Neomacrocoris parviceps parviceps (Montandon, 1900)

Mbogho, Aaron Y. & Sites, Robert W., 2013, Naucoridae Leach, 1815 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) of Tanzania, African Invertebrates 54 (2), pp. 513-513 : 535-536

Neomacrocoris parviceps parviceps (Montandon, 1900)

Figs 13 , 23 , 30

Macrocoris parviceps Montandon, 1900: 422 .

Neomacrocoris parviceps: Montandon 1913 a: 332 .

Diagnosis: Live specimens in Tanzania have a brownish red abdominal sternum which becomes more evident with immersion in ethanol. Thick setae on the hemelytra that are characteristic of N. handlirschi are restricted to the embolium and adjacent areas of the corium in N. parviceps . The longitudinal flange and shape of the apex of the phallosoma are diagnostic ( Fig. 13 ) and the pseudostrigil has a distinct impression in the lateral ¼. The lateral margin of the female subgenital plate is sinuate and continuous without projections.

Lectotype (examined): [ TANZANIA]: ‘ Dar-es-Salaam [6°53'S 39°16'E], R.V.Benningsen / Macrocoris parviceps Mtd. type. 1900.det. Montand./ Neomacrocoris parviceps Mtd. det. Montandon 1913. / ‘ Macrocoris parviceps’ Montd / Hung. Nat. Hist. Mus. Budapest coll. Hemiptera’ (HNHM; ♀).

Material examined: TANZANIA: Kagera Region: approx. 5 km E of Bhiaramulo, 2°38.159'S 31°20.789'E, 1427m, 26.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, roadside pool with grasses, algae, lily pads, L-1154 ( UMC; 2♂) ; Karenge , 3°07.936'S 31°04.530'E, 1234 m, 27.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, shallow pools with heavy vegetation and cattle use, L-1157 ( UMC; 34♂, 13♀) . Kigoma Region: 15 km N of Kigoma, Mungonya River , 4°50.337'S 29°40.001'E, 806 m, 28.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, muddy bank with sparse marginal vegetation, L-1169 ( UMC; 1♂) ; Gombe National Park, Mitumba stream, 4°38.405'S 29°37.823'E, 776 m, 29.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, heavily vegetated narrow forest stream, L-1174 ( UMC; 1♂) ; Kazuramimba , 5°00.155'S 30°00.971'E, 1082 m, 30.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, muddy pools of small stream with marginal vegetation, L-1182 ( UMC; 1♂) . Mbeya Region: Tanganyika, Maji Moto , 8°38'S 33°40'E, 3700 ft, 9.viii.1959, Cambridge E. African Exped., B.M. 1960-50 ( BMNH; 1♂) . Morogoro Region: Mikumi National Park , 7°21.608'S 37°03.337'E, 529 m, 7.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, heavily vegetated seasonal pond, L-1219 ( UMC; 1♀) ; Kilombero District, Mwaya River at Mang’ula , 7°50.945'S 36°53.201'E, 313 m, 7.viii.2013, R.W. Sites, A. Mbogho & G. Rwegasira, muddy/ vegetated margins of sand/gravel stream, L-1623 ( UMC; 40♂, 30♀) ; Kisawasawa River at Kisawasawa , 7°50.596'S 36°52.311'E, 326 m, 8.viii.2013, R.W. Sites, A. Mbogho & G. Rwegasira, vegetated margins of sandy stream, L-1625 ( UMC; 14♂, 15♀) ; Sonjo River at Sonjo , 7°48.490'S 36°53.785'E, 320 m, 8.viii.2013, R.W. Sites, A. Mbogho & G. Rwegasira, vegetated margins of rocky stream, L-1626 ( UMC; 20♂, 14♀) ; Sumbugulu River at Kidatu , 7°43.371'S 36°56.013'E, 306 m, 8.viii.2013, R.W. Sites, A. Mbogho & G. Rwegasira, veg margins of rocky stream, L-1627 ( UMC, 7♂, 9♀) ; Kiberege River at Kiberege , 7°56.871'S 36°51.378'E, 299 m, 8.viii.2013, R.W. Sites, A. Mbogho & G. Rwegasira, vegetated margins of sandy stream, L-1628 ( UMC, 4♂, 4♀) ; Ilahi River at Iraguwa , 8°30.336'S 36°31.660'E, 313 m, 9.viii.2013, R.W. Sites & G. Rwegasira, muddy stream with vegetated margins, L-1633 ( UMC, 2♀) . Rukwa Region: ca 54km E of Karema , 6°37.275'S 30°39.593'E, 1086 m, 31.vii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, shaded stream, negligible flow, L-1193 ( UMC; 2♂, 1♀) ; Mpanda, Kasimba River , 6°21.602'S 31°04.382'E, 1064 m, 1.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, grasses hanging into river, L-1195 ( UMC; 1♂) ; Msanzi River at Msanzi , 8°11.411'S 31°31.295'E, 1778 m, 2.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, rocks, mud, gravel, sand, marginal grasses, L-1202 ( UMC; 1♂) ; Tanganyika, Rukwa Valley , 9.xi.1963, E.S. Brown, 536, B.M. 1966- 102 ( BMNH; 3♂, 2♀) . Ruvuma Region: 20 km N of Songea, Lumecha River at Samangula , 10°30.149'S 35°40.268'E, 994 m, 5.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, overhanging grasses, L-1211 ( UMC; 2♂, 5♀) . Tanga Region: river from Soni to Mombo , 2 km E of Vuga Junction, 4°52.040'S 38°20.906'E, 460 m, 14.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, grassy overhangs in rocky stream, L-1253 ( UMC; 10♂, 11♀) ; Kwamaluli River at Mbagai , 4°58.561'S 38°23.154'E, 465 m, 14.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, shaded narrow stream with overhanging veg and undercuts, L-1256 ( UMC; 6♂, 6♀) ; Kihuuwi River at Timba , 5°07.683'S 38°41.418'E, 174 m, 15.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, marginal grasses with silty/rocky bottom, L-1260 ( UMC; 3♂, 3♀) ; Jembe stream at Muheza , 5°10.260'S 38°47.106'E, 182 m, 15.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, grassy overhangs in urban stream, L-1261 ( UMC; 1♀) . Kaskazini Region: Kitope River at Zingwezingwe Bridge , 6°00.963'S 39°14.734'E, 39 m, 17.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, discontinuous pools with aquatic vegetation and grasses, L-1265 ( UMC; 4♂, 2♀, 3 nymphs) ; Kitope River at Mkaratini Bridge , 6°00.714'S 39°14.841'E, 30 m, 17.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, discontinuous pools with aquatic veg and grasses, L-1266 ( UMC; 4♂, 4♀) . Kusini Region: Mwera River at Mwera , 6°08.811'S 39°16.264'E, 23 m, 17.viii.2010, R.W. Sites & A. Mbogho, flooded vegetated field margin, L-1267 ( UMC; 2♂, 3♀) .

