Waucoris poppiusi Chérot & Malipatil

Chérot, F. & Malipatil, M. B., 2016, A review of Adelphocoris - Creontiades - Megacoelum complex (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae: Mirini), with descriptions of two new genera and four new species, Zootaxa 4126 (2), pp. 151-206 : 191-192

20.1. Waucoris poppiusi Chérot & Malipatil (nomen novum and n. comb.)

( Figure 71 )

Megacoelum papuanum Poppius, 1915a: 28 –29 (as new species); Carvalho 1959: 161 (catalog); Schuh 1995: 834 (catalog), 2002–2013 (online catalog).

Material examined. Type specimen: Holotype Ƌ by monotypy of M. papuanum : PAPUA NEW GUINEA: CENTRAL PROVINCE: Ighibirei, vii–viii.1890, Loria leg., type 10068 ( MZHF) [The specimen bears the Poppius’ original handwritten identification label with the mention “ Megacoelum papuanum n. sp. ”].

Additional material. 1Ƌ: INDONESIA: WEST PAPUA PROVINCE ( PAPUA BARAT = IRAN JAYA): Swart Valley, West side, 19.xi.1958, Gressitt J. L. leg., idt. Carvalho J. C. M., compared with the type ( MNRJ).

Diagnosis. Head yellowish brown with red spots. Frons striate. Vertex emarginate, with a narrow black sulcus medially. Eyes wide, red. First antennal segment yellow tinged with red apically, second antennal segment yellow brown to orange, apically red brown, third antennal segment yellow, fourth antennal segment yellowish brown. Pronotal collar yellow. Pronotal callosities marked, yellow to orange, with a yellow to orange convexity in front between callosities and collar. Pronotal disk yellowish, the punctation sparse, narrow and shallow. Legs yellowish tinged with red, tibial spines yellow. Mesoscutum orange tinged with red. Scutellum shagreened, yellow to orange, its apex yellow. Clavus and corium yellow, their punctation double: one shallow but relatively wide, the other dense, shallow and narrow. Hemelytral pilosity recumbent, white. Cuneus elongate, reddish. Membrane brown, veins reddish to yellow. Abdomen reddish.

Discussion. The type of “ M. papuanum ” conforms to our diagnosis of Waucoris on the basis of its external anatomy; hence we suggest the new combination in the genus Waucoris Carvalho, 1987 . Poppius (1915a: 28–29) described this species under the binominal Megacoelum papuanum and, in the same paper (op. cit.: 33–34), another species presently classified in the genus Waucoris , under the binominal Adelphocoris papuanus . The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999) does not consider a page priority. Consequently, acting as first revisers, we provide a nomen novum— Waucoris poppiusi Chérot & Malipatil—for Megacoelum papuanum Poppius, 1915 to avoid a secondary homonymy with Waucoris papuanus (Poppius, 1915) .

Figures

FIGURES 68 – 73. Habitus of ACMc members: 68. Tricholygus hirsutus Poppius, 1910 (original combination reinstated), male non-type specimen studied by Poppius from Tanzania (MZHF). 69. Waucoris keyensis (Poppius, 1915), female holotype from Papua New Guinea (MZHF). 70. Waucoris papuanus (Poppius, 1915), female holotype from Papua New Guinea (MZHF). 71. Waucoris poppiusi Chérot & Malipatil (nomen novum and n. comb.), male holotype from Papua New Guinea (MZHF), 72. Waucoris solomonensis n. sp., female paratype from Solomon Islands. 73. Waucoris tricolor n. sp., female holotype from Papua New Guinea (NHM). Scales = 1 mm.