Pseudohestiasula borneana, Schwarz, Christian J. & Shcherbakov, Evgeny, 2017

Schwarz, Christian J. & Shcherbakov, Evgeny, 2017, Revision of Hestiasulini Giglio-Tos, 1915 stat. rev. (Insecta: Mantodea: Hymenopodidae) of Borneo, with description of new taxa and comments on the taxonomy of the tribe, Zootaxa 4291 (2), pp. 243-274 : 262-266

Pseudohestiasula borneana sp. nov.

( Figs 7 , 13 , 37–42 , 62 )

Material. Holotype (only specimen known): ♂, Malaysia, Borneo, Sarawak, Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary , Sarawak Forestry Department Research Station, at station lights, N 01˚38’43.58”–E 112˚16’41.98”, 15.– 27.VI.2008, O. Konopik leg. (genitalia preparation Schwarz No. 43) ( SMNK, ex. CS; pinned).

Description. Head ( Fig. 37 ) medium-sized, pentagonal in anterior view. Compound eyes roughly pentagonal, exophthalmic. Juxta-ocular bulges slightly protruding, separated from vertex by a very deep sulcus. Part of vertex between the parietal sulci strongly convex, about as high as the imaginary line connecting the dorsal margin of the eyes. Vertex with a short pyramidal process above the ocelli, and a pair of carinae connecting the base of the process with the antero-dorsal margin of the eyes. Ocelli elevated on sockets, forming an isosceles triangle. Frontal ocellus nearly round, lateral ocelli oval, slightly larger than the frontal ocellus. Scutellum transverse; its ventral margin slightly concave, lateral parts of dorsal margin concave, converging into a subacute apex. Lateral and dorsal margins of scutellum thickened, its surface depressed except two oblique paramedian carinae. Clypeus elevated medially, with a very thin carina in its ventral half.

Pronotum ( Fig. 38 ) ovoid in dorsal perspective, anterior and posterior margins rounded. Lateral margins of prozona toothed, metazona just posteriad supracoxal furrow with a triangular spine on each side. Prozona and metazona covered by setae, becoming more numerous laterally, lateral parts of metazona additionally with tubercles. Prozona with a deep sulcus following the curvature of the anterior margin, with a pair of sinuous paramedian ridges, and a small median ridge in its posterior half. Metazona 1.12 times as long as prozona, separated from the latter by a deep transverse supracoxal furrow, with a median ridge and a pair of large, rounded tubercles at its posterior margin. Lateral margins of metazona sharply bent dorsally in lateral perspective. Meso- and metathorax similar in size, covered by setae, metathorax ventrally with a cyclopean ear of the DK type.

Forelegs. Fore coxa ( Figs 13 , 39 ) dorsally with 8–9 small oblique spines and some smaller tubercles, ventrally with one row of 14–16 small tubercles. Apical lobes divergent. Fore femur wide, with dilated, lamellar, nearly smooth dorsal edge, ratio dilated/ventral part 0.90–0.97. Surface of dilated part irregularly undulated. Posterior surface of the non-dilated part of the fore femur with several tubercles roughly arranged in one row. Ventral border with 13–14 antero-ventral, 4 discoidal, and 4 postero-ventral spines. Genicular lobes with a spine each. Anteroventral row with alternating longer and shorter spines, the first always short, the last always long, of the formula iIiIiIiIiIiI(i)I. Discoidal spines arranged in a curved row, the proximal one aligned with antero-ventral row; size of the spine as follows: 3>2>4>1. Postero-ventral spines almost equal in length, the proximal two closer to each other than the remaining. Ventral edge of the femur between postero-ventral spines serrulate. Fore tibia dorsally straight; ventrally with 12–13 antero-ventral and 14–16 postero-ventral spines. Tibial spines regularly elongating towards apex. Antero-ventral spines widely spaced apart, proximal 5 postero-ventral spines short and decumbent, remaining spines spaced apart and not decumbent, but slightly shorter than corresponding antero-ventral spines. Last postero-ventral spine only slightly longer compared to the others.

Mid and hind legs cursorial, pilose, with a ventral ridge, meso-femora also with a small elongate proximal lobe. Femur with genicular spine at apex. Apex of tibia with a triangular elongation and two apical spines ventrad to elongation.

Wings well developed. Tegmen elongate, moderately wide, with rounded apex. Costal field about 1/3 of tegmen width at basal third of the tegmen’s length, strongly narrowing distally, with irregular cross-veins. Towards the apex, cross veins form only one row of cells between main veins. Stigma indistinct. Hind wings oxygonal, with rounded apex.

Abdomen long, with constant width and simple, transverse tergites and sternites. Supra-anal plate ( Fig. 40 ) trapezoidal, apex very weakly concave at middle. Cerci setose, with 10 recognizable cercomeres, first cercomere consisting of two fused cercomeres. Cercomeres rounded in cross-section, wider than long, except last segment, which is longer than wide and cone-shaped. Subgenital plate ( Fig. 41 ) anteriorly roughly triangular , with a rounded median lobe protruding anteriorly. Posterior margin semicircular. Styli completely absent. Dorsal corners slightly asymmetrical, weakly sclerotized. Posterior part of right half dorsally with two strongly sclerotized ridges.

Genitalia ( Fig. 42 ). Ventral phallomere roughly triangular . Distal process spoon-like, strongly sclerotized, with rounded apex. Dorsal lamina of the left phallomere sharply folded to the right along the middle, posteriorly fused with the base of apical process. Apical process short, digitiform, with rounded apex. Phalloid apophysis triangular , strongly sclerotized, serrulated, very slightly bifurcate subapically. Right phallomere triangular , with pilose apex, ventral process very large, pear-shaped, heavily serrate and strongly sclerotized.

Coloration. Main color after storage in alcohol brownish. Head yellowish-brown, eyes mottled with dark, scutellum with a wide dark dorso-ventral band, labrum and apex of mandibles dark. Palps pale, with dark annulations, last segment of labial palpus darkened ventrally. Antennae pale, third segment with dark annulation.

Pronotum mottled with dark, lighter along prozonal paramedian ridges and along posterior margin. Furcasternum shiny black anteriorly, pink posteriorly. Mesosternum shiny black, praecoxa pinkish-brown. Posterior side of fore coxae blackish in anterior half, pale brown in distal half. Anterior side of fore coxae shiny black in proximal half, distal half pink. Ventral apical lobe and anterior side of trochanter blackish. Fore femora brownish, mottled with dark. Anterior side of dilated part of fore femora brownish, mottled with dark, the mottling pattern forming three very indistinct spots along dorsal margin. Non-dilated part of fore femur black at base, claw groove dark brown, antero-ventral half of femur creamy white. Proximal discoidal spine pale with dark apex, remaining discoidal and long antero-ventral spines dark, short antero-ventral spines dark with slightly lighter base. Antero-ventral margin of fore femur with black markings at the base of all darkened spines. Postero-ventral spines with dark apex and a dark median stripe on the posterior side. Fore tibiae brownish posteriorly, reddish-brown to black anteriorly. Two blackish annulations are only faintly indicated on the posterior side, but very prominent on the anterior side, where they merge to form a blackish lateral stripe. Fore tarsus blackish ventrally, metatarsus apically darkened.

Meso- and meta-coxae, -femora and -tibiae spotted with black and with three interrupted black annulations, respectively, one at base, one at middle, and a very indistinct one subapically. Meso and hind tarsomeres spotted with dark at apex, metatarsus additionally with an interrupted annulation at middle.

Wings hyaline, spotted with dark, and with dark apex. On the tegmina the dark maculations form two indistinct smoky bands, one at middle, the second subapically. Alae hyaline with spotted anterior margin and dark apex. Subgenital plate with a brownish spot in anterior half.

Measurements in mm. Body length 17.8; head width 3.5; head length 2.8; antennae length 13.2; pronotum length 3.6; pronotum width 3.1; prozona 1.7; metazona 1.9; fore coxa length 5.1–5.2; fore femur length 6.5–6.6; fore femur width 2.7–2.8; width of dilated part 1.3; fore tibia length 4.7–4.8; meso femur length 4.3–4.4; meso tibia length 4.0; hind femur length 4.8–4.9; hind tibia length 5.0–5.1; tegmen length 19.2; tegmen width 4.8; costal field width 1.1.

Female not known.

Remarks. This is the specimen referred to by Schwarz & Konopik (2014, p. 140). P. borneana is easily distinguished from the other Bornean taxa treated here by its much narrower fore femora and its distinctively dichromatic coxae. This species bears an interesting, convergently evolved resemblance to the recently described neotropical Ovalimantis maculata Roy, 2015 .

Etymology. Named after the type location.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 8. Dorsal habitus of Hestiasulini. 1. Male of Hestiasula brunneriana (Sri Lanka) (CS). 2. Female of H. brunneriana (Sri Lanka) (CS). 3. Male of Astyliasula phyllopus from Sabah (CS). 4. Female of A. phyllopus from Brunei (CS). 5. Male of A. sarawaca from Brunei (SMNK). 6. Female of A. sarawaca from Kalimantan (RMNH). 7. Pseudohestiasula borneana, holotype (SMNK). 8. Male of Catestiasula moultoni from Sarawak (CS) (scale bar: 10 mm).

FIGURES 9 – 20. Fore legs of Hestiasulini treated in this paper, anterior view. 9. A. phyllopus, male from the Malay Peninsula (ES). 10. A. phyllopus, male from Brunei, mirrored (CS). 11. A. phyllopus, female from Brunei (CS). 12. A. sarawaca, male from Brunei (CS). 13. P. borneana, holotype (SMNK). 14. H. brunneriana, male from Sri Lanka (CS). 15. H. brunneriana, female from Sri Lanka (CS). 16. A. sarawaca, female from Kalimantan; Photo C. J. Schwarz © RMNH (RMNH). 17. C. moultoni, male from Sarawak (CS). 18. C. moultoni, female from Brunei, mirrored (CS). 19. C. nitida, male from Myanmar (SMNK). 20. C. nitida, male from Sumatra (SMNK) (not to scale).

FIGURES 37 – 39. P. borneana. 37. Head in anterior view. 38. Pronotum. 39. Left fore leg in anterior view (scale bar: 1 mm).

FIGURES 40 – 42. Genitalia of P. borneana. 40. Supra-anal plate and cerci (pilosity omitted). 41. Subgenital plate in dorsal view. 42. Genitalia in ventral view. Arrow indicates fold in dorsal lamina (scale bar: 1 mm).

FIGURES 60 – 62. Distribution maps of Bornean Hestiasulini. 60. C. moultoni (circles) and C. nitida (squares); open square indicates unprecise locality information. 61. A. phyllopus. 62. A. sarawaca (circles) and P. borneana (square); open circle indicates unprecise locality information.