Extralimital material examined: CONGO: Poisson to Drake Coll 1979 ( USNM; 3♂, 2♀) . [ DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO]: Katanda. r. Nyamurag. , 30 June 1934, G.F. de Witte, Parc. Nat.Albert, 851, Coll. Mus. Tervuren, R. Poisson det. 1945 ( RMCA; 1♂) ; Camp Ruindi (1000), 20-28 XI 1934, G.F. de Witte, Parc. Nat. Albert, 798, Coll. Mus. Tervuren, R. Poisson det. 1945 ( RMCA; 1♂) ; same data but with 828 replacing 798 ( RMCA; 1♀) ; Camp Ruindi , 1000, 20/ 28-XI-1934, G.F. de Witte, Parc. Nat.Albert, 799 / R. Poisson det. 1945, Neomacrocoris parviceps Montandon ( NMWC; 1♂) . GHANA: Greater Accra Region, Dangme West District, Dodowa Subdistrict, Apese Abominya , Lat : 5.95861111000, Lon : -0.01163889000, 4 January 2004, R. Merritt & R. Kimbirauskas ( UMC; 1♂) . SOUTH AFRICA: B.M. 1926-40, Estcourt, Aug. ( BMNH; 1♂) ; KZ-Natal., Southern Drakensburg, Herbst cattle farm, 2000 m, Sourveld grassland & dam, 8 November 2005, P.E. Reavell / clay dam ( PRC; 1♂ 1♀) . UGANDA: Namanve Swamp , Kampala, 1.xi.1932, G.L.R. Hancock, B.M. 1933-585, NA 10, 1-XI-32, Pres. By Imp. Inst. Ent. B.M. 1933-585 ( BMNH; 1♂) ; Namanve , 7 VIII 1932, G.L.R. Hancock, No 29, Pres. By Imp. Inst. Ent. B.M. 1933-585 ( BMNH; 1♂) ; Namanve , 6 VII 1932, G.L.R. Hancock, No 17, Pres.By Imp. Inst. Ent. B.M. 1935-32 ( BMNH, 1♂) . UPPER VOLTA [ BURKINA FASO]: Bobo Dioulasso ( UMC; 1♂) .

Distribution: The type locality is Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and the lectotype is housed in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest. This species is known from Sudan (Linnavuori 1981) west to Ivory Coast and south to South Africa ( Sites & Mbogho 2012) and was considered to be widespread in East Africa (Poisson 1948 b). In Tanzania, it is widespread and occurs from Zanzibar west to streams flowing into Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma and Rukwa Regions, and from near Lake Victoria south to Ruvuma Region.

Discussion: Neomacrocoris parviceps and N. handlirschi are the most widely distributed species of the genus in Africa. N. parviceps is the most common species of Neomacrocoris in Tanzania and is one of the most easily recognized in the field because of its reddish-orange colored abdominal sterna. Because it occurs so widely throughout sub-Saharan Africa, it is subject to substantial variation in size and pigmentation over its range. In Tanzania, we collected it in vegetated margins of streams and pools where water flow was minimal. It appears to do well in areas that are disturbed or frequented by cattle. We collected it together with N. bondelaufa and N. handlirschi separately at various locations and all three together at Msanzi River at Msanzi, and with Macrocoris flavicollis at seven sites including in Zanzibar. It was collected also at the type locality of N. vuga .

Figures

Figs 9–14. Male genitalia: (9) Macrocoris flavicollis, (10) Naucoris obscuratus, (11) Neomacrocoris karimii, (12) Neomacrocoris bondelaufa, (13) Neomacrocoris parviceps, (14) Neomacrocoris vuga. Abbreviations: LP – left paramere, RP – right paramere, ph – phallosoma, ve – vesica. (Figs 11–14 are reproduced from Sites & Mbogho (2012), with permission by Magnolia Press.)

Figs 23–29. (23) Neomacrocoris parviceps parviceps, (24) Neomacrocoris parviceps ocellatus, (25) Neomacrocoris usambaricus, (26) Neomacrocoris bondelaufa, (27) Neomacrocoris vuga, (28) Neomacrocoris handlirschi, (29)Neomacrocoris karimii.Sizes areproportionate among figures.(Figs 24–30 reproduced from Sites & Mbogho (2012), with permission by Magnolia Press.)

Fig.30.Distribution maps of13 speciesof Naucoridae known from Tanzania.Notincluded is Neomacrocoris usambaricus, which was recorded from West Usambara. (Map for N. bondelaufa and N. vuga is reproduced from Sites & Mbogho (2012), with permission by Magnolia Press.)