Venustsalda locella

Zhang, Weiting, Song, Jingjing, Yao, Yunzhi & Ren, Dong, 2012, A new fossil Saldidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Leptopodomorpha) from the Early Cretaceous in China, Zootaxa 3273, pp. 63-68 : 67

Venustsalda locella gen. et sp. nov.

(Fig.1, Plate 1)

Description. Body small, oval, 2.0 times as long as wide. Head short and broad, 1.7 times as wide as long, length of head almost subequal to length of pronotum on midline. Antennae long, slender, four-segmented, ratio of antennal segments I:II:III:IV=1:2.8:1.9:1.8. Pronotum subtrapezoid, 3.1 times as wide as long, moderately narrowed towards the front, anterior margin narrower than head, lateral margins nearly straight, posterior margin concave, posterior angles feebly rounded. Scutellum longer than pronotum on midline, triangle, and width about 1.4 times of length. Fore femora stout, subequal to length of corresponding tibiae, tibiae 1.9 times as long as tarsi; mid tibiae 2.0 times as long as tarsi; hind legs longest, tibiae about 1.7 times as long as femora, and 2.3 times as long as tarsi, tibiae with a row of stout setae on lateral margin, tarsi three-segmented, tarsomere I shortest, tarsomere II 1.3 times as long as tarsomere III; all tarsi with two claws. Hemelytra 0.8 times as long as body, covering apex of abdomen, clavus about half length of fore wing, claval commissure shorter than scutellum length at median line, corium with embolium, embolium similar in color to corium; outer edge of corium with a white spot at base of hemelytra; hypocostal ridge and associated secondary hypocostal ridge present; corial vein reaching to outermost cell; membrane with six cells, second cell smallest, less than half length of third cell, outermost cell reduced, about half length of adjacent cell.

Measurements. Body length 4.81, width 2.39. Head length 0.66, width 1.10mm. Antenna length I–IV: 0.38, 1.07, 0.75, 0.72. Rostrum length 2.92. Scutellum length 0.85, width 1.23. Length of fore leg: femur 1.19, tibia 1.23, tarsus 0.63; length of middle leg: tibia 1.51, tarsus 0.75; length of hind leg: femur 1.63, tibia 2.75, tarsomere I–III: 0.08, 0.62, 0.46. Length of hemelytra 4.09, width 1.29.

Type material. Holotype, 3, CNU-HET-LB2010335.

Type locality and horizon. Huangbanjigou Village, Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China, Yixian Formation. Early Cretaceous.

Etymology. The species name is derived from Latin word “ locella , ” which indicated the species with small cells. Gender feminine.