( Fig. 1–6 )

Holotype: Brachypterous male, Colonia Hocker, Colón, Entre Ríos, ARGENTINA, III­ 2003, D. L. Carpintero col., sweeping net . Paratypes: 2 males, 2 females, same data as holotype .

The holotype and paratypes are deposited in the entomological collection of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales de La Plata ( Argentina) .

Description: Total length 5.84 mm. Myrmecomorphic aspect ( Fig. 1 ). Head: length

1.60; width 1.38; width of eye 0.23; interocular space 0.88; interocellar space 0.65; postoc­ ular distance 0.28. Head dark brown ( Fig. 2 ), with abundant intermixed short and long erect decumbent silver setae; antennal tubercles slightly convergent; jugum with a poorly developed ridgelike carina; buccular juncture V­shaped. Eyes longitudinally oval. Ocelli small, not tuberculated, located before an imaginary line passing across the posterior bor­ der of eyes. Postocular portion of head rounded, abruptly constricted into a short neck. Antennae long, slender, brown except segment I paler, with short semidecumbent setae more abundant distally. Antennal length 3.70, ratio of segment lengths ca. 1: 2.82: 1.07: 3.12. Rostrum dark brown with scattered short erect setae, reaching posterior border of procoxa, length 2.15, ratio of segment lengths ca. 1: 1.08: 0.91: 0.74. Pronotum dark brown, intermixed short decumbent silver setae and long erect silver setae. Anterior lobe globose, surface irregular with shagreened areas; posterior lobe pruinose ( Fig. 3 ). Lengths collar, anterior, and posterior pronotal lobe: 0.08, 1.00, 0.28, widths collar, anterior, and posterior pronotal lobe: 0.48, 1.05, 1.00. Scutellum pruinose, intermixed short decumbent and long erect silver setae; basal margins with semicircular shagreened areas ( Fig. 4 ), extending narrowly to apex. Hemelytra: length 1.80; short almost reaching 5 th tergum, pruinose ( Fig. 5 ), intermixed short decumbent and long silver setae, and with a row of long silver setae on lateral margins; clavus with three rows of punctures and additional scattered punctures on distal half between inner and median rows; dark brown, paler medially; corium dark brown with anterior 2/3 paler, lateral margins and a triangular subapical macula whitish; membrane reduced to a small “flap”, sclerotized and pruinose ( Fig. 5 ). Hind wings very reduced. Pleuron dark brown, punctate, with short decumbent silver setae; mesepimeron emergent; evaporative area extensive; metapleura slightly swollen. Legs brown to dark brown with reddish hues, except base of meso­ and metafemora whitish. Short decumbent setae on distal part of tibia and tarsi, and long erect setae on trochanters, femora, and tibiae. Profemur with more abundant and longer setae. Procoxa with a short spine, profemur with a double row of spines restricted to apical half. Abdomen dark brown, globose, with abundant short decumbent silver setae, and long semierect and erect silver setae. Abdominal length 2.33, width 1.55. Pygophore ( Fig. 6–7 ) rounded, anterior margin of dorsal aperture rounded, inner projections rectangular. Parameres as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 . Phallus ( Fig. 10 ): conjunctiva spined, with two large hornlike spines and two lobes spined apically adjacent to ejaculatory reservoir; vesica elongate.

Paratypes. Total length 5.28–6.00 (mean=5.72). Head: length 1.53–1.68 (mean=1.61); width 1.35–1.48 (mean=1.41); width of eye 0.23–0.28 (mean=0.25); interocular space 0.85–0.93 (mean=0.89); interocellar space 0.63–0.70 (mean=0.67); postocular distance 0.30–0.38 (mean=0.34); antennal length 3.38–3.60 (mean=3.48), ratio of segment lengths ca. 1: 2.74: 2.26: 3.08; rostrum length 2.30–2.35 (mean=2.33), ratio of segment lengths ca. 1: 1.10: 0.85: 0.69. Lengths collar, anterior and posterior pronotal lobe: 0.08, 0.95–1.00 (mean=0.98), 0.28–0.30 (mean=0.28), widths collar, anterior and posterior pronotal lobe: 0.43–0.50 (mean=0.47), 1.03–1.08 (mean=1.04), 0.93–1.05 (mean=1.00). Abdominal length 2.28–2.40 (mean=2.33), width 1.55–1.65 (mean=1.59).

Etymology: The specific name refers to the area were the specimens were collected: “ Mesopotamia ” in Argentina, which includes the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos.

Remarks: D. mesopotamicus keys to couplet 2 in Harrington`s (1987) key to the species of Dushinckanus . D. mesopotamicus has long erect setae on head, pronotum, scutellum, and hemelytra as does D. crassicornis , but it can be easily distinguished by the slender antenna, the unpedunculate ocelli, and the overall coloration pattern.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Dushinckanus mesopotamicus n. sp., male. Dorsal view.

FIGURES 2–5. Dushinckanus mesopotamicus n. sp. (2) Head, lateral view; (3) pronotum, dorsal view (apl: anterior pronotal lobe. ppl: posterior pronotal lobe); (4) scutellum, dorsal view; (5) hemelytra.

FIGURES 6–10. Dushinckanus mesopotamicus n. sp. (6, 7) Pygophore: (6) dorsal view, (7) lateral view; (8, 9) right paramere: (8) inner view, (9) outer view; (10) phallus, anterior view.