Macrosiphoniella kermanensis Mehrparvar & Rezwani

Mehrparvar, Mohsen & Rezwani, Ali, 2007, A new species of Macrosiphoniella and redescription of Coloradoa heinzei (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae) as a new record in Iran, Zootaxa 1634, pp. 61-68 : 62-65

Macrosiphoniella kermanensis Mehrparvar & Rezwani , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–13 & 21 , Table 1 )

Diagnosis. Color in living specimens grayish green, covered with a thin layer of wax powder. Thorax and abdomen without dark sclerotization. The percentage of reticulation on apical part of SIPH (24–30%) and ratio between PT and ANTVIb (1.74–2.45) are the most important distinguishing characteristics of M. kermanensis sp. nov.. Other morphological characteristics which separate this species from the other species of Macrosiphoniella are as follows: Body hairs placed on small distinct pale scleroites. PT 0.58–0.82 times as long as ANTIII; ANTIII with 2–6 secondary rhinaria; URS 1.06–1.36 times longer than 2HT; tibia brown with dark apex; SIPH dark as cauda; SIPH slender, 1.02–1.31 times longer than cauda. Cauda with 14–20 hairs.

Description. Apterous viviparous females (based on 46 examined specimens): Color in living specimens: Body grayish green covered with a thin layer of wax powder. Antenna, apical part of femora, tibia, siphunculi and cauda dark. Color in macerated specimens ( Fig. 21 ): head pale brown. ANTI and ANTII brown to dark brown, darker than head; ANTIII pale brown with dark brown apex; ANTIV, ANTV and ANTVI brown. URS dark brown. Thorax and abdominal segments pale without pigmentation. SIPH dark brown with paler base. Cauda dark brown as SIPH. Femora pale with a dark brown spot near apex; tibia brown with darker apex; and tarsi dark brown.

Morphological characters: Body spindle-shaped, 2.1–2.6 mm long; head smooth; antennal tubercles well developed with diverging inner sides; median tubercle absent, frons U-shaped; antenna 1.0–1.19 times longer than body length; antennal hairs slightly capitate. ANTIII with 19–24 hairs, the longest one as long as or shorter than basal width of ANTIII, bearing 2–6 secondary rhinaria in basal half; primary rhinarium ciliate; PT 1.74–2.45 times longer than ANTVIb and 0.58–0.82 times as long as ANTIII; ANTIV 0.75–0.95 times as long as ANTIII; ANTVIb 1.11–1.41 times longer than URS; URS pointed, 1.06–1.36 times longer than 2HT, bearing 6 long and fine accessory hairs which longer than the subapical primary hairs; hind tibia without short thick peg-like hairs; first tarsal segment with 3–3–3 hairs. Dorsum membranous; dorsal hairs placed on small distinctly visible pale scleroites; marginal and antesiphuncular sclerites not visible; tergite VIII with 8–10 hairs; SIPH thin, cylindrical, with 24–30% reticulation on apex, 1.02–1.31 times longer than cauda and 0.17– 0.22 times as long as body length. Flange small. Cauda elongate, finger-shaped, with a weak constriction on the base, 2.10–2.93 times longer than its basal width and bearing 14–20 long hairs.

Alate viviparous females (based on 4 examined specimens): Color in living specimens: similar in appearance to apterous specimens, antenna, thorax, apical part of femora, tibia, siphunculi and cauda dark. Color in macerated specimens: ANTIII brown with pale base; thorax brown. Abdominal segments pale without pigmentation. Wings pale with pale brown veins. Cauda brown, paler than SIPH. Two third of apical part of femora dark brown and one third of basal part pale; tibia dark brown. Otherwise like apterous viviparous females.

Morphological characters: Body spindle-shaped, 2.3–2.5 mm long; antenna 1.12–1.21 times longer than body length; ANTIII with 18–25 hairs, longest one 0.75–1.33 times as long as basal diameter of ANTIII, bearing 5–8 secondary rhinaria distributed in two third of basal part; PT 2.09–2.65 times longer than ANTVIb and 0.67–0.79 times as long as ANTIII; ANTIV 0.86–0.89 times as long as ANTIII; ANTVIb 1.05–1.35 times longer than URS; URS 1.13–1.27 times longer than 2HT; SIPH with 27–29% reticulation on apex, 1.20–1.44 times longer than cauda and 0.19–0.21 times as long as body length. Cauda elongate, finger-shaped, bearing 16–19 long hairs, 2.0–2.4 times longer than its basal width. Otherwise like apterous viviparous females. Taxonomic notes. Macrosiphoniella kermanensis sp. nov. resembles in some characters M. vallesiacae Jorg & Lampel , M. seriphidii Kadyrbekov and M. terraealbae Kadyrbekov which occur in Palaearctic regions, but is distinguishable from these by its short PT and lesser extent of reticulation of SIPH. The new species has a long and slender cauda, which is at least 2.10 times as long as its basal width, without constriction in medial part, but M. vallesiacae has a cauda with a distinct constriction and SIPH with reticulation over 40% in apical part.

