Neochelonoderus basilewskyi ( Hoberlandt, 1956 )

Heiss, Ernst & Grebennikov, Vasily, 2015, Review and three new species of the flat bug genus Neochelonoderus Hoberlandt, 1967 from East Africa (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Aradidae), Zootaxa 3947 (4), pp. 581-589 : 585-586

Neochelonoderus basilewskyi ( Hoberlandt, 1956)

( Figs. 1 , 3 )

Discussion. A female labelled: “ Zaire / Prov. Kivu, Irangi / II 1986 E. Heiss (CEHI) shares all essential characters of basilewskyi (structure of head with spatuliform genae, ratio length of antennae / width of head, and elevations of pro- and mesonotum); we therefore assign it to this species. The distance between the localities of our specimen and the type of N. basilewskyi (“Usumbura at 800m in Burundi and “Irangi at 820m in North Kivu Province, DRC) is about 240 km ( Fig. 9 ). The localities are separated by the Rift Valley depression along Tanganyika and Kivu Lakes, which are connected by the Rusizi River. Although it is questionable whether an apterous species can be found on both sides of the Rift Valley depression, we accept this for now as a temporary hypothesis pending further investigation.

Measurements. HOLOTYPE, male (MRAC), not examined, description from Hoberlandt (1956): Body length 7.6; head length / width 1.71/1.79; length of antennae 2.10, length of antennomeres I/II/III/IV = 0.61/0.38/ 0.72/0.49; ratio length of antennae / width of head 1.23; pronotum l/ w 0.84 /2.36; width of abdomen 3.15.

Female from Irangi: Length 8.0; head l/ w 1.8 /1.75; length of antennae 2.12, antennomeres I/II/III/IV = 0.65/ 0.3/0.72/0.45; ratio length of antennae / width of head 1.21; pronotum l/ w 0.9 /2.25; width of abdomen across tergite III 3.85, IV 3.95.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Distribution map of Neochelonoderus spp. in East Africa constructed with SimpleMappr online tool (Shorthouse 2014) and habitus of N. basilewskyi, the type species, superimposed.

FIGURES 1 – 2. Neochelonoderus. 1. N. basilewskyi, holotype male (from Hoberlandt 1956); 2. N. straeleni, holotype female (from Hoberlandt 1967).

FIGURES 3 – 4. Neochelonoderus. 3. N. cf basilewskyi, female from Irangi, DRC; 4. N. talaus n. sp., holotype male.