Paracremastaptera Bai, Heiss & Cai, 2020

Bai, Xiaoshuan, Heiss, Ernst & Cai, Wanzhi, 2020, Paracremastaptera, a new apterous genus of Mezirinae from China (Hemiptera Aradidae), Zootaxa 4894 (3), pp. 445-450 : 446

Paracremastaptera Bai, Heiss & Cai , gen. nov.

Type species: Paracremastaptera ximaensis Bai, Heiss & Cai , sp.nov.

Diagnosis. Apterous, of medium size (4.75mm), habitus ovate; coloration blackish brown, surface rough, deeply punctured and glabrous; the body surface with only scattered erect hairs on tubercles, legs and antennal segment I with erect, apically curved hairs; head wider than long, eyes stalked, clypeus short, narrow, apically rounded, genae plate-like, not reaching the apex of clypeus with a pair of knob-like tubercles basally; thoracic segments fused to mtg I+II and tergal plate, without discernible fusion line, a median longitudinal strongly elevated ridge with a pair of large tubercles on each segment along meso-, metanotum and mtg I+II, median pentagonal elevation highest on mtg IV, then sloping posteriorly flanked by a pair of transverse short ridges on mtg III; metasternum with a pair of pits in front of hind coxae; mst VII of male glabrous and smooth medially with a round tubercle at middle; spiracles II absent, III–IV ventral, V–VII sublateral and visible from above, spiracle VIII terminal on paratergites VIII.

Paracremastaptera gen. nov. resembles Cremastaptera Usinger & Matsuda, 1959 from Java and Sumatra, sharing basic habitus and the conspicuous tubercle on mst VII of male, it is distinguished from the latter genus by a set of morphological features: eyes stalked, directed anterolaterally; the median thoracic longitudinal strongly elevated ridge with a pair of large tubercles on each segment along meso-, metanotum and mtg I+II (vs. eyes not stalked, directed laterally; thorax without a median longitudinal strongly elevated ridge along meso-, metanotum and mtg I+II in Cremastaptera ).

Description. Head. Wider across eyes than long; clypeus short, longitudinally elevated; genae plate-like, not reaching the apex of clypeus; antenniferous lobes cup-like, roundly narrowed apically; eyes large, semiglobose, stalked; postocular borders slightly convex, converging posteriorly to constricted neck, with sparse erect hairs; antennae short, about 1.5 times as long as width of head, first segment longest and thickest, curved and thinner at base, barrel-shaped apically, second shortest, and third longer than fourth, second and third cylindrical, fourth fusiform; rostrum arising from a slit-like atrium, rostral groove wide and deep with carinate lateral borders, open posteriorly.

Thorax and mtg I+II. Pronotum attenuated anteriorly; anterolateral borders oblique; anterolateral angles triangular, not protruding; collar ill-defined, anterior margin concave; disc laterally with three prominent tubercles on either side. Mesonotum with a pair of large tubercles on either side; meso-, metanotum and mtg I+II fused, with a median longitudinal strongly elevated ridge with a pair of large tubercles on each segment, flanked by deeply punctured sclerites laterally.

Abdomen. Fused mtg III to VI forming the tergal plate, anteriorly fused to mtg I+II, median pentagonal elevation highest on mtg IV, then sloping posteriorly flanked by a pair of transverse short ridges on mtg III, lateral apodemal punctures deep; deltg II triangular, reaching to mesonotum anteriorly, anterolaterally delimited by large dorsolaterally produced metathoracic scent gland evaporatoria which are visible from above; mtg VII strongly elevated posteriorly with a transverse ridge; spiracles II absent, III–IV ventral, V–VII sublateral and visible from above, spiracle VIII terminal on paratergites VIII, these short and truncate.

Venter. Pro-, meso- and metasternum flattened medially, smooth and glabrous at middle, lateral parts with sparse pilosity; mst VII of male glabrous and smooth medially with a prominent round tubercle at middle.

Etymology: The generic name is composed of “para-” (Greek) close to and Cremastaptera .

Distribution: China (Yunnan).