Micronecta (Micronecta) liewi, Chen, Ping-ping, Nieser, Nico & Lapidin, Johnny, 2015

Chen, Ping-ping, Nieser, Nico & Lapidin, Johnny, 2015, A review of Bornean Micronectidae (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Nepomorpha) with descriptions of two new species from Sabah, Malaysia 1, ZooKeys 501, pp. 27-62 : 38-41

Taxon classification Animalia Hemiptera Micronectidae

Micronecta (Micronecta) liewi sp. n. Figs 17, 26, 35, 36, 46, 53, 61, 69, 82, 83, 93, 98

Type material examined.

Holotype: male (body length 1.72, in RMNH), MALAYSIA: Sabah, Crocker Range, Inobong Substation, Sungai Kibambangan (Fig. 98), downstream of waterfall, 05°51.28'N, 116°08.41'E, 433 m. a.s.l., 18.ix.2012, leg. P. Chen, N. Nieser & J. Lapidin, CN1277. Paratypes: same data as holotype, 12 males, 17 females. All macropterous (in RMNH, NCTN, NMPC, ZCSM).

Description.

Macropterous form (Fig. 17). Generally, a rather small (body length 1.7-1.8) yellowish to light brown species, with distinct brown markings.

Dimensions. Length: male 1.71-1.79, female 1.72-1.82; width: male 0.89-0.90, female 0.89-0.93; diatone: male 0.65-0.68, female 0.64-0.69; width of pronotum: male 0.71-0.71, female 0.70-0.75; ocular index: male 1.82-2.06, female 1.89-2.18. Body length twice maximal width (male 1.74/0.90, female 1.78/0.91).

Colour. Frons and vertex sordid yellow, eyes dark castaneous. Pronotum and hemelytra sordid yellow to light brown, the hemelytra with a broad transverse medium to dark brown band at middle (Fig. 26), left membrane medium to dark brown. Disk of pronotum unmarked. Venter and thorax sordid yellow, laterally infuscate, abdomen grayish brown, medially variably lighter. Legs pale yellow.

Head slightly narrower than pronotum, synthlipsis 1.7-1.8 times as wide as the posterior margin of an eye.

Pronotum well developed, dorsally convex with lateral margins distinctly straight, and more or less truncate (Fig. 17), slightly over 2.5 times as wide as long (W/L male 0.71/0.26, female 0.72/0.28). Hemelytra (Fig. 26) smooth, beset with extremely small unobtrusive spinules. Spines laterally on abdominal segments: V with one short and one long spine, VI with two short, and two long spines; VII with three or four short and one long spine; VIII with four or five medium long spines and two long hair-like bristles.

Legs. Length of leg segments: fore leg: male: femur 0.24, tibia 0.11, pala 0.12; female: femur 0.23, tibiotarsus 0.22; middle leg: male: femur 0.54, tibia 0.17, tarsus 0.25, claw 0.14; female: femur 0.56, tibia 0.19, tarsus 0.23, claw 0.15; hind leg: male: femur 0.39, tibia 0.29, tarsus I 0.32, tarsus II 0.13, claw 0.08; female: femur 0.42, tibia 0.33, tarsus I 0.32, tarsus II 0.13, claw 0.08. Palmar bristles: about 13 in lower row and ca. 11 in upper row.

Male. Fore femur (Fig. 35) with a pair of pegs in proximal third, one peg dorsally at distal third and two pegs dorsodistally; tibia without dorsoapical peg; pala with three comparatively short dorsal hairs, 10-12 short bristles in upper row, distal bristle of upper row much stouter and longer than other upper bristles, and 14 to 16 longer bristles in lower row. Claw simple, elongate (Fig. 36). Dorsum of abdomen: prestrigilar lobe (Fig. 46) with a pointed apex, strigil small and narrow (Fig. 53), comb with about 75 teeth, free lobe of left part of tergite VIII (Fig. 69) caudally truncate. Left paramere (Fig. 83) with a wide shaft, apex with short longitudinal grooves; right paramere (Fig. 82) with a medium-sized shaft and a slightly expanded apex, basal lobe strongly developed, stridulatory ridges not observed. Mediocaudal lobe of sternite VII (Fig. 61) with four bristles.

Female. Fore femur with the same general arrangement of pegs and setae as in male. Seminal capsule of spermatheca urn-shaped (Fig. 93).

Comparative notes.

The hemelytral pattern is diagnostic among the Melanesian Micronecta fauna. Micronecta liewi is similar to Micronecta melanopardala melanopardala Nieser & Chen, 2003 described from the Philippines by having a similar transverse band midway along the hemelytra, but it differs from Micronecta melanopardala melanopardala by lacking a dark patch on the clavi as in Micronecta melanopardala . In general, Micronecta liewi has more distinct dark markings than in Micronecta melanopardala adiaphana Nieser & Chen, 2003. Furthermore, in both subspecies of Micronecta melanopardala , the shafts of the right parameres are more slender than Micronecta liewi , and the apex of the right paramere of Micronecta melanopardala is not expanded.

The strongly developed distal bristle of the upper row on the male pala (Figs 35, 36) gives impression of an additional claw as in the subgenus Unguinecta Nieser, Chen & Yang, 2005 from southern continental Asia. However, the four bristles on mediocaudal lobe of sternite VII of the male, the shape of the parameres, and the shape of the free lobe on the left part of tergite VIII of the male will all allow placement in the subgenus Micronecta .

Etymology.

This species is named in honor of Dr. Thor Seng Liew (NBC Naturalis and Sabah University, Malaysia), for his outstanding contributions to the study of the biodiversity of Sabah, and his invaluable help with our work on water bugs in Borneo.

Habitat.

The type series was collected in a small, virtually stagnant bay on the downstream side of Kibambangan waterfall (Fig. 98).

Distribution.

Malaysia: Sabah (this paper).