M. kermanensis sp. nov., M. seriphidii and M. terraealbae have SIPH with paler base. But in M. kermanensis sp. nov. PT is 1.74–2.45 times longer than ANTVIb and extent of reticulation of SIPH is 24–30% while in M. seriphidii and M. terraealbae PT is 2.6 – 3.2 and 2.7 – 3.1 times longer than ANTVIb respectively ( Kadyrbekov 2000). Also extent of reticulation of SIPH in M. kermanensis sp. nov. is less than M. seriphidii (0.45 – 0.55%) and M. terraealbae (0.48 – 0.56%) ( Kadyrbekov 2000). Furthermore color of hind tibia in M. kermanensis sp. nov. is brown with darker apex while in other two species it is mostly pale.

Type material. Holotype: apterous viviparous female, (ICSTKD21-2), Iran: Kerman province, Pamazar, N29° 53´05.2´´ E56° 17´26.8´´, Altitude: 2366 m, 21 April 2006, on Artemisia sieberi, M. Mehrparvar. Insect Collection of International Center for Science, High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Paratypes: 1 apterous viviparous female with the same data as the holotype; 25 apterous viviparous females and 4 alate viviparous females, (ICSTKD20), Iran: Kerman province, Ghaderabad, N29° 56´50.8´´ E56° 23´06.5´´, Altitude: 2209 m, 21 April 2006, on Artemisia sieberi, M. Mehrparvar ; 10 apterous viviparous females, (ICSTKD166), Iran: Kerman province, Chatrud, N30° 37´54.1´´ E56° 57´41.6´´, Altitude: 2023 m, 13 April 2007, on Artemisia sieberi, M. Mehrparvar ; 3 apterous viviparous females, (ICSTKD171), Iran: Kerman province, Serashk, N30° 51´04.7´´ E57° 02´16.4´´, Altitude: 1786 m, 13 April 2007, on Artemisia sieberi, M. Mehrparvar ; 6 apterous viviparous females, (ICSTKD174), Iran: Kerman province, Jorjafak, N30° 44´12.2´´ E56° 23´21.3´´, Altitude: 1732 m, 14 April 2007, on Artemisia sieberi, M. Mehrparvar ; Insect Collection of International Center for Science, High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

Etymology. The specific name is originated from the name of the place of collecting the specimens. Host plant and biology. This aphid lives in sparse colonies on shoots of Artemisia sieberi (Asteraceae) , which is distributed in the W and C Asia and Europe ( Mozaffarian 1998). It should be noted that previously, A. sieberi was known as synonym of A. herba-alba , but now DNA evidence has shown that they are distinct species ( Torrell et al. 1999). The sexual forms are not known yet.

Distribution. This species is known from some localities (Pamazar, Ghaderabad, Chatrud, Serashk and Jorjafak) in the northern part of Kerman province, south-east of Iran, but its distribution could coincide with that of its host plant, which is distributed through Iran.

Figures

FIGURE 21. Photograph of Apterous viviparous female of Macrosiphoniella kermanensis sp. nov. FIGURE 22. Photograph of Apterous viviparous female of Coloradoa heinzei.

FIGURES 1 – 13. Macrosiphoniella kermanensis sp. nov., 1 – 8 & 12, Apterous viviparous female: 1, dorsal and ventral surface of head; 2, ultimate rostral segment (URS); 3, hind tarsi; 4, cauda; 5, antennal segment III (ANTIII); 6, antennal segment IV (ANTIV); 7, antennal segment V (ANTV); 8, antennal segment VI (ANTVI); 12, siphunculus (SIPH). 9 – 11 & 13, Alate viviparous female: 9, antennal segment III (ANTIII); 10, antennal segment IV (ANTIV); 11, antennal segment V (ANTV); 13, siphunculus (SIPH). Scale bars, 0.1 mm for Figs. 2 & 3 and 0.3 mm for Figs. 1 & 4 – 13. (Drawn by senior author).

Tables

TABLE 1. Biometric data of Macrosiphoniella kermanensis sp. nov.

Character	Apterous vivipara (n=46)	Alate vivipara (n=4)
Length (mm)
Body Antenna ANTIII ANTIV ANTV ANTVIb PT URS 2HT SIPH Cauda No. of hairs	2.1–2.6 2.2–2.8 0.54–0.70 0.48–0.62 0.39–0.54 0.20–0.25 0.40–0.52 0.17–0.19 0.14–0.17 0.37–0.53 0.36–0.45	2.3–2.5 2.7–2.9 0.67–0.72 0.58–0.64 0.49–0.58 0.20–0.23 0.48–0.53 0.17–0.19 0.15–0.16 0.48–0.49 0.34–0.40
ANTI ANTII	5–7 4–5	5–6 4
ANTIII ANTIV	19–24 9–16	18–25 15–16
ANTV ANTVIb	9–14 3–5	10–14 4–6
PT	5–8	5–6
URS	6	6
Cauda Tergite VIII	14–20 8–10	16–19 8–10
No. of rhinaria
ANTIII	2–6	5–8
ANTIV ANTV	0 0	0